The Cerulean Play
The Cerulean Play is a devotional form of music originally devised by the elf Mawada Mazeford. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A chanter recites any composition of The Cardinal Sweetness while the music is played on a eriya and a amafe. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance should be fiery. The melody has mid-length phrases, while the counterpoint has phrases of varied length throughout the form. It is performed using the fena scale and in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to alternate tension and repose and play arpeggios.
- The Cerulean Play has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a verse and a chorus all repeated one times, a bridge-passage and a chorus and a verse.
- The first verse is voiced by the melody of the chanter, the rhythm of the eriya and the rhythm of the amafe. The passage accelerates as it proceeds, and it is to be very soft. The chanter's voice stays in the high register and the amafe stays in the buzzy low register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage should be composed and performed using frequent modulation.
- The first chorus is voiced by the melody of the amafe and the harmony of the eriya. The passage gradually slows as it comes to an end, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The amafe covers its entire range from the buzzy low register to the raucous high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords.
- The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the chanter and the counterpoint of the amafe. The passage is very fast, and it is to be soft. The chanter's voice stays in the high register and the amafe covers its entire range from the buzzy low register to the raucous high register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage should be composed and performed using frequent modulation.
- The second chorus is voiced by the melody of the eriya, the melody of the amafe and the harmony of the chanter. The passage gradually slows as it comes to an end, and it is to be moderately soft. The amafe stays in the raucous high register and the chanter's voice covers its entire range. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should be composed and performed using frequent modulation.
- The second verse is voiced by the melody of the chanter, the harmony of the eriya and the rhythm of the amafe. The passage slows and broadens, and it is to become softer and softer. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register and the amafe stays in the raucous high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range.
- Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
- The fena heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named aro and thili.
- The aro tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
- The thili tetrachord is the 8th, the 11th, the 12th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
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