Bryan Lin - 4 on 5 by Bryan Lin

4 on 5 for solo unaccompanied cello

Bryan Lin ÂŠ2016

About the piece When my friend Tim Mar asked me fall to write him a piece for solo cello in the fall of 2015, I had just finished a solo viola piece as part of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s annual Viola Project. At that point, the last thing I wanted to write next was another solo string piece. 4 on 5, at first, seems like a nod to the Wes Montgomery standard Four on Six. My title has a few hidden meanings, the first of which is the most obscure – the number forty-five in Roman numerals is XLV, which also stands for “extra-large viola.” Before I started writing, Tim encouraged me to incorporate jazz elements. There were two popular jazz standards that have acted as my original inspirations – Freedom Jazz Dance by Eddie Harris and So What by Miles Davis (I frequently quote the latter’s iconic voicing of three stacked fourths with a third on top, but as a melodic line instead of a chord). Although I’ve always resisted tapping into my jazz roots, I’ve always had an affinity for using fourths which is so typical of the jazz idiom. The other meaning of 4 on 5 refers to this persistent use of fourths on an instrument seemingly designed for fifths – this piece is a juxtaposition of quartal vs. quintal chords. At the premiere, Tim wanted to pair this piece next to Ligeti’s Sonata for Solo Cello. Knowing this, I intended the structure of 4 on 5 to be loosely based on Ligeti’s, which begins with a slow Dialogo that leads into an intense Capriccio. Conversely, my piece is built on a large 3-part structure, fast-slow-fast. The slow section takes some obvious material from Ligeti, such as the sliding pizzicato chords and even a brief, but blatant, quote of his opening theme. Duration: ~8’

Written for Timothy Mar

4 on 5 for solo unaccompanied cello Bryan Lin (b.1991)

                                             Lively q = 160

cresc. poco a poco

                

     



  

                p

                                    

       

 

 pizz.                                

pizz. arco                                                 

 pizz. arco pizz.                                                

arco

arco                              

             

            

pizz.     arco                                p

pizz.                                                 

    

                 

  

arco

  

arco   pizz.                           p

                                      

  

(out of nowhere)

sub. p

sul pont.  ord.                                                     

                              

                     

 con legno arco                                                sub. p f

                            p f

                 

        

  

   

   



 

 

  

 

 



    

più p

  

    

  

     

                             p echo

       



      più p

     

arco, sul tasto



             

                                       

pizz.

     

  

pizz. arco

106

111

 

  



    

101

    

                    

 



Adagio cantabile, rubato (q=66)

 



       



     





             

 



          

  

ord.

pizz. arco

             

        

122

126

                  

         

   

con gran espressione

         



             

   

    

arco

pizz.



  

117



Tempo primo (q=160)

 

         pizz.



f arco

  

Adagio (q=66)

       

130

     

      

Adagio

 

   

134

       

139

pizz.

     

 

Tempo primo

       pizz.

 



            pizz. arco              Tempo primo (q=160)

arco

pizz.                               

    

arco

arco                                 

146

         

                                     

151



156

        p

 

          

 

pizz.             

pizz.                                                

162

arco

   pizz.                                                poco stringendo

168 arco

pizz. arco

A tempo

                                             

174

arco

              

180

      pizz.     arco             sub. p

arco pizz                                  

187

f vigoroso

arco             

pizz.

arco arco pizz                                                  

193 pizz.

arco      pizz. arco     pizz. arco                                                    

200 pizz.

6 pizz. arco arco arco     con legno    pizz. pizz.                                                 

206

  

212

pizz.

  

arco

   ff

 

pizz. arco pizz.                           arco

 

 arco pizz. arco     pizz.                                               

218

         

cresc. poco a poco

         

225

   

231

    pizz.

arco pizz.                  arco

          

pizz. arco                                           sub. mp

cresc.

pizz. arco                                   

238

cresc. poco a poco

    

stringendo

   

    

poco rit.

            

245

                 heavy!

  fff

pizz. (I to IV)

    

San Francisco, CA March 13, 2016 rev. April 19, 2017