Intension

60 second electronic music composition.

Part of the FrammentAzioni project in Udine, Italy, and the 60x60 Crimson Mix (360 degrees)
at the 2010 International Computer Music Conference.


The title of this piece is a play on words in three different senses: in the simplest sense it refers to the state of being tense, something which is clearly reflected in the tumultuous nature of the composition. Secondly, the title is similar to the philosophical term "intension", which refers to the set of all possible things that a word could possibly describe; in this sense I raise the question of whether or not digital music could be considered intensional, since it is composed of bits of data which can be interpreted in infinite ways. In the third sense, the title refers to the more common definition of intension: "a strenuous exertion of the mind or will", which, as any composer knows, is an essential part of music-making.