Composer’s Note To “To B.W.T.” is a new work in which I’ve used an earlier composition of mine (“To B.W.T.” for solo violin, composed June 2005)—which had itself been based on an early painting by Philip Guston (1952) of the same title—as the object of composition, putting my earlier composition through same basic interpretive process that I had initially done with Philip Guston’s painting in order to write the early piece. This earlier work had been inspired by a desire to understand what, if any, are the binding factors that form the relationship between different forms of human expression (having decided upon art and music due to the interesting nature of their relationship), and was conceived as a piece that would attempt to draw out the “essence” of the visual work by expressing it audibly and observing what, if anything, had been preserved. The most fundamental observation was that objectivity, the idea of “faithfully” representing the work by portraying it as the things that are definite about it, such as its physically perceivable attributes, has no meaning between mediums. One can only hope to abstractly symbolize the other’s concrete features, rendering that which is transferred unavoidably subjective. Art is subjective because we acknowledge its existence despite the fact that an objective definition of “art” fails to differentiate it from things that are “not art.” This being so, it is the individual who gives art (speaking in the larger sense of “art”) not only meaning, but existence. I found that it did not matter what it was about the painting I chose that caused me to experience it as I did, but rather, if I was going to write a piece that successfully preserved the painting’s “essence,” it meant writing a piece that I felt accurately represented, if only to myself, what I subjectively experienced from the painting, and would be both conceived in the same way that I experienced it (it was the feeling itself that affected me so strongly about the painting, and not necessarily the colors or brushstrokes, etc. that may have brought it about, so the piece needed to be written while experiencing that feeling rather than attempting to programmatically convey through the music the colors or brushstrokes that evoked the feeling), and would attempt to achieve its affect by similar means (the work has a sense of controlled chaos, the juxtaposition of seemingly arbitrary brushstrokes, etc., but which are superimposed on a strict grid and that seems to weave them all together into a singular, concrete form, and so rather than having accounted for the exact number of brushstrokes of each color and exact lengths and spacings, etc., which would have seemed to ignore the almost violent manner in which they seem to have been applied to the canvas, it seemed more appropriate to allow for the possibility of this improvisatory, almost unrestrained placement of events while still imposing strong degrees of control on certain parameters in order to give the piece form). This feeling of a chaos that seems almost as if bursting out of a structure in which it is violently suppressed, I feel is one of the determinants of what gives the painting its “essence.” Art differs from music in that it is interpreted directly by the observer. Music, on the other hand, must be performed and thus interpreted, i.e. aside from electronic music recorded directly by the composer him or herself, music can only be presented, and thus can only exist, through an expression of what it means to the performer or performers, and in turn, the observer can only experience music through an interpretation of it. Thus the interpretation of the music becomes the music itself.
General Notation Pitch -
in order: double flat, ¾ flat,
flat, ¼ flat, natural, ¼ sharp, sharp, ¾ sharp, double sharp
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X noteheads represent approximate indeterminate pitches which are to sound like “out of tune” versions of the indicated pitch
Timbre
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Rests that are circled indicate to dampen the resonance from the preceding note immediately and as much as possible
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Inhaled markings apply only to the note(s) over which it is written indicating that the performer play it buzzing on the inhale if he or she is capable of doing so. The timbre should sound rough and unnatural. Vibrato o various examples of vibrato markings:
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a sudden, intense vibrato
a kind of “vibrato accent”
a “vibrato accent” simultaneously with a glissando o The absence of vibrato indications is in no way an indication of “non-vib.” Vibrato indications are included for places where vibrato, and usually a specific type of vibrato, is especially desired. Dynamic
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A crescendo that increases in rate rather than steadily becoming louder from niente, or “nothing” (no attack noise) to niente
- Improvisation
o Pitch regions: defined by upper (downward-pointing noteheads) and lower (upward-pointing noteheads) boundaries of pitch wherein the performer is to play various pitches in random succession. The size of the interval formed between these boundaries determines the degree of volatility of pitch at a given point. Boundaries: • upper boundary lower boundary • • region inclusive of boundary’s pitch • region exclusive of boundary’s pitch Pitch region contours: • •
static, same degree of volatility of pitch
variable, here decreasing in volatility
Pitch region sub-contours (Violin only): further defines the pitch region contour by suggesting a more continuous, yet however indeterminate, motion through the pitch region:
still
o Transition modifiers: two symbols are employed in this system to designate the manner of improvisation: erratic, very unpredictable, radical, non-sequential movement within the given limits gradual, continuous, even transition back and forth between the given limits o Articulations Articulations given once or that are the same at both ends of a certain pitch-region are to stay consistent throughout its length
Articulations different between ends of region are to change gradually from one to the other.
when two articulations are contained within brackets and given a transition modifier, they are to be treated as the “limits” and as thus described by the specific modifier
o Density Notation: Indicates the range of how rapidly and in what manner of attack the performer is to play, indicated by headless rhythmic stems or rests enclosed in brackets above to part to which it applies
Range of Densities: starting with a quarter rest indicating “no density”, i.e. silence (always going to or from something else), followed by a fairly moderate eighth note duration (completely relative to the performer and each context where it is used, as are the other remaining indications) and gradually increasing in density until the final indication which means as densely (and not as quickly) as possible When Bracketed: the two different values indicate the “limits” of possible densities, modified by one of the two transition modifiers. Connected with arrows: when two density brackets are connected by an arrow, the player is to transition gradually from the first mode of playing to the second.
When one of these two densities is a rest, the corresponding end of the pitch region of the section will be in parentheses, indicating that these limits essentially never heard, but instead function to shape the contour of the pitch region o Sectional Fermatas: placed above the instrument who determines, by cueing, the length of the section • Larger and smaller divisions of fermatas: secondary
Primary
shorter
• •
regular
longer
short fermatas regular fermata long fermatas
length of section is about the same as the section immediately before it Fermatas are contextual; the same type of fermatas right next to each other, even when applied to spatially equal sections, may very well result in one being noticeably longer than the other just as it may result in their being the same lengths (this should NOT be predetermined by the performers in any way, as the spontaneity of the timing of musical events, an improvisatory element, must be preserved as a central component of the composition). The only time when sections are to be deliberately equivalent are, in this piece, at Ⓖ: although these are, however, also equally the two separate instances of measured spatially, the notation indicates the first “consequent” is to be the same length as the “antecedent” that follows, as is the second “consequent” to the second “antecedent,” however the length of the two antecedent-consequent pairs are in no way required or even encouraged to end up being the same length.
o
Cue markings: should undoubtedly be considered not only an indication for the players to which they are assigned (not counting J, the violin has 15, Trombone 1 has 11, Trombone 2 has 10, and trombone 3 has 5) to cue the other 3 players, but also should be indications to the other 3 players not cuing to watch closely
indicates that the instrument whose staff the symbol points to is to give a gesture to indicate either/and/or a moving on to the next section, the synchronization of multiple parts (connected by ⇡⇣), [etc.] Slurred cues •
•
to be given in a connected motion
giving an up-beat the duration of a quarter note
Staging -
Spatialization: The primary aim of this staging proposal is to put the performers in a configuration that will allow each of them to play at their most absolute, unrestrained extremes, while at the same time retaining some sort of dynamic balance (or the desired imbalance) as an ensemble. Any adjustments to positioning, etc., should be made first and foremost to achieve this, preferably without the use of amplification. stage
vln
audience
(all audience members on ground level)
balcony (reserved for trombonists)
Trb2
Trb3
Trb1 (so all players have clear view of one another)
•
Lighting: Above all else, the lighting must not interfere with the performers’ abilities to see and communicate with one another. If this is unavoidable with the proposed lighting design, either the plan must be forfeited or the cueing system must be rethought. Do not alter the spatialization without first contacting the composer. o Lighting should attempt to imitate the painting, using colors that closely approximate those of the original. The violinist (center stage) should not be lit, but rather should be surrounded most noticeably by red light as if standing within the blackness surrounded by the striking red color in the painting. Cueing will be coordinated by attaching small, lightweight red lights, such as the safety lights (non-blinking) worn by bicyclists, to the instruments. The trombonist should attach theirs to the slides of their instruments, and the violinist to his or her scroll. Cues must necessarily be somewhat exaggerated given the distance between performers, and so the eventual effect will be of bright red streaks amidst a black background as in the painting when these cues are performed in this manner.