Verse:Hmøøh/Rewhd Sgutsis

[This page uses music theory work mainly by Gene Ward Smith and Mike Battaglia.]

Rhooc Avniin Askuucis (Anvirese: [roːts əvˈniːn əˈskuːtsis] fT 2036 – fT 2100 (aged 64)) was an Anvirese music theorist and composer.

Traits

• Warm and magnanimous, but can have a contrarian streak
• Languages:
  • (Pretty archaic) Anvirese (native speaker)
  • Windermere
  • Sfətsiv (knows a little, her grandparents spoke it)
  • Tamil
• tunings: JI, 22, 31

Early life and education

Askuucis was born in the city of [???], Anvir to a family of Sfətsiv descent as the second of three children. Her father was the physicist and composer Avnin Salis, who was professor of physics in the University of [???]. Her mother, Χwava Askuucis (adapted from Sfətsiv scwutsis), was a classical ŋams player and music teacher. Her mother's brother, Mugiv Ytxudhe, was a [] player.

A child prodigy, Rhooc was taught ngams and math from a young age. She started auditing music and math classes before she was 5. She was allowed to skip boarding school and to enroll in the University of Flian in math at age 10 by taking an entrance exam. She was an exceptionally gifted student and graduated in mathematics and music with honors at age 16 (fT 2052). She then studied composition and instrumentation with a number of composers.

In fT 2056 Askuucis returned as a doctoral student in mathematics to Flian University, where she specialized in number theory. Under the supervision of Esngoa rith Mnang, Askuucis was awarded a doctorate for her dissertation in fT 2061.

Later life

Shortly after receiving her doctorate, Askuucis started corresponding with a number of Anvirese and Windermere composers, musicians and theorists to exchange ideas about music. Much of her theoretical work took place within these letters.

In fT 2076, an academic took notice of Askuucis's work and invited her to serve in the University of Cdam Sre as a professor of music. She accepted the offer and would continue to teach there for 14 years. Among her students were several notable Talman composers and popular musicians.

In fT 2090, Askuucis retired from her academic post and secluded herself, intending to focus solely on composition. She lived in a house in Sŋooron until she died of a stroke in fT 2100.

Contributions to music theory

Building on Jopah's and Tăhus's work on constant structure scales, in her treatise Some Equal Divisions of the Octave Askuucis described a variety of equal temperaments derived from equating the step sizes in constant-structure scales. Though her work was not the first one to describe the process of tempering out commas (it was known for small commas such as 2401/2400), nor the first to mention the idea of equal temperament, it was the first to systematically derive equal temperaments from other scales.

Askuucis asked why the same scale sizes - e.g. 7, 10, 12, 19, 22, 27, 31 - kept showing up for "good" constant structures. This led her to discover how to formalize the notion of "good" EDOs in terms of the maxima of the Riemann zeta function on the critical strip, and discovered 19edo this way.

[That should be it theory-wise.]

Compositions

Partial list

• A collection of works in various equal temperaments, à la Blackwood (?)
• Winter Solstice Cantatas
• Many keyboard pieces
• Many pieces of chamber music, including 10 string quartets and dozens involving keyboard accompaniment
• Choral pieces
• Art songs
• Some musical dramas

Bibliography

• Her thesis (fT 2061) + a couple of other math papers (Anvirese)
• Some Equal Divisions of the Octave (Anvirese)
• The Riemann zeta function measures the consonance of equal temperaments (Anvirese)

Personal life and views

A lesbian, Askuucis never had children. She had a few female lovers throughout her life.

Family members:

• Osri Askuucis (older sister) - music teacher
• Yzich Askuucis (younger sister)