My piece Gansu Station is based on the ratios inherent in the octahedron, which appears in nature often as metal ions in crystal structures. The ratio of the radius of the octahedron’s circumscribing sphere to the length of its shape edge is approximately .707 which can be expressed by 29/41. The melody, carried here by a violin section, is 29 beats long: voiced through a passage of 5/8, 7/8, 5/8, 7/8, 7/8, 5/8. The bass part, carried by cellos, is 41 beats long, which is voiced through a passage of 5/8, 7/8, 5/8, 7/8, 5/8, 7/8, 5/8.
The piece lasts 1189 beats which is the least common multiple- the point where both the 29 beat melody and the 41 beat bass meet back at the beginning. The instrumental is named Gansu Station in honor of the creators of the Japanese wind farm of the same name.
