puzzle canon

Timothy Dwight Edwards

 

I have spent a good deal of time studying music and in the process have accumulated three degrees. These include a PhD in composition from the University of Chicago, a Master of Music from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA from Amherst College.

 

I've published a little on the counterpoint of J. S. Bach: one article settling an issue with popular but mistaken resolution of one of the canons from the Musical Offering; one book chapter on advanced topics in Bach's counterpoint in the Sinfonias.

 

Keenly in search of the most fascinating, diverse and masterly attempts at the genre I have put together this website to focus attention on a little-recognized tradition and to try and trace that tradition from medieval times to the modern day. I also hope to organize and support performances of the best examples of this genre. 

 

My work as a composer has led me to draw parallels between some of my formalist projects and the obscure, private and occasionally secretive puzzle canon traditions that extend back to Medieval times and forward to the very recent past. Though you might think of Bach or Josquin, it is also true that later composers such as Stravinsky, Schönberg, Hendemith, Martino and Carter have contributed to the genre. 

 

This site is an opportunity to share what I have learned about this tradition, its technical eccentricities and relations to similar technical activities in other art forms. Hopefully a little historical interest will emerge in the process.

 

Feel free to contact me with any questions or observations.

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