The "Giant Steps" fragment.(musical composition)

THE FOLLOWING IS a transcript of a certain papyrus fragment found in an earthenware jar beneath my back deck. As many of the terms and references used in the text are somewhat obscure, a glossary of terms and bibliography of works mentioned can be found at the end of the paper. The related events leading up to this discovery are as follows:

I had spent several hours one day looking at certain aspects of symmetrical structuring in John Coltrane's "GIANT STEPS" for inclusion in a book I am working on entitled Composition, Improvisation, and the Creative Music Process. The method I utilized for this examination is known as positional analysis, proposed in W. A. Mathieu's recent book Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression. I had also recently reread Henry Louis Gates on African-American literary criticism, The Signifying Monkey, which seemed to have some influence on the events that followed. That evening I lay in bed unable to sleep as I mulled over the work that I had been doing, and Esu-Elegbara, a Yoruba Orisha, appeared and asked me to account for what I thought I had uncovered. (Tara lay mercifully asleep throughout.) I do not remember exactly when the conversation ended; I think it trailed off and I fell asleep. The next day I could recall certain aspects of our encounter, but not many specifics. This did not surprise me, as I have had occasional encounters with Esu, though none as lengthy as this, and memories of the events were seldom complete. However, several nights later, I heard what seemed to be a recording of the conversation emanating from beneath the deck that lies outside our bedroom window. The next morning, I opened up the trapdoor we had built into the deck, and found the earthenware jar partially buried in almost the same spot from which we had removed the corpse of an unfortunate raccoon some two years before. The papyrus fragment within the jar seemed to be a record of my conversation with Esu.

The fragment does not record the full extent of the conversation; significant portions of the beginning and end are lost, and there are some damaged sections in the main body of the text. I have attempted to fill in any gaps that I can with what little I can remember. Additionally, I have included the musical and graphic examples we used to elucidate the points. Esu-Elegbara's name appears as Esu in the text, and I am designated by the letter A, which I take to mean "Author." Additionally, while Esu-Elegbara contains both male and female aspects, he is traditionally referred to as male, a tradition which seems to have been kept in this particular text.

[The text begins in mid-sentence, with Esu speaking. I vaguely remember the beginning of our encounter. I think he spoke my name, or perhaps his own, and I raised myself up to see him sitting on the low dresser which stands below the bedroom window. Tara and I had left the curtains open, and there was some moonlight. Esu looked as if he was being projected from some old film, perhaps in black and white. The appearance was reminiscent of some of the statues I've seen, including the large erect penis, which, to my surprise, was also circumcised. Esu would occasionally bring up both feet and sort of squat on the dresser, affording me a view of a cavernous and rather remarkable vagina. However, he did not seem altogether complete; there were spaces missing in the body, through which I could see things on the other side-- portions of the wall, the backyard, and the polished stone eggs Tara likes to collect and arrange on the window sill. Esu's voice was always very clear and measured, and possessed a smooth qualit y which would lead one to believe whatever he said.]

[Esu:] ... this aspect of the evaluation, the appearance of which suggests some trepidation on your part.

A: How do you mean?

Esu: Well, take the issue of spelling, for example.