Disintegration
Notes
Each song is structured as a sort of canon, with a leading melody and some number of following melodies. Each of the pianos (from six to twelve, depending on the piece) plays exactly the same sequence of notes (the same melody, that is), but in varying octaves and at varying speeds. The variation in tempo and duration between each of the voices is very small, about half a second difference between each piano’s total playing time.
The melody (itself a simple repetition of a phrase) played against itself in this way creates a complex and constantly shifting counterpoint. As the notes slide past each other over time, an epi-melody emerges, made up of varying phrases that are related to, but not the same as, the main theme. The pianos’ rhythms go in and out of time with each other, clarifying or blurring with abstraction the underlying melodic phrase.