Sean William Calhoun | Composer and pianist

The Canto movements draw on plainchant, imitating its lines, but with odd chromaticisms and notes that bend downward. The first introduces the main motives, which will be devloped throughout the work. The toccata fragments those motives into highly rhythmic figures. The Partial Canto plays (as previous movements did slightly) with natural series of partials, including the unequal temperament that goes with them). The Tarantella begins quick and hastens further at several points. The Minuet is a moment of calm before the final Canto Coda, alternating the slow Canto theme with the fast material from the Toccata and Tarantella.