Professional Documents
Culture Documents
for Female Voice, Cello, Male Voice, Viola, and Singing Pianist
A little light
You see a little light come down on your abdomen to light you up
-A woman stretches herself like a rocketIn the corner over there a shadow is reading
Her feet swinging free are too pretty
A mere nothing
A fire we rekindle and which goes out
Ive had enough of the wind
Ive had enough of the sky
At heart all we see is artificial
Even your mouth
And yet I am hot where your hand touches me
General Notes
This work is an amalgamation of two pieces of music, performed simultaneously.
The first piece, which I wrote in 2011, is titled In the corner over there, a shadow is reading and scored for Female Voice, Cello
and Silent Pianist. That work is reproduced in full in this score, and is indicated by the names of the original
performers: Madeline, Chelsea and Matthew.
The second piece is the newly composed (2015) material for (and labeled as) Piano, Viola and Male Voice. The two
pianist roles are played by the same performer, a double-role which is made feasible by the relative inactivity required in
the 2011 part.
The two pieces should be rehearsed separately as much as possible. If the 2015 ensemble is appropriately acquainted
with the notation, very few joint dress rehearsals should be needed with both ensembles. The 2011 ensemble need not
ever be aware of any of the new material, and should perform it as such. Because of the considerable rhythmic
looseness of the 2011 work, each performance of this new work will contain considerable indeterminacy.
All of this is to say that a virtuosity of attention and present awareness/engagement with the work is much more crucial
to a successful performance than any technical virtuosity.
Notes on this Score
This particular score was made for the purposes of digital reproduction, and is a kind of Study Score which differs
greatly from the actual score. The actual score involves layered pages in which cut-outs have been made, revealing
material below. Here is a description of how that score is arranged:
The first 4 pages of the actual score are arranged in this way:
Top Page
Lower Page
Lower Page
Bottom Page
Top Page
Lower Page
Lower Page
Bottom Page
Page 1
Page 2
etc
Please note that cut-outs in Male Voice Part can thus reveal any other part, while cut-outs in the Piano Part can only reveal the 2011 score.
In general, the cut-outs are identical in each part at the beginning of the work, and gradually diverge over the first 4 pages. In this Study
Score, the first 4 pages had to be stretched into 8, labelled 1a/1b, 2a/2b, etc
Page 12 does not exist in the actual score, nor is there a page 12 in the 2011 score. Page 12 is included in this
Study Score to show how instructions for ending the work would play out. These instructions will be included in
the performance notes of the actual score.
Top Page
Bottom Page
Black -
The first section of the piece explores framing as scaffolding. That is, as connected but not-yet-structural; a
starting point for the construction of a frame. The music in this first section (p.1-4) exists entirely in relation to the
quoted work, but as the section unfolds, the temporal distance of the scaffolding becomes more clear. The 2015
ensemble begins to anticipate or echo the old.
The increasing autonomy of the 2015 material builds towards the second section of the piece (p. 5-10),
serving as a more traditional frame, fully distinct from the framed object. The temporal disconnect between
the old and new is embraced. This more straightforward framing is highlighted by the gaze of the 2015 ensemble,
which is occasionally directed towards the 2011 ensemble. Again, this is meant as a humanizing gesture,
suggesting to the audience that what the composer is doing, and what the ensemble is doing, is not so different
from what they are doing.
Still searching for a kind of intimacy in framing, the final section of the work explores framing as excavation.
In this part of the work, the 2015 ensembles gaze is in constant flux, their eyes opening and closing. This entails a
complete detachment from the score for the performers, encouraging increased attention on the minds of the
performers. A particular pattern, pervasive throughout the work, dominates the performance during this last
section. The two-chord progression performed during this section of the work is a more direct expression of the
source material for the original love song.
When the quoted work has finished, Madeline walks to the Male Vocalist, kisses him on the cheek, and leaves.
X noteheads are always sung with un-pitched breath, the specific kind is always notated (ssss, tuhh, etc).
Arrows beneath the sopranos staff refer to the direction of air, either Inhale (left-pointing arrow) or Exhale (rightpointing arrow).
This applies to both singing (inward and outward) and non-pitched breathing, hissing, etc.
-----X noteheads in the cellists part refer to a completely (or nearly completely) pitchless sound, created by muting the
strings with the left hand.
------
Dashed lines connecting one part to another refer to either simultaneity (a simple vertical connection) or reaction (a
vertical line which dodges slightly forward)
Timing, in seconds, is to be observed naturally, never with the aid of a timekeeper.
Performance Notes for Piano (2015)
Pages 1-4 (four-stave notation)
Pages 5-9
(An effort should be made by each member of the ensemble to have a unified
tempo, though some rhythmic messiness is to be expected.)
Disruptions include:
*** While the performance or expression of these fragments are disrupted, MENTAL CONTINUITY
SHOULD NOT BE DISRUPTED until page 10. That is to say that regardless of any other activity during
pages 5-9, the 2015 Ensemble should be continually IMAGINING the performance of the indicated
fragments, even when this imagined music is not being externalized in any way. Slight rhythmic bodymovements to maintain a consistent ensemble tempo are not necessarily discouraged, so long as they are
not overly distracting. What is encouraged, however, is any subtle sense that the 2015 ensemble is tracking
time in a way that is completely distinct from the 2011 ensemble.***
Pages 10-12
-
On these pages, each member of the 2015 ensemble is applying pre-
memorized rules to (very minimal) pre-memorized material. These
rules, and this material, is included at the end of these notes.
On this score, these four filters are symbolized as the four lines of the staff
(page 10), and later as the four staves (page 11). On both of these pages, a
pathway through these filters is indicated in asterisks. On page 10, each
instrument is given a different pathway, while on page 11 the entire 2015
ensemble is using the same pathway.
While each 2015 performer is applying these rules (and externalizing them),
they are also redirecting their gaze towards and away from the Female
Vocalist (notated as white peaks) and slowly closing and opening their eyes
(notated as black peaks).
All of these physical movements take place at a constant pulse, which should develop naturally from the
previous material (pages 5-9). On pages 5-9, the fragments slow down and simplify to a point where each
repetition should feel like a slow, wave-like inhalation or exhalation. It is in this spirit, and at this rate, that
these physical movements should transpire. This rate also dictates how long each repetition lasts.
Pages 5-9
Pages 10-12
Pages 5-9
Pages 10-12
Staging
F. Vox
M. Vox
Viola
Cello
Piano
Audience
Movement at end of work
F. Vox
M. Vox
Viola
Cello
Piano
Audience
Set-up for next movement, The Young Son
Clarinet
Perc.
Flute
Cello
Viola
Piano
Audience
For Katie