Padgett Music Studio

"Berceuse" is a lullaby composed for my nephew Nathaniel who was born prematurely at 27 weeks in Okinawa, Japan. In recognition of his truncated time in the womb, the work has 27 bars. The three-bar introduction represents his troubled pregnancy with a sudden Forzado in bar 3, symbolizing a premature rupture at 22 weeks when the water broke too soon. The repeated five-note accompaniment figures signify the five extra weeks he remained in utero before being delivered. The probability of a pregnancy continuing for five more weeks after a premature rupture is only 0.3%, an infinitesimally low figure. In recognition of the number three, each line consists of three bars with a total of nine lines which represents three multiplied by itself. In the last bar, adjacent note letters in the bass line (B-flat, A-flat, B-flat, E-flat, E-flat) spell "BABEE," a phonetic rendering of 'Baby."

This hymn for four voices and piano was composed by Robert W. Padgett between late November and early December 2021. It was written in memory of Pat Montalbo, a piano instructor and friend who passed away on November 15, 2021. She graciously encouraged Mr. Padgett and his children in their musical studies and pursuits. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/starlocalmedia/name/patricia-montalbo-obituary?id=31619536 This hymn is featured on a card that commemorates Christmas 2021 and New Year’s 2022. The idea of adding an original hymn to such a greeting was inspired by the English composer Edward Elgar who wrote a carol and engraved it on a greeting card to celebrate Christmas 1897 and New Year’s 1898. https://rumble.com/vbss71-grate-malverne-on-a-rocke-by-edward-elgar.html The hymn’s melody is constructed almost exclusively from a two-bar subject introduced in bars 3-4 that covers the span of a minor or major third. The theme opens with a half note that ascends stepwise to a dotted quarter that next rises stepwise to an eighth note followed by a whole note that repeats the prior pitch. This two-bar sequence represents the melodic inversion of a subordinate theme (bars 185-186) from Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt” (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) Op. 28. That two-bar phrase is cited by Elgar in Variation XIII of the Enigma Variations, a movement dedicated in secret to Jesus Christ. Richard Wagner adapted Mendelssohn’s thematic subject for the opening of Senta’s redemption leitmotif in his opera “Der fliegende Holländer” (The Flying Dutchman) WWV 63. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYPpVry33Ko http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-scent-of-wagners-senta-in-elgars.html

Edward Elgar cites a four-note melodic incipit from Felix Mendelssohn’s overture “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage” in Variation XIII of the Enigma Variations. These Mendelssohn fragments replicate the opening four notes of Senta’s redemption motive in Richard Wagner’s opera “The Flying Dutchman” (Der Fliegende Holländer). Performing Senta’s redemption motive simultaneously with the first A-flat major Mendelssohn quotation produces an elegant counterpoint over bars 505-512, generating 8 melodic and 22 harmonic note conjunctions. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that Elgar covertly quotes Wagner in Variation XIII. To learn more, visit my blog at: http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-scent-of-wagners-senta-in-elgars.html

Zachery Belanger recently proposed that the secret melody to Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations is Elgar’s song “Like to the Damask Rose.” https://zbelanger.medium.com/solutions-to-the-dorabella-cipher-and-edward-elgars-enigma-65583d2506c5 The most direct way to test this hypothesis is to play both melodies simultaneously. Such a comparison confirms that “Like to the Damask Rose” fails to produce a credible horizontal or vertical fit with the Enigma Theme. To find out the actual secret melody to the Enigma Variations, visit http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2012/09/table-of-contents.html

The British romantic composer Edward Elgar composed this hymn in 1897. It was printed on a holiday card and sent to his friends to celebrate Christmas 1897 and the New Year 1898. The words are traditional. Elgar re-purposed this carol in 1908 for “Lo! Christ the Lord is Born.” Hymns were on Elgar's mind when he ushered in the pivotal year of 1898, a turning point in his career when he openly began composing the Enigma Variations in October.

This hymn for four voices and piano was composed by Robert W. Padgett during November-December 2020. It was created as part of a virtual holiday card to celebrate Christmas 2020 and New Year’s 2021. The idea was inspired by Edward Elgar who wrote a hymn and engraved it on a holiday card to commemorate Christmas 1897 and New Year’s 1898.

The Enigma Theme from Edward Elgar’s symphonic Enigma Variations is played backward with “Ein feste Burg” (A Mighty Fortress) by Martin Luther. This illustration makes it easier to identify the hidden source melody as it is played forward in the ordinary manner. This free adaptation of “Ein feste Burg” is sourced from three different versions: Luther’s original, and renditions by J. S. Bach and Felix Mendelssohn. Elgar’s hidden melody to the Enigma Variations is a unique “tribrid” constructed from distinct phrases from three different versions of Luther’s most famous hymn. There are 31 melodic note conjunctions between “Ein feste Burg’ and the Enigma Theme. There are an additional 46 harmonic note conjunctions between “Ein feste Burg” and the harmonic structure of the Enigma Theme. The combined total is 77 note conjunctions between the melody of “Ein feste Burg” in retrograde and the Enigma Theme's short score. This mapping is achieved through the application of free rhythm using the standard contrapuntal devices of augmentation and diminution. The Enigma Theme's ABA'C structure suggested this unconventional mapping because it is a phonetic spelling of "aback," a word that means "backward" and "surprise." To learn more about the innermost secrets of the Enigma Variations, visit http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2012/09/table-of-contents.html

This melodic mapping demonstrates how "Ein feste Burg" (A Mighty Fortress) plays backward as a retrograde counterpoint "through and over'' the Enigma Theme from Edward Elgar's symphonic Enigma Variations. There are 31 melodic note conjunctions between “Ein feste Burg’ and the Enigma Theme. There are an additional 46 harmonic note conjunctions between “Ein feste Burg” and the harmonic structure of the Enigma Theme. The combined total is 77 note conjunctions between the melody of “Ein feste Burg” in retrograde and the Enigma Theme's short score. This mapping is achieved through the application of free rhythm using the standard contrapuntal devices of augmentation and diminution. The Enigma Theme's ABA'C structure suggested this unconventional mapping because it is a phonetic spelling of "aback," a word that means "backward" and "surprise." To learn more, visit http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2012/09/table-of-contents.html

In April 1989, I sketched a simpler and shorter version of this three-voice Sinfonia as my final exam for my tonal counterpoint class with Professor Richard Wilson at Vassar College. Although granted two weeks to complete this assignment, I delayed starting my sketch until the evening before it was due. I finalized it by 1 AM the following morning in the Victorian-style Rose Parlor of Main Building. http://info.vassar.edu/cards/The-Rose-Parlor/ https://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/main.html In November 2020, I extensively revised and lengthened this three-voice Sinfonia with the goal of experimenting more extensively with various contrapuntal devices such as augmentation, diminution, stretto, inversion, and retrograde motion. These traditional techniques for modifying a motive or countermotive are annotated on the score.

I composed my Invention No. 3 in C minor for two voices during the Spring of 2012. The motive is intriguing as the first twelve are immediately followed by their inversion after a drop of a seventh to form a palindrome. This inversion is followed by an octave leap upwards to D that circles back to the starting note C. In bar 3, the lower voice introduces the motive a fourth lower at the dominant as the upper voice states the countermotive which concludes in bar 4 with an augmented tonal version of the descending scale run from the original motive. The ensuing episode in bars 5-8 is constructed from fragments of the motive in the upper voice accompanied by and an embellished form of the countermotive in the lower voice. A series of ascending broken thirds accompanied by a rising scale run cadences in the tonic key of C minor in bar 10 before abruptly redirecting to G minor in bar 11. At this juncture, the motive and countermotive are restated in their inversions. The episodic sequence from bars 5-9 is also stated in an inverted form in bars 13-17. In bar 18, the motive is stated by the upper voice in G minor with the countermotive now in the lower voice. This formula is repeated a whole step lower in F minor in bars 20-21 followed by the modulation sequence from bars 5-8 reprised with the voices exchanging places. In bar 27, a cadence in F minor redirects back to C major in bar 28 followed by a modulation sequence culminating in C minor in bar 30 that cadences to a final Picardy Third in bar 32.

This three-part Invention No. 2 in D minor was composed in the summer of 1991. I shared it with my modal and tonal counterpoint instructor, Professor Richard Wilson, and he responded favorably to my venturesome modulations and use of the Neapolitan chord. Similar to my first invention in D minor, the motive is announced by the upper voice before it is restated an octave lower by the lower voice in bar 2 to form a stretto. In bar 3, the middle voice states the motive in the dominant key of A minor with the lower and upper voices playing the first and second countermotives respectively. An episode ensues and arrives at a half cadence in bar 8. The opening fragment of the motive is exploited in conjunction with a pedal tone and a variant of the second countermotive to navigate through a series of contrasting keys. At bar 14, the motive is reasserted in F-sharp minor layered over itself in stretto with a C-sharp pedal tone in bar 15. The voices from the episode in bars 5-8 are reshuffled in bars 18-21 as another exercise in invertible counterpoint. In measure 16, the motive and two countermotives are reprised in C-sharp minor, a half step below the tonic key. Starting in bar 18, the episode from bars 6-8 is reprised in F-sharp minor with the first and second countermotives exchanging positions. This is followed in bars 16-27 by a varied restatement of the episodic sequence from bars 8-17 that cadences in bar 27 before a restatement of the subject in bar 28 in G minor with slightly embellished countermotives. Bars 32-35 present a restatement of the episode from bars 5-8 with the motive relocated to the lower voice and the two countermotives in intimate proximity in the two upper voices. An unexpected descending scale in a series of compound harmonic 10ths forms an inversion of the second half of the motive and sets the stage for a perfect cadence to a Picardy Third in D major. After so many years, I remain especially pleased with the effect of that ending.

This two-part invention was composed by Robert W. Padgett in 1990 as a private exercise in invertible counterpoint. The upper voice announces the motive in the tonic key of A minor that quickly overlaps itself at the octave as a brief stretto. An episode consisting of a modulation sequence arrives at a half cadence in bar 4 in E major. The motive is then inverted in bar 5 by the upper voice followed by a partial restatement of the original motive by the lower voice in bar 6. This interplay between the motive’s inversion and its original form continues through bar 10 before a new episode modulates sequentially to a cadence in bar 13 with a statement by the lower voice of the original motive in the relative key of C major. An inversion of the original episodic sequence from bar 2 follows with slight alterations that cycle through a series of contrasting keys. A second interplay begins in bar 17 between the motive’s inversion in the lower voice followed by its partial restatement in the upper voice. The exchange of motive and countermotive by the upper and lower voices is an example of invertible counterpoint. In bar 27, an extended version of the motive begins in F minor before morphing back into A minor with the same modulation formula from bar 2 that redirects to a perfect cadence in the tonic key with a final Picardi third in A major.