Maqam Melodies

Peter Alexander Thoegersen was born in Los Angeles, USA, in 1967. He earned his doctorate in music composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, in 2012. He wrote his thesis on polytempic polymicrotonality, previously untouched as a stylistic genre, with only a single precursor in the literature, Charles Ives’s Universe Symphony (1915). Polytempic polymicrotonality offers expansive potential for the re-emergence of pitch and rhythm in contrast to extended technique noise gestures prevalent today. Dr. Thoegersen, a drummer, extrapolates rhythms and explores polytempo and four-way independence, wherein each independent “limb” becomes its own part, or voice, with its own tempo, and ultimately, its own microtonal system—approaching a radical new polyphony not yet practiced in musical literature. He has had his works premiered in Europe, Australia, and the United States. His eponymous CD Three Pieces in Polytempic Polymicrotonality (2019, New World Records) has had nine reviews and made to three top ten lists for 2019’s best CDs. His song cycle Facebook: What’s On Your Mind? was released on Flea Records in April 2021. Dr Thoegersen's most recent album, Alien Music (2022 Magic&Unique Records), is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple and is also available at Amazon.

1. Microtonal Modes and Scales in the Middle East and Central Asia

2. Bachian Modality

3. Hypercube

4. Quartertones Are Not Out of Tune: You Are!

5. Charles Ives’s Use of Quartertones: Are They Structural or Expressive?

6. Polytempic Polymicrotonal Music, and Freedom