Fermat

Solo Violin
2005

This peice is based on Pierre de Fermat's Little Theorum, which effectively states that if p is a prime number, then for any integer a,

 

ap ≡ a (mod p)

 

 

The piece uses a mod 13 system to determine pitches and rhythms, which allows for 11 exponential mutations of the beginning motive, until the beginning motive reappears at the end.

 

The piece is meant to illustrate the subtle beauty of number theory and pure mathematics and compare its misfortunes to those of modern music.

 

Download Score