The Wholegrain Berries

The Wholegrain Berries is a devotional form of music originating in The Beak-Dog of Dregs. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. Two chanters recite nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a exsta and three adul. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance gradually slows as it comes to an end. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form. The music repeats for as long as necessary. It is performed using the xuzestra scale and in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to make trills, locally improvise and alternate tension and repose.

• Each chanter always should be fiery.
• The exsta always should be fiery.
• Each adul always should feel mournful.
• The Wholegrain Berries has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a brief introduction, a first theme, an exposition of the first theme, a lengthy second theme, an exposition of the second theme, a bridge-passage and a synthesis of previous passages.
• The introduction is voiced by the melody of the adul and the counterpoint of the chanters reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is to be moderately soft. Each of the adul stays in the piercing low register and each of the chanters' voices ranges from the low register to the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should sometimes include a rising melody pattern with sharpened sixth degree as well as grace notes, sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with arpeggios and legato and sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with staccato and legato.
• The first theme is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the melody of the exsta and the harmony of the adul. The passage is to be very loud. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the low register and each of the adul covers its entire range from the piercing low register to the heavy high register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage should be composed and performed using arpeggios. The passage should always include a rising melody pattern with sharpened sixth degree, sharpened third degree and flattened fourth degree as well as glides, always include a falling melody pattern with sharpened sixth degree and sharpened fifth degree as well as grace notes, always include a falling-rising melody pattern and always include a rising-falling melody pattern with legato.
• The first exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the melody of the adul and the rhythm of the exsta. The passage is to start loud then be immediately soft. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the low register and each of the adul ranges from the piercing low register to the strident middle register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage should sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with arpeggios, sometimes include a falling melody pattern with grace notes, rapid runs and staccato and sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with rapid runs.
• The second theme is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting The Ego of Querying, the melody of the adul and the counterpoint of the exsta. The passage is to become softer and softer. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the low register and each of the adul ranges from the strident middle register to the heavy high register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage should be composed and performed using grace notes. The passage should always include a falling melody pattern with arpeggios, always include a falling-rising melody pattern with legato, always include a rising-falling melody pattern with staccato and always include a rising melody pattern with arpeggios and legato.
• The second exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the melody of the adul. The passage is to fade into silence. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the low register and each of the adul covers its entire range from the piercing low register to the heavy high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should always include a rising-falling melody pattern with mordents, rapid runs and arpeggios and sometimes include a rising melody pattern with flattened second degree as well as rapid runs and arpeggios.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting The Ego of Querying, the melody of the exsta and the counterpoint of the adul. The passage is to be soft. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the low register and each of the adul stays in the strident middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should often include a rising-falling melody pattern with mordents, arpeggios and staccato and sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with sharpened fifth degree on the rise as well as mordents, rapid runs and arpeggios.
• The synthesis is voiced by the melody of the chanters reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the counterpoint of the exsta and the counterpoint of the adul. The passage is to be very soft. Each of the chanters' voices stays in the middle register and each of the adul stays in the heavy high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range. The passage should often include a rising melody pattern with glides, always include a rising-falling melody pattern with glides, arpeggios and staccato and sometimes include a falling melody pattern with flattened second degree as well as grace notes, mordents and legato.
• Scales are conceived of as two chords built using a division of the perfect fourth interval into eleven notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance. Preferred notes in the fundamental scale are named. The names are tekug (spoken te, 1st) and barulo (ba, 9th).
• As always, the xuzestra hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords drawn from the fundamental division of the perfect fourth. These chords are named zuxaz and masul.
• The zuxaz tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 7th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The masul trichord is the 1st, the 5th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.

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