Suite for Microtonal Piano is a suite

Suite

In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...

 for specifically microtonally tuned piano(s) by Ben Johnston written in 1977 (see also just intonation

Just intonation

In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...

).

"The piano is tuned to a selection of overtone

Overtone

An overtone is any frequency higher than the fundamental frequency of a sound. The fundamental and the overtones together are called partials. Harmonics are partials whose frequencies are whole number multiples of the fundamental These overlapping terms are variously used when discussing the...

s from the fifth octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

 of the harmonic spectrum

Harmonic spectrum

A harmonic spectrum is a spectrum containing only frequency components whose frequencies are whole number multiples of the fundamental frequency; such frequencies are known as harmonics....

 of C. All octaves are tuned in the same scale....The lowest C (33 Hz.) can be used to tune

Musical tuning

In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...

 the scale by ear. In succession, touch the nodes

Node (physics)

A node is a point along a standing wave where the wave has minimal amplitude. For instance, in a vibrating guitar string, the ends of the string are nodes. By changing the position of the end node through frets, the guitarist changes the effective length of the vibrating string and thereby the...

 producing the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 13th, 17th, [and] 19th partial

Partial

Partial may refer to:*partial derivative, in mathematics** ∂, the partial derivative symbol, often read as "partial"*partial function, in mathematics*partial algorithm, in computer science*part score, in contract bridge...

s. Then G, D; D, A; E,b; [and] B-flat, F; are just (beat

Beat (music)

The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...

less) fifths

Perfect fifth

In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...

."

Movements

1. Alarum
2. Blues
3. Etude
4. Song
5. Toccata

Alarum is a Shakespeare era stage direction indicating "a grand entrance" and an archaic word for a call to arms, so "Alarum" is a fanfare

Fanfare

A Fanfare is a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets and other brass instruments often accompanied by percussion...

.

"Blues" and "Song" are both slow movements. "Blues" uses as blue note

Blue note

In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...

s the minor seventh

Minor seventh

In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...

 (C-B) and mediant (in D dorian exactly halfway between E and G). "Song" is in E phrygian.

"Etude" is a study

Étude

An étude , is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano...

 in serial technique and six-against-five polyrhythm

Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...

s in which Johnston indicates "blur with pedal". This, "clues us in that the linear intricacies are only part of the story here: the amazing swirl of overtones resulting from an atonal application of this tuning are of equal importance." (Bush 1997)

"Toccata" features diatonic outer sections and a spikier chromatic

Chromatic scale

The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...

 middle section.

The piece has been recorded and released on:

• Microtonal Piano by Ben Johnston (1997). Phillip Bush
  Phillip Bush
  Phillip Bush is an American classical pianist, with a career focusing primarily on chamber music and contemporary classical music....
  
  , piano. Koch International Classics 3-7369-2.