WINGATE: METAPHYSICAL MONOLOGUE NO. 4 
for Harp

Date:
2020

Duration:
5'

Notes:
The seven delicate opening notes which form the basis of the fourth Metaphysical Monologue for harp, mirror the instrument’s layout of seven strings per octave in a kind of mystical union, lending the piece an air of arcane inevitability. This seven-pitch set is transposed only twice to form the piece’s three episodes, with the septachord specially designed to fit around only three harp pedaling configurations. In consequence, this Monologue contains more repeated pitch material than the others, giving it a less chromatic overall feel, but allowing for a metaphysical outing of a more mystical character. The further creation of discrete musical realms comes from the contrast between different regions of the harp’s very large range, from the gossamer top notes to the plummy twang of the contrabass strings. Yet the concert harp’s delicate beauty of sound all too easily becomes a celestial cliché, avoided here by such means as using the instrument’s signature glissandi only sparingly in the darker low register, and by reserving its trademark rolled chords for declamatory gestures, such as the one which esoterically ends the piece in an unanswered question.