Affect and Intervals with Blavet Flute Solo

This is the opening of Michel Blavet's Gigue en Rondeau. The first measure immediately sets the tone of this composition in a very striking way, as we don't get a clear indication of the key (E minor) which we'd normally expect at the beginning of a piece. Compare this with a Gigue en Rondeau in E minor by Rameau and see how clearly E minor is established in our ears. Instead in Blavet's piece, we have these triplet patterns which move down in 1/2 steps, and a constant outlining of a minor 6th, both as the ambitus of the triplet as well as an interval within a triplet. We hear neither a clear outline of an E minor chord nor a definite tonic-dominant relationship right away. This is why this piece sounds so mysterious, ambiguous, and fascinating at the same time.

Baroque theorists had different things to say about the relationship between intervals and affect, but it was definitely on people's minds back then. Next time you hear a minor 6th prominently, think about whether it recalls a melancholy feeling for you. For me, I'm reminded of Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor, Op. 64, if you hear it you'll know what I'm talking about!
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​Below is my lecture on this piece: