Spelling Musically
Musical notes have names, and there are different systems for naming them. The German one I grew up with (C, D, E, F, …) is particularly fun because it allows to encode words using the letters. For example, the word “fish” can be encoded using the notes “fis” and “h”, which would translate to “f sharp” and “b” in the English naming scheme. Some composers even fully qualify - Johann Sebastian Bach having inspired several composers to writing pieces on his name: B-A-C-H (or “b flat”, “a”, “c”, “b” in the English system).
One example I recently came across is a piece written by a lesser known Danish composer, August Enna. For the celebrations of an anniversary of renowned Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen, Enna composed a festival overture that makes excessive use of the notes H-C-A (“b”, “c”, “a”) at the beginning, and keeps going back to them throughout. Have a listen.
Tags: music