Sound and Fury, Op.114

Never one to relish the added stress of bonding texts to tone rows (even when using rows specifically selected to maximize balance between melodic and harmonic potentials), I nevertheless have relented for Whitman, Rilke, Wakan Tanka, and now the Bard. The text here is of course the infamous soliloquy from Macbeth, Act V, Scene v, lines 19–28:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

As always, every potential tonal center of the tow itself is exercized in this brief little blurt: Gb-Bb-A-C-D-F-G-Ab-B-Eb-Db-E. The vocal line begins at C and concludes in Db, while the strings finish in E.

Happy Halloween to all.