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The Glia SocietyThe Glia Society Canon |
The music on the presentation page was composed for this purpose by Paul Cooijmans. Since it is included with the page as a MIDI file, the quality at which you hear it while viewing the animation may differ, depending on your software.
What you should hear is a three-part polyphonic harpsichord piece consisting of three canons using the same theme - a theme beginning with four notes based in pitch and duration on the letters Glia Society in a fairly trivial way - in three different manners.
The composition starts with a regular three-part canon in the octave. A "crab" canon follows between the two upper voices; that is, the middle voice plays the theme while the top voice plays it backwards. The bottom voice has a free chromatic counter-subject here. Finally the first canon is repeated, but backwards and an octave higher (an octave lower for the bottom voice).
If desired one can (right-click and) download the MIDI file here to save and play it in a player of one's choice. Note that not all players may play it correctly; it is meant to be harpsichord, so the notes should decay, not ring through like an organ. To experience, Windows Media Player plays it perfectly, while some others incorrectly sustain the notes.
