Equator Loops (Preview)

PROMETHEAN EDITIONS 

STUART GREENBAUM 

Equator Loops 

Piano

Stuart Greenbaum 


Piano 

PROMETHEAN EDITIONS 

WELLINGTON

Equator Loops (PE053), by Stuart Greenbaum (2001), for Piano 

© Stuart Greenbaum 2001 

First edition © 2024 Promethean Editions Limited 

Series Editor: Ross Hendy 

Editor: Thomas Liggett 

ISBN: 978-1-877218-53-8 (print) 

ISBN: 978-1-77660-053-3 (digital) 

ISMN: 979-0-67452-333-2 

Promethean Editions Limited 

PO Box 10143 

Wellington 

NEW ZEALAND 

https://www.prometheaneditions.com 

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by 

any means without permission in writing from the Publisher.

Stuart Greenbaum (1966) 

Stuart Greenbaum has been working as a professional composer for over 30 years. His output 

is quite varied, comprising over 180 works for the concert and theatre stage. He studied 

composition with Brenton Broadstock and Barry Conyngham and has also taken an interest 

in composers influenced by minimalism. This is evident to some extent in his works which 

reveal a strong inclination towards modally-based chromaticism as found in Late Romantic 

harmony. In the context of pulsing motoric rhythms (the influence of pop and jazz) he 

tends to create music somewhere between the worlds of minimalism, pop and the Romantic 

symphonic tradition. 

Greenbaum’s music has been performed by ABC orchestras throughout Australia, the Oxford 

Philharmonia (United Kingdom), the Pacific Ocean Symphony Orchestra (Vladivostok, 

Russia), The Song Company (Sydney Opera House), Arcadian Singers (United Kingdom) and 

by Spitalfields Market Opera (London, United Kingdom). 

Latest information about the composer may be found at https://www.stuartgreenbaum.com 

Equator Loops (2001) 

Equator Loops is based on a simple melodic idea that expands and contracts step-wise 

in a “mirror image” of itself around the note D in the very centre of the piano keyboard. 

Development is strictly organic – this single idea is used exclusively throughout the piece – 

and progresses in “waves” of fluctuating intensity. The composer’s decision to limit himself to 

such minimal germinal material lends the piece a hypnotic, even obsessive, feeling; interest is 

focused on the development of a demisemiquaver rhythmic motive and gradual expansion of 

the music into wider registers. 

PE053 – iii

The composer writes: 

The title of this piece refers to the use of contrary motion, which defines its thematic 

material. The “loops” gradually expand but always return to the “equator” (the central tone 

D). The title is a slight play on John Adams’ Shaker Loops, which itself was also a play on 

words. The overall musical structure of modal alternation is based on the Te Deum of Arvo 

Pärt – the analysis of which work was the basis of my PhD thesis – and Equator Loops is 

accordingly dedicated to Pärt. 

Equator Loops was originally published in Firestarters 2 (PE069), a volume of seven new 

recital pieces for piano aimed at younger players, published by Promethean Editions. 

PE053 – iv

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Stuart Greenbaum 

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4 Equator Loops © 2001 Stuart Greenbaum 

This edition © 2024 Promethean Editions Limited PE053 – 1 

ISMN: 979-0-67452-333-2

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PE053 – 2 

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PE053 – 3

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Tempo I 

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PE053 – 4

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Tempo T O I = 56 

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eva 

A 

C C 

C 

PE053 – 5

PROMETHEAN EDITIONS

Equator Loops (Preview)

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