Drei Situationen nach Schumann
Three situations after Schumann for piccolo (playable by non-flutist), flute, and bass clarinet with intra-instrumental playback Dur. 10′
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Drei Situationen nach Schumann
Three situations after Schumann for piccolo (playable by non-flutist), flute, and bass clarinet with intra-instrumental playback
Dur. 10′
1. In the Noise*
“... Seven of these poems take up ‘(to make) noise’ as a verb and respectively in its substantivised form: “Above me the beautiful solitude of the forest murmurs”, as in the first song, “it rustled lightly in the forests” in the fifth. The sixth begins with the words “The tops and showers rustled”, and in the seventh part the verse “And the forest rustles through the grill.” In the eighth song ‘noise’ is rhymed with itself: “I hear the rushing brook, / In the forest forth and back / In the forest in the noise / I do not know where I am.” ... ”
Christiane Tewinkel, Singing from the noise – Robert Schumann’s song cycle Op. 39 after poems by Joseph von Eichendorff. p. 18.
2. Tones, tranquil*
“My tones, calm and serene ascend to my beloved! O, that I by your steps** cannot ascend to her.
Lay, o sweet tones, my pain upon her breast, since this strict beauty will not that I place her in my heart.”
F. Rückert, from the first song of the Minnespiel collection, Op. 101 by R. Schumann
3. Inward*
From Schumann’s Davidsbündlertanz No. 6 with the words “sehr rasch und in sich hinein”, which means “very fast and into oneself”.
1. Im Rauschen
“... Sieben dieser Gedichte nehmen das Verb ‘rauschen’ respektive seine substantivierte Form auf: “Über mir rauschet die schöne Waldeinsamkeit”, heisst es im ersten Lied, “Es rauschten leis’ die Wälder” im fünften. Das sechste beginnt mit den Worten “Es rauschten die Wipfel und schauern”, zum siebten gehört der Vers “Und der Wald rauscht durch das Gitter”. Im achten Lied wird ‘rauschen’ mit sich selbst gereimt: “Ich hör’ die Bächlein rauschen, / Im Walde her und hin / Im Walde in dem Rauschen / Ich weiss nicht wo ich bin.” ...” Christiane Tewinkel , Vom Rauschen singen - Robert Schumanns Liederkreis op. 39 nach Gedichten von Joseph von Eichendorff, s. 18.
2. Töne, still “Meine Töne still und heiter zu der Liebsten steigt hinan! O, dass ich auf eure Leiter zu ihr auf nicht steigen kann.
Leget, o ihr süssen Töne, an die Brust ihr meinen Smertz, weil nicht will die strenge Schöne, dass ich ihr mich leg’ an’s Herz.”
F. Rückert, aus dem ersten Lied der Samlung Minnespiel op. 101 von R. Schumann
3. In sich hinein Aus Schumanns Davidsbündlertanz Nr. 6 mit der Angabe “sehr rasch und in sich hinein”.
* In German the word rauschen is used to describe a wide range of sounds in nature, making it a popular word in German Romantic literature. In von Eichendorff’s text it is used as both verb and noun.
** In German the word ‘Leiter‘ can mean both ladder and (musical) scale.
See also HCMF 2012 interview with Simon Steen-Andersen: https://soundcloud.com/hcmf-1/an-interview-with-simon-steen#t=6:43
These ‘conceptual arrangements’ are as much an installation as pieces of music. They are suited to placement between other pieces on a concert programme and were originally conceived of in this way.
Loudspeakers, attaching the loudspeakers, setup: The loudspeakers should be 1,5–2 cm Ø, and should produce very little sound when not attached to a sounding body or space (i.e. the inner of the instruments). They should be able to produce a certain loudness before distorting (and thus producing higher frequencies than the instruments are able to filter – a little distortion is acceptable and can add color to the sine tones if wanted).
For the first movement (Im Rauschen) there are 3 sound files with differently filtered (but individually static) noise. For the second movement (Töne, Still) there are 3 sound files with different (but individually static) clusters of sine tones.
The players play the instruments by filtering the sound from the loud speakers, not adding any sounds themselves (except maybe a soft – in no way exaggerated – key noise).
The playbacks can be stopped and started by a technician or on stage by a MIDI-pedal, for example.
Flute & Piccolo: Attach the loudspeaker on the hole of the mouthpiece (for example with some rubber band), pointing into the instrument. Find the position where the sound is loudest and most differentiated when changing the fingering. When placing the lip in playing position, one should be able to intonate the perceived pitch to the one matching the normal pitch of the corresponding fingering. (Without the lip in position, the pitch tends to be between a quarter and a half tone higher).
Bass Clarinet: Place the loudspeaker on the lower end of the opening of the mouthpiece without a reed. Look for the position where the sound is loudest and most differentiated when changing the fingering. The precise position may effect the general intonation and can be used to “tune” the instrument.
Bell-damping device, playing pauses, starting and ending:
A setup should be made to quickly be able to cover/stuff the bell of the speaker of the instruments. Whenever there is a break in the music (as well as before and after each movements before and after turning on and off the playback) the bell should be completely stuffed in combination with covering the loudspeaker with the mouth and closing all the keys/holes, in order to not let out any sound!
The setups could involve damping the piccolo with little finger, the flute against a pillow (placed in the lap) or a fluffy bass drum stick attached to the stand, and the bass clarinet with a foot or some arrangement with a pillow under one of the feet (and the hole next to the bell closed with tape).
For the 3rd movement on/off switches (untouched = on, depressed with foot = off, lifting foot = automatically on again) between amplifier and loudspeaker should be built.
Since only the flute seems to keep producing the pitches in the normal way, there are many notes that are out of tune or not available – even with alternative fingering. The piece is in no way meant to be in perfect tune, but an effort should be made to come as close as possible. The bass clarinet is notated in 2 systems, the lower one being the actions to play and the upper one being the desired resulting pitch.
Flute & Piccolo: The flute seems to work with the normal pitches, as long as the lip is in position on the mouthpiece. A few times a high C# is notated with a sharp sign above, which indicates to move the lips away from the mouthpiece aiming for a pitch as close to the D as possible.
Bass clarinet: The tuning seems affected in a quite strange way on most instruments. The sound is generally one octave higher. At the high G fingering it transposes a minor third down, at the lower G it transposes the normal major second down (an octave too high). In between the transposition gradually moves from a minor third to a major second, meaning that around C# the resulting sound will be right in the middle resulting in a quarter tone lower B. My strategy has been to avoid this note and to transpose everything above a minor third and everything below a major second. When possible, further alterations should be looked for the get closer to the pitches that are most off – or in case of the sine tones, to get the greatest possible resonance for the desired pitch.
Performance: When nothing is written, the notes are meant to be legato. Non-legato is marked by tenuto on longer notes and staccato on short notes.
The players change the tempi and “phrasing” as they please, to make the music more “musical” or alive, if they want.
(Noise played through the miniature loudspeakers, filtered with the instruments.)
Simon Steen-Andersen
(Pauses means closing the tube of the flutes/switching off the loudspeaker with a foot switch for the bass clarinet.)
(Cluster of sine tones played through the miniature loudspeakers, filtered with the instruments.) 2. Töne, Still
(Steady, synchronized clicks on every 8th note played through the miniature loudspeakers – every staccato note is an audible click filtered by the fingering, pauses are clicks made inaudible by closing the tube/switching of the loudspeaker with a foot switch.)