tempo scale
English composer
Definition
An arrangement of multiple simultaneous tempos proportioned to match the frequency ratios of a musical pitch scale. In Study No. 37, Nancarrow uses 12 voices whose tempos are proportional to the justly-tuned chromatic scale — the slowest at ♩=150, each subsequent voice faster by the same ratio that separates adjacent pitches in just intonation.
Interpretive Guidance
The 12-voice tempo scale in Study 37 means that tempo relationships between voices are analogous to harmonic intervals between pitches: two adjacent voices are a 'semitone apart' in tempo, two voices separated by seven are a 'fifth apart.' This gives the canon a structural logic legible to ears trained in pitch-based harmony.