ABSTRACT
It goes without saying that the usefulness of a ‘general field theory of the tones’ can only be demonstrated empirically. An analysis of the opera Symposion, which was entirely written with the help of the tone clock, may perhaps be of assistance here. It will be above all a harmonic analysis (the other aspects of the work can be approached in the usual way), in which I can refer to the ideas in the Chromatica series. The dramatic action of the opera is based on the facts about Tchaikovsky’s death, as described in The Opening Chord (see next chapter). This material is brought into a relationship with The Banquet, Plato’s dialogue on love, after which the work is named. Symposion was commissioned by the Belgian National Opera in Brussels. The libretto is by Gerrit Komrij.
