DIVINUS TEMPUS: II. CHRISTMAS

by PALMER, LUKE A.

"Christmas", the second of seven works from the chrestomathy Divinus Tempus, is a musical and symbolic expression of the season of Christmas as it unfolds in the Lutheran (LCMS) calendar. The durational proportion of "Christmas" to the entire Divinus Tempus set is nearly identical to the proportion of the Season of Christmas to the entire Church Year. Structurally, proportions of Phi govern the entire global and internal processes of "Christmas" and the work, which is 12-tone, manifests a 30-lyne array partitioned into 32 blocks. Formally, the work exhibits characteristics of both an array composition and a traditional rondo. The rondo is projected by changes in tonality (all chords are derived from a single series form in the work as a whole and sectionally from a distinct series expression; i.e., P6 or RI2) and unique musical ideas.