Hush! Whisper
for viola and ensemble
Olibel Music
Armando Bayolo Hush!
Whisper
(Show Offs! Part IV)
Commissioned by the Constantinides Ensemble at Louisiana State University, Ensemble Ibis at the Frost School of Music at Miami University, Shawn Crouch, director
Written in the winter-spring, 2023 in St. Louis. Missouri
Duration: approx. 18 minutes
Instrumentation
solo viola
Flute Clarinet
2 Percussion suspended cymbal bass drum
Tibetan prayer stones (may be substituted with high claves) crotales (high octave) finger cymbals
2 terra cota flower pots, tuned to minor thirds (may be substituted by wood or temple blocks with a sound like those in David Lang’s The So-Called Laws of Nature as performed by So Percussion) two porcelain tea cups, tuned to minor thirds (may be substituted for high bongos or other object of high, brittle, delicate sound)
triangle
Violin
Cello
Piano
Performance Notes
Dynamics in Hush! Whisper are always to be very quiet. Accents and sforzandi, when marked in the score, should be performed within a generally quiet context (like the sparks of fireflies breaking the dark of a summer night).
The original concept for Hush! Whisper included a small theatrical element that could still be taken on if the soloist and ensemble desire. If so, the following instructions could be helpful:
Violist starts offstage. The percussion opening serves as a processional for the soloist, who enters slowly, walking towards the percussion section.
The percussion section should be spot lit, if possible, while the rest of the ensemble remains in the dark, as invisible as possible.
Violist should arrive at perccusion station at rehearsal A (m. 14) or soon thereafter (if the part is memorized).
The cadenza at m. 30 serves as a cue for percussion 1 and cello. The two fermatas should be long. Violist may begin to move towards the piano, arriving at that station by measure 36.
Violist begins to move towards the clarinet beginning at m. 45, arriving no later than m. 50. Violist should move towards a more traditional concerto soloist position (center or stage right) beginning at m. 70 and arriving at that spot by rehearsal E (m. 75).
Violist moves towards the strings’ station from mm.91-93, arriving by m. 94 (or 95 at the latest). Ideally, they should take a position between the violin and cello (but remain standing. They are ALWAYS the soloist!). Remain there until rehearsal K (m. 175).
Violist moves towards the solo position (center or stage right, as above), beginning at m. 178. This can be very gradual, with final arrival possible at rehearsal L (m. 188) or as late as rehearsal M (m. 202). They should remain there until rehearsal S (m. 283).
Violist may then move to the flute’s station beginning at m. 284, arriving by rehearsal T, at least. At m. 324, during their “cadenza” (after the flute has finished their duet), soloist should move towards a new soloist position on stage left. They should be in place by rehearsal W (m. 335). They are to perform the rest of their part from that station.
After measure 370, the soloist may process slowly offstage from stage left.
As other instruments finish their part, the performers may also process offstage, or the lights dimmed until only a spotlight remains on percussion and cello.
The above instructions are all optional. Hush! Whisper may be performed as a traditional concerto. Ensembles may also choose to take on a stage director to block the action as desired.
Ideally, Hush! Whisper should be performed in reverberant spaces. Barring that, the ensemble should be amplified with enough reverberation to create a spacious sound.
Program Note
Hush! Whisper is the final work in a four-piece cycle of concertos called, Show Offs. It is the quietest, most intimate piece in the cycle and represents a sort of deconstruction of the concerto genre. Its solo part eschews the trappings of traditional virtuosity in favor of a virtuosity of tone, stillness, and patience. In this way, it becomes a sort of “anti-concerto.”
The inspiration for Hush! Whisper is two-fold. It is in line with other pieces of mine in which I seek to create a still, meditative space with minimal, slow moving material. It was more directly inspired, also, by my seeing the violinist Monica Germino perform an evening length work written for her by the Bang on a Can collective and Louis Andriessen titled, Muted in New York in 2018. That piece, “the quietest violin piece ever written,” according to Michael Gordon (one of its composers), utilized a very intimate space, a light sculpture, and discreet movements around the performance space by Ms. Germino. It was mesmerizing, and I immediately thought about how that concept could be applied to a piece with an ensemble. A friendship with the violists Michael Hall and Kimberly Sparr, along with the fact that I have several concertante works for violin already, led me to opt for viola as a soloist instead (although the part could potentially be performed on violin with minimal adjustments, I suppose).
Hush! Whisper was written in the spring of 2023. It was commissioned by a consortium led by Kimberly Sparr and the Constantinides Chamber Ensemble at Louisiana State University.
Armando Bayolo Florissant, MO
Percussion1
Percussion2
Hush!Whisper.
*Very delicate. If these instrumenta are unavailable, use wood blcks and bongos.