The Blooming Citron

The Blooming Citron is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Totem of Raising. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on one to four ahq, a otob, two ot and two tide. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance is to start loud then be immediately soft. The melody has mid-length phrases, while the counterpoint has phrases of varied length throughout the form. It is performed using the if scale and in the otep rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to play arpeggios.

• Each ahq always should feel mournful.
• The otob always should perform with feeling.
• Each ot always should be passionate.
• Each tide always should perform with feeling.
• The Blooming Citron has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a lengthy theme, a bridge-passage and one to two series of variations on the theme and a coda.
• The theme is voiced by the melody of the ahq, the melody of the ot, the harmony of the otob and the rhythm of the tide. The passage is at a walking pace. Each of the ahq is confined to the slicing middle register, each of the ot covers its entire range from the rippling low register to the sparkling high register, the otob ranges from the crisp low register to the strident middle register and each of the tide stays in the sparkling low register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the otob, the counterpoint of the ahq, the counterpoint of the tide and the rhythm of the ot. The passage is extremely fast. The otob ranges from the strident middle register to the rugged high register, each of the ahq ranges from the quavering low register to the buzzy high register, each of the tide covers its entire range from the sparkling low register to the wispy high register and each of the ot ranges from the muddy middle register to the sparkling high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords.
• Each of the series of variations is voiced by the melody of the otob, the melody of the tide, the harmony of the ot and the rhythm of the ahq. Each passage moves more quickly than the last passage. The otob ranges from the strident middle register to the rugged high register, each of the tide covers its entire range from the sparkling low register to the wispy high register, each of the ot ranges from the muddy middle register to the sparkling high register and each of the ahq covers its entire range from the quavering low register to the ringing top register. This passage typically has some sparse chords.
• The coda is voiced by the melody of the ahq, the melody of the ot, the harmony of the otob and the rhythm of the tide. The passage is at a free tempo. Each of the ahq ranges from the quavering low register to the slicing middle register, each of the ot ranges from the muddy middle register to the sparkling high register, the otob ranges from the crisp low register to the strident middle register and each of the tide covers its entire range from the sparkling low register to the wispy high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range.
• Scales are constructed from twenty-two notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1xxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student. Every note is named. The names are uki (spoken uk), uok (uok), ahdid (ah), toki (to), oq (oq), dotip (do), kotoq (ko), kiqo (ki), ituq (it), piaki (pia), edo (ed), qahpa (qa), ej (ej), at (at), iadok (iad), poqin (po), oti (ot), nuod (nuo), ojip (oj), toad (toa), paciyq (pa) and oaf (oaf).
• The if heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 8th, the 10th, the 12th, the 17th and the 19th.
• The otep rhythm is made from two patterns: the kidoi (considered the primary) and the qapoaq. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The kidoi rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named jed (spoken je) and dokot (do). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The qapoaq rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into five bars in a 9-5-7-5-6 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x - x - x x - x'| - - x - - | - - x x x x - | x x - - x | - x x x x - |
• where ' marks a beat as late, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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