MUSICAL SCALES that “sing” THE MAYAN CALENDAR?? Could they really exist?

Indeed they do! And anyone holding this book can not only READ about them, but EXPERIMENT with them, since full tuning data is included here. As to their creator, JEREMY HALADYNA, here are clear case studies of the original music he devised to fold around his scale creations, much of it now commercially released. Here are scales that “sound out” the delicate dance of Earth and Venus, which the classic Maya observed with the keenest eyes, making them possibly the greatest Timekeepers that ever lived...there is even a scale here for the heart-stopping moment that was December 2012! Within these covers, too, are photos from the author’s 10 trips to the Mayan region (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras)--alongside a wide range of monochrome musical examples... fully covering the gamut from Mayan sport, to Mayan flora and fauna, through their colorful roster of traditional deities, to their own reckoning of ancient history.

“All in all….a very thoroughly conceived sonic universe....The results are simply fascinating.” Frank J. Oteri, senior editor, newmusicbox.org Music from JEREMY HALADYNA’s unique Mayan Cycle has appeared on the innova, Neuma, and Centaur labels, and has aired widely on public radio stations at home and abroad. His formidable skills as a performer have worked to the benefit of his own work, to be sure--and have placed him in demand by other composers, too. Jeremy is now counted among the Emeritus faculty of the University of California Santa Barbara, where he taught young composers for 29 years. From 2003-2019 he also directed UCSB’s Ensemble for Contemporary Music. A laureate of France’s Lili Boulanger Prize, Jeremy’s live performances have included multiple big London venues, Mexico City’s National Museum of Art, the Chopin Academy,Warsaw, and MIAM in Istanbul. Haladyna’s magnum opus, his ever-evolving Mayan Cycle, is swiftly approaching 40 pieces directly inspired by Mayan culture, language and history. These pieces vary in scope from outings for a solo player, to large orchestra. Sampled and electronic sound is often key, not to mention physical copies and analogs to ancient Mayan instruments. Never content to settle for just an academic pursuit, Haladyna has traveled to the Mayan region 10 times in search of new discoveries and inspiration. This book contains choice fruit from those very efforts.