Six and Five makes Eleven

Six and Five makes Eleven is a minimalist composition in serial form for string quartet, piano, bass and mallet instruments. The time signature is 11/8 and the work is constructed from two, whole tone scales that form two six note sets. The C set uses the notes C,D,E,F#,G#,A#. The C# set uses the notes C#,D#,E,F,G,A
In most cases the notes are arranged in serial form as in twelve tone row composition and only one set of notes is used in all the voices of a section. The sections alternate through the piece producing the effect of a semitone key change.
This approach produces alternative harmonies and interesting melodic forms.

Six and Five makes Eleven is the third composition in a series exploring imperfect meters that I call "Numbers".

A complete score is available for download below.
Composition, performance (all instruments) and recording Thomas Parker Williams

Pinhole photograph - Spider in the Trees by Mary Agnes Williams

Six and Five makes Eleven © 2026 by Thomas Parker Williams is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

SOUNDCLOUD - Complete Composition
Complete Score and Parts - PDF