Zones of Lasting Novelty (9-EDO) by Stephen Weigel

I've been working on this piece for years and it's been played at Ball State (twice), as well as Un12 2019! This is the Un12 recording, and the tuning is all in 9-tone equal temperament.

Keyboard: Stephen Weigel
Violin 1 and 2: Hans Gunter-Lock
Trombone: Jacob Barton

Conceptually, this piece is about a battle between harmony shared with 12 (the hexatonic, or Augmented[6] scale), and not shared with 12. Each of the four instruments follows their own respective idioms, but as time passes, they start imitating each other more both with motive and with harmony. Asymmetrical meter, strong contrasts between moods, the use of major and minor at the same time, and an overall sense of nothing belonging together define this piece.

As a quirky and absurd showcase of xenharmonics, it seemed relevant to give instruments themselves the idea of "being opposed" to non-hexatonic systems, and also to get them to "accept" non-hexatonic 9edo harmonies after being exposed to them for a while. Hopefully this piece is a showcase of what is possible with lots of different kinds of chords, providing a large gamut of what can be done, with little pockets (or zones) of lasting novelty based somewhat in being perpetually xenharmonic.