The Flower of Lyrics

The Flower of Lyrics is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Roguish Hierarchy. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. The music is played on a epe, a iad and a apit. The music is melody and rhythm without harmony. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. It is performed in the oq rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to use grace notes, make trills, locally improvise, alternate tension and repose and play legato.

• The epe always provides the rhythm and should feel mysterious.
• The iad always does the main melody and should be fiery.
• The apit always provides the rhythm and should be fiery.
• The Flower of Lyrics has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a brief introduction, a passage, a bridge-passage and a lengthy finale.
• The introduction is moderately fast, and it is to be loud. The epe ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range. The passage is performed using the kiteq scale. The passage should always include a falling-rising melody pattern with sharpened second degree on the rise as well as mordents and often include a falling melody pattern with flattened second degree.
• The simple passage is at a hurried pace, and it is to be soft. The epe stays in the liquid high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the axod scale. The passage should be composed and performed using staccato. The passage should sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with sharpened fourth degree on the rise.
• The bridge-passage is at a free tempo, and it is to fade into silence. The epe stays in the liquid high register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage is performed using the toipe scale. The passage should be composed and performed using arpeggios. The passage should often include a rising melody pattern with flattened fifth degree.
• The finale slows and broadens, and it is to become softer and softer. The epe ranges from the rich low register to the liquid middle register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the kopi scale. The passage should sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with glides, mordents and rapid runs, always include a rising-falling melody pattern with glides, often include a falling melody pattern with glides and always include a rising melody pattern with flattened fourth degree.
• Scales are constructed from twenty notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1-x-xxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The kiteq heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 3rd, the 8th, the 10th, the 14th, the 16th and the 19th.
• The axod pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 9th, the 15th and the 17th.
• The toipe hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 6th, the 11th, the 14th and the 16th.
• The kopi pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 5th, the 9th, the 14th and the 19th.
• The oq rhythm is made from three patterns: the toki, the oq and the ojip. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The toki rhythm is a single line with five beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - x x x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The oq rhythm is a single line with sixteen beats divided into two bars in a 8-8 pattern. The beats are named dotip (spoken do), kotoq (ko), kiqo (ki), ituq (it), piaki (pia), edo (ed), qahpa (qa) and oqua (oq). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - x - - - - - | - x - x x - x x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The ojip rhythm is a single line with sixteen beats divided into four bars in a 4-4-4-4 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - x x | x x x x | - - x - | - x - - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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