The Glitter of Fragrances

The Glitter of Fragrances is a devotional form of music originally devised by the elf Are Whiskeredmountains. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on a eriya and one to two letha. The musical voices bring melody with harmony. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the cebela scale and in the mathuva rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to locally improvise, alternate tension and repose, modulate frequently and play staccato.

• The eriya always should perform expressively.
• Each letha always should evoke tears.
• The Glitter of Fragrances has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a chorus and a verse all repeated two times, a bridge-passage and a chorus and a verse.
• The first chorus is voiced by the melody of the letha. The passage is extremely fast, and it is to become softer and softer. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage should always include a falling melody pattern with flattened sixth degree as well as glides and arpeggios, sometimes include a rising melody pattern with sharpened fifth degree and flattened third degree as well as mordents and trills and often include a falling-rising melody pattern with trills.
• The first verse is voiced by the melody of the eriya. The passage moves more quickly than the last passage, and it is to be very soft. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage should always include a rising melody pattern with glides, grace notes and trills, often include a falling-rising melody pattern with glides and mordents and sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the letha and the harmony of the eriya. The passage resumes the original tempo, and it is to be soft. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage should sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with sharpened third degree on the fall as well as legato.
• The second chorus is voiced by the melody of the eriya and the harmony of the letha. The passage is moderately fast, and it is to be moderately loud. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage should often include a falling melody pattern with grace notes, rapid runs and arpeggios, sometimes include a rising melody pattern with flattened seventh degree, sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with flattened second degree on the fall as well as trills, arpeggios and legato and sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with rapid runs and arpeggios.
• The second verse is voiced by the melody of the letha. The passage is moderately fast, and it is to be in whispered undertones. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should always include a rising-falling melody pattern and often include a falling melody pattern with mordents.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The cebela heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named adi and warere.
• The adi tetrachord is the 1st, the 4th, the 5th and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The warere tetrachord is the 8th, the 9th, the 11th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The mathuva rhythm is made from three patterns: the atho (considered the primary), the datome and the amama. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The atho rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x x x |
• where x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
• The datome rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named lari (spoken la) and aratha (ar). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The amama rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beats are named thafatha (spoken tha) and etini (et). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | - x | x - | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Events

• In late summer of 153, The Glitter of Fragrances was created by the elf Are Whiskeredmountains in Cobaltauras