hello, world - for violoncello

duration: 2 minutes

This piece is based on a famously simple computer program, which displays the message hello, world!, normally used to illustrate the basic syntax of a programming language, and often the first program written by a computer programming beginner. Specifically, this piece is based on the first known incarnation of that program, written by Brian Kernighan:

 main() {

extern a, b, c;

putchar(a); putchar(b); putchar(c); putchar('!*n');

 }

 a 'hell';

 b 'o, w';

 c 'orld';

The structure is taken from the binary numbers that produce the variables 'a', 'b', and 'c', which combined with the harmonic sequence that underpins the music, produces a binary musical texture.