A New Spliced Surprise Major Canon
This is a new series of peal compositions with an ambitious goal. I want to initiate a renaissance in the genre of tenors-together Spliced Surprise Major.
Over the last decade or two a quiet revolution has taken place in peal composition for single methods, which, to my way of thinking, has served to democratise change-ringing music. In the past we had music for the back bells off the back, but in this new age ringers are also treated to little-bell music, middle-bell music, and runs off the front as well as the back of the change. The elegance and structure of a composition has become more important, too: the days of "three Homes to finish" are, if not gone, then fading. This shift in compositional focus has spread from its introduction on higher numbers, and is now common in Royal and Major.
But the field of tenors-together Spliced has lagged behind. Despite good innovation with the cyclic multipart, the standard, tenors-together composition has not made similar progress, with most extant peals fixated on the CRU as a measurement of music. With this new series I hope to change that for the better. I want to bring to tenors-together Spliced the benefits of little-bell music and structural elegance which the single-method genre already enjoys.
To achieve this, I have developed a new set of tools which are based on probabilistic metaheuristics. This includes algorithms such as the method of simulated annealing, stochastic tunneling, and varieties of genetic search; for a good introduction to the field see this Wikipedia page. These techniques are quite unlike the brute-force tree search algorithms used in the past, and have allowed me to push further into the difficult territory of one-part spliced than I believe has been possible before. It also happened to be a lot of fun!
In my new series there are ten peals, starting with a single method ("1-spliced"), and using the same calling to add methods up to 10-spliced. The methods are musical and interesting, but should be familiar to most peal ringers - I have tried to choose from the best of those which are rung frequently today. The basic figures are taken from my 5056 no.1 for Bristol Major; this means bobs-only, tenors-together, and a sparse calling which links good coursing orders and generates little-bell and big-bell rollups off the front and the back throughout the peal. The music thus provided is maintained and even increased as methods are added.
In 1947 Albert Pitman published the first of a sequence of ground-breaking Spliced Surprise Major compositions, which set the standard for the best part of a century. My hope is that this new series will reset that standard for the next century. Please let me know if you ring any of the compositions - a round of drinks for the first band who rings the whole lot!
The compositions:
5056 2-Spliced (BD)
5024 3-Spliced (BDC)
5024 4-Spliced (BDCL)
5024 5-Spliced (BDCLM)
5056 6-Spliced (BDCLMS)
5024 7-Spliced (BDCLMSA)
5056 8-Spliced (BDCLMSAY)
5056 9-Spliced (BDCLMSAYG)
5056 10-Spliced (BDCLMSAYGV)
5088 3-Spliced (BCD)
5088 4-Spliced (BCDL)
5184 5-Spliced (BCDLM)
5088 6-Spliced (BCDLMS)
5088 7-Spliced (BCDLMSA)
5088 8-Spliced (BCDLMSAY)
5088 9-Spliced (BCDLMSAYG)
5088 10-Spliced (BCDLMSAYGV)
68, 20, 123
68, 23, 130
72, 19, 134
70, 19, 149
69, 23, 152
70, 22, 160
72, 20, 140
66, 19, 151
66, 20, 152
60, 24, 122
60, 24, 132
63, 24, 131
66, 24, 146
81, 21, 130
66, 18, 142
81, 24, 130
69, 21, 144
Methods are, in order of introduction: Bristol, Deva, Cornwall, Lessness, Malpas, Superlative, Adelaide, Yorkshire, Glasgow and Venusium.
5024/5056 Spliced Surprise Major (1-10 methods)
Composed by Mark B Davies
5056
1-spliced
23456 M B W H
42356 -
54326 -
54263 - -
46253 - -
65432 -
53624 -
32546 -
32465 - -
26354 -
43652 - -
43526 - -
24536 -
43265 -
45362 2 -
63254 - -
52436 - -
34625 - -
26543 - -
64352 - 2
23456 - -
Music: 72/20/136
COM: 0
Bristol 5056
Deva
Cornwall
Lessness
5056 2-spliced DD. DDDDDB.DD D.BDDBB. DBD.BBB.DDDDB D.BBB BBBB.BBB BBBB.DBDDD D.BBBB. BDBDB.BBB BB.BBBBBBB. BBDDB.D. BBBBBBB.B BBBB.BBDD BB.DD.BBBBBBB. DDDD.DDDDD.B DDDD.DDDDD.DD DDB.DDDB.B DDDD.BDB.DD DDB.BDB.DD. DBBD.BDDDDD. 68/20/123 48 2592 2464
5024 3-spliced B. DBDDCCD.B BCB.BCB. BCCD.BC. DDDC.BC CDCCB.CCCCC CC.BBDD D.CBB. BCCDC. BBCB.BBBBBBB. CDCCB.BCCDC. BBBBCB.B BDDBB.CB BCCD.CBBCC.BDC. DBD.DDBD.DD DBD.CBBC. CB.DBDD. DCD.CBBDDB.DD DDDD.BDDBBC.DD.DBBC BB.DCCDDBD. 68/23/130 89 1920 1600 1504
5024 4-spliced B. DDDL.DD CL.BDDDDB. BCLLD.LC. LLCBL.BC CDCCB.BC CC.BBB LLC.LCB. BCCDL. LLCB.BBDDCL. CDCCB.BCLLDL. LLLCBB.B BCCDC.CB BCCD.CBLLLC.BDL. DBD.BCBL. DLLD.CBBL.L C.CCDDB. DCD.LDLDBL.DBDDC L.LDLDBL.DD.DBLC BB.BDDBBCB. 72/19/134 104 1344 1248 1248 1216
23456 M B W H
42356 -
54326 -
54263 - -
46253 - -
65432 -
53624 -
32546 -
32465 - -
26354 -
43652 - -
43526 - -
24536 -
43265 -
45362 2 -
63254 - -
52436 - -
34625 - -
26543 - -
64352 - 2
23456 - -
Music:
COM:
Bristol
Deva
Cornwall
Lessness
Malpas
Superlative
Adelaide
5024 5-spliced DD. BMBBL.DD D.BDDDDB. DLLCB.BL.LC BBL. MCDDL.LLL ML.CB BMCDL.CDCMB. BCMDL.CDCM M.BBLLLL. MDMMB.BCCDC. CLCBB.B BMCDC.DLLCC M.CCMC.BMLCB. C.BMBL. MMCD.DDBD.L C.BBD. MMCD.MCDMMB.CMLLM L.BBBBC.DCM.MLMLM L.CBBMCDC. 70/19/149 113 1120 928 1088 928 960
5056 6-spliced B. BCCL.B SS.BMB. DBLDS.DDBDD.LC BBL.CMMCM ML. CDSDS. DSDCDL.D. BSSLDL.LC BB.BMCM. CDMMMS.BLC. BMCBB.B LLC.BC BLLS.SSSSL.CCBBCMD. C.BDLDBM.SSS SD.CCDCMB. CMCD.CCBB.B BCCD.BMBBDD.DCM DDB.MBLL.DLLL.SLM BMS.CCC CDC. 69/23/152 115 1120 896 1056 704 640 640
5024 7-spliced B. MLCBCS.B BCCDL.LLAA. ALAAAS.BL. CCBL.CCMD CL. LS.CB BMCDL.BMB. BBADB.LSD M.MCMMMCL. BCMDL.MAMCB. BLLLMB. MMCDC. SLS.LASA.BDM. C.BDDADBM.SSS M.LLCL.L SSS.DDDB.DBDAM L.BBAAMB.SDASD M.DDDB.CCCL.MAM ASLS.MCCCDC. 70/22/160 119 832 704 832 800 768 544 544
23456 M B W H
42356 -
54326 -
54263 - -
46253 - -
65432 -
53624 -
32546 -
32465 - -
26354 -
43652 - -
43526 - -
24536 -
43265 -
45362 2 -
63254 - -
52436 - -
34625 - -
26543 - -
64352 - 2
23456 - -
Music:
COM:
Bristol
Deva
Cornwall
Lessness
Malpas
Superlative
Adelaide
Yorkshire
Glasgow
Venusium
5056 8-spliced B. MBCBMY.SYY SS.ALDAMCB. YAAAS.LL. CMBL. CCMCDL.SS YLA.DMCBB ML.LCB. BADADB.CDCM BB.MCMDCL. BLL.BMLCA. LLLLMB.MMLLM CC.DMD SD.YSSSSD.BDL. C.DDBBMB.YSY SYY.S. ACD.DSAMDB.DD SD.BMBM.SSY YSY.AALD.DCM.L ALYS.CCMCS. 72/20/140 127 704 704 672 704 704 672 448 448
5056 9-spliced B. MBCGCMY.DGY YS.AACB. ADAAAAS.LM.GCM BBDA. BBCMB.YGG YY.DCMBB CL.LMB. ADALDB. LLCB.MLLLL. SLCMGL.MGMLLS. DMB.MCLLM CC.SS GGD.YSSYSD.DSGDL. YAMA.DYACDB. YDMG.CCL. GD.LDB.DD SD.CBBBB.YSS YSY.LLD.MS.GM BMS.MCCCS. 66/19/151 127 672 640 608 672 640 544 416 448 416
5056 10-spliced SYGY. MBCGVY.VGY SS.ACMMB. ADAAAAS.LC.CGM BBL. LDGCB.YVGC D.VMCBB CL.LMB. AVAVAVB.CL M.MGMCL. BYYGGL.BYDMDC. LLLLMB. MMCVC.SS GGD.YSSSSD.BDAA. YV.DSACDB. MB.S. VS.BVDD.DV DDVD.CGMBL.YVG YSY.LCCB.B.GM BLLG.CVVMC. 66/20/152 128 640 512 608 512 544 448 384 416 480 512
Peals contain the music (listed as 5678+8765 runs / 6578 rollups / LB4 runs), COM and method balance shown below each column. Every peal in the series is ATW. Where a calling line ends with a "." but the course does not contain a Home, the course end is not rung.
I have also explored the potential of little-bell-generating multipart compositions using the same methods. Here I omitted the 1- and 2-method peals, so we start with 3-spliced; in further contrast to the one-part series, I have chosen different compositions as methods are added, in order to maximise the music at each stage. By picking the best calling it has proved possible to pack in surprisingly high numbers of little-bell runs, despite using a familiar back-bell dominated 1xxx5678 part end throughout. The result is a set of compositions which compete closely with the one-parts - the only substantive disadvantage being that the multipart peals are not ATW (although in fact most bells do ring most place-bells of each method). Again, please let me know if you ring any of these.
23456 M B W H
26354 2 - C.DCC.DCB.
32465 4 BDDC.DCB.BCBCB.CDDD.BC
25463 - 2 BB.CDDD.B.
(53642) 2 CBB.CDDD.
25346 - - DB.DCB.
42356 - DDCD.CCBBC
Music 60/24/122
COM 108
Bristol 1536
Deva 1824
Cornwall 1728
23456 M W B H
35264 - CL.BBL
(63542) 2 - MBD.B.DB.
53462 - - - DB.LL.D.
(53624) - - CDB.MLL.
(32546) - DBL.
24365 - CMMCDC.BM
24653 - - CDCMB.CL.
(45236) - MDMCB.
34256 - MMCCL.CMCM
Music 63/24/131
COM 144
Bristol 1056
Deva 864
Cornwall 1248
Lessness 864
Malpas 1152
23456 M W B H
52364 - 2 CM.SS.CLLD.
(52643) - - BDL.CCDCM.
24536 - BS.MB
43265 - BDDL.BM
64352 - 2 BMB.CL.DSDC.
(64523) - - BLMLM.BSS.
42356 - 2 DMS.DM.B.CMCC
Music 66/24/146
COM 135
Bristol 960
Deva 864
Cornwall 960
Lessness 672
Malpas 960
Superlative 672
23456 M B W H
26354 2 - C.MDDA.LDL.
(32465) 4 MBLLS.ACB.LCCL.SAA.
25463 - 2 SACAD.SC.B.
(53642) 2 ASM.AMDD.
25346 - - BSS.DSA.
42356 - BCLMB.CMCM
Music 81/21/130
COM 141
Bristol 576
Deva 672
Cornwall 864
Lessness 672
Malpas 672
Superlative 768
Adelaide 864
23456 M W B H
35264 - ADLL.SS
(63542) 2 - YSD.DSAM.LD.
53462 - - - BSS.YA.LYYYC.
53624 - - ADY.CMB.CB
(32546) - CL.
24365 - SL.ML
24653 - - CBB.AAMB.
(45236) - D.
34256 - MCMCM.B
Music 66/18/142
COM 135
Bristol 672
Deva 576
Cornwall 672
Lessness 672
Malpas 672
Superlative 672
Adelaide 576
Yorkshire 576
23456 M B W H
26354 - - - D.ADAA.DGY.
(65324) 2 BBMLL.B.
43265 3 CCB.YSYG.MBCC.BC
35264 - 2 BCG.DGSDC.B.
63542 - 2 D.MC.GL.
42356 2 ALS.AYDMS.AYDA
Music 81/24/130
COM 144
Bristol 768
Deva 768
Cornwall 768
Lessness 384
Malpas 384
Superlative 384
Adelaide 672
Yorkshire 480
Glasgow 480
23456 M W B H
35264 - AVLL.SS
(63542) 2 - YL.DSAM.SGDV.
53462 - - - DMS.YA.V.
(53624) - - ADY.SSC.
(32546) - YM.
24365 - BBCCGC.ML
(24653) - - CBCG.AACB.
(45236) - AGB.
34256 - VDM.B
Music 69/21/144
COM 141
Bristol 576
Deva 480
Cornwall 672
Lessness 384
Malpas 480
Superlative 672
Adelaide 672
Yorkshire 384
Glasgow 384
Venusium 384
All eight peals are in three parts. They contain the music (listed as 5678+8765 runs / 6578 rollups / LB4 runs), COM and method balance shown. These peals are not ATW, although in general the front bells do ring most place-bells of each method.
MBD March 2013