Music Score Data of Nine-Colored Deer: Rondo Sonata for Q1-Quantum Synthesizer and Piano
Description
"Nine-Colored Deer" is an atonal rondo sonata composed for the Q1 – Quantum Synthesizer and piano, whose score was inspired by the "Deer King Jataka" mural from Cave 257 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. In constructing the score, the Q1 – Quantum Synthesizer is used to generate nine distinct timbres, each corresponding to the colors of the Dunhuang murals—for example, the scene in which the Deer King rescues drowning people corresponds to the color red. The timbre-associated HMM-generated pitch sequences produce specific note sequences; in this case, the scene corresponds to pitches such as C, C#, E, G, G#, and so on. By computing the Ford number for each of the nine pitch sequences and deriving a rich variety of melodic material variations based on set prototype theory—with 4-note and 5-note sequences as the core material and an overall inclination toward a pentatonic mode—the work retains traditional Chinese musical characteristics while employing modern atonal compositional ideas. It adopts a rondo sonata form: the exposition presents the "struggle" narrative through the first four sequence motives, with the Q1 – Quantum Synthesizer adding color to the music; the development section expands the melodic material, with the piano part becoming increasingly complex to depict "confrontation"; and the recapitulation, through a dominant relationship descending by a fifth, reintroduces variations from the exposition to convey "tranquility." In the musical arrangement, the tempo starts at an allegro moderato and undergoes various changes, with time signatures including 4/4, 6/8, and 3/4. By coupling a quantum random walk algorithm with an HMM music generation module, a three-dimensional randomized system of timbres and pitch sequences is realized, allowing the music to progress in an orderly manner amid complex variations, vividly narrating the story, and effectively translating the visual art of the mural into auditory musical art. The database PDF comprises three parts: the score, a sequence design table, and the Allen Ford pitch-class set sequence table.