Far Beyond Far (2015)

ERIC NATHAN

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For Solo Violin

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Commissioned by Jennifer Koh With the generous support of Justus Schlichting To whom this music is dedicated

Copyright 2015- Eric Nathan. All rights reserved.

P U B L I S H E D B Y N A T H A N A R T S (ASCAP) WWW.ERICNATHANMUSIC.COM | Providence, RI USA | (914) 391-8394

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PROGRAM NOTE: “Far Beyond Far” was composed for violinist Jennifer Koh, as part of a series of new commissions to be paired with Paganini’s Caprice No. 24. This Caprice has long epitomized the ideal of “virtuosity” for the nineteenth-century violinist, and so for these new works, Koh asked composers to explore what “virtuosity” means for the violin in the twenty-first century. In addition, these new works were commissioned to celebrate Koh’s recent ownership of her 1727 Stradavarius violin.

In composing this work, I was not directly influenced by Paganini’s music, but it was always nearby (quite literally – his Caprices remained on my piano throughout my writing of this piece) and it served as a lens for me to contemplate the notion of “virtuosity” in the twenty-first century.

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The most virtuosic live performances I have witnessed are those where the performer demonstrates complete abandon and commits his or her being – emotionally, intellectually, spiritually – to the music. These performances cease to be about the mastery of complicated musical material, but are instead about the performer using music to speak to the audience directly, simply and profoundly.

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While technical brilliance is as central to today’s virtuosity as it was in Paganini’s time, I feel that the emotional and spiritual life that performers can breathe into a composer’s work and transmit to an audience in a live setting is particularly important in today’s increasingly digitized world of communication.

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In my short work, I chose to focus on the emotional and intellectual interpretive aspects of virtuosity. While the piece is technically demanding, embracing extremes of the violin’s registers, it is in essence a conversation between musical characters, a study in interpreting and evoking a variety of emotions in the context of a larger musical thought. Like Paganini’s Caprices, I hope this work can function as a vessel for performers to perfect their virtuosity of communicating emotionally, and humanly, through music.

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The title, “Far Beyond Far,” quotes a line from E.E. Cummings' poem “o by the by” from the collection “1 x 1” (1944). I came upon this poem after finishing my piece, but feel it evokes a kindred spirit, and can be one lens through which the performer can choose to interpret the music.

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"Far Beyond Far" was commissioned by Jennifer Koh with the generous support of Justus Schlichting, to whom this music is dedicated.

-Eric Nathan

Commissioned by Jennifer Koh With the generous support of Justus Schlichting To whom this music is dedicated

Far Beyond Far For Solo Violin Freely throughout; with abrupt changes of character; tempo indications are for character, not strict pulse

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#œ œ f

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44 ƒ

rall.

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Fo

0

p

f

π

Sul III.

f

gliss.

gliss.

p

gliss.

Slowly, with melancholy q = c 76

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˙.

rit.

a tempo

rit.

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poco vib.

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(Early music sound) Sul III. non vib. ord.

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& 44 ‰ J J ≈ ˙ >

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≈

wildly

Slightly slower poco sul pont.

Sul II. accel.

0

U

0

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molto appassionato, con bravura

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gliss.

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≥ >œ # œ .

43 Í

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port.

vib.

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Molto agitato q = c 126

gradually

non vib. lunga

Eric Nathan (b. 1983)

vib.

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gliss.

œ

π

parlando, sotto voce

# œ- .

j #œ œ π

U

‰

gliss.

Œ

Rubato, pushing and pulling ad lib.

a tempo

&œ p

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non vib. (glassy)

port.

# œ-

more luminous, but still slightly hushed

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rit.

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espress.

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gliss.

#œ p

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Œ

Copyright 2015 – Eric Nathan. All rights reserved.

# œ-

P

gliss.

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2

- Far Beyond Far -

&

# œp

gliss. # œ œJ

F

cantabile

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3

&‰

gliss.

j œ f 0

p

(G#)

a œ- a œ

˙.

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J

π

(F#)

p

espress.

poco rit.

3

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# œ- # œ-

gliss.

# œ-

Œ

rit.

œ-

#œ

3

Œ

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accel. gliss.

j œ

wildly, vigorously

43 ƒ

Agitato q = 76 Sul IV.

& 43 œ # œ ≈ œ œ ≈ # œ œ ≈ œ # œ ≈ œ œ ≈ ‰ > > > > > > > > > > ƒ vigorously, poco parlando, 3

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lamenting

3 > # >œ œ ≈ ‰ ≈ ≈ œ œ œ ≈ ‰ & #œ #œ œ >> >> >> 3 f F 3

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relaxing

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3

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rit.

Sul IV.

44 Œ

U # œ ≈ ‰ Ó œ

Sul III.

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Sul IV.

‰ # œ ≈ œ # œ ≈ ‰ > # >œ > >

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fragile, playfully

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π

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π with fragile beauty

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port.

gliss.

Slightly slower q = c 66

molto rall.

3

molto rall.

Sul II.

#œ

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π fragile

∑

3

gliss.

highest note possible

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V.S. (turn page)

3

- Far Beyond Far -

a tempo

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Sul I.

&

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˙

π

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rit.

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3

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rit.

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≈

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wildly

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> # >œ N œ

# >œ

hastily gliss.

# >œ œ ‰ J

ƒ

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port.

ƒ

44 ‰

√> Nœ ‰ J

fast full bow 0 port.

port.

‰ b œœ .. > ƒ

U

vib.

# >w

fÍ

appassionato

f

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non vib.

gliss.

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> bœ œ

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# >œ

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43

fast full bow 0

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gliss.

(Early music sound)

loco

loco

≈

rit.

≈ ˙ > f

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highest note possible (Sul III.)

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gliss. fiery

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bow freely II. 0

fÍ

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Fo

molto appassionato, con bravura

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# >œ œ . & 43 fÍ

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Molto agitato, becoming increasingly wild q = c 126 gliss.

# >œ .

# œ U‰ p

poco

U

gliss.

fo

# œ- # œ a œ-

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accel.

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gliss.

√ port.

0 #œ œ F

or

&

œ # œ a œgliss.

ot F

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Slightly slower q = c 60

# œ UÓ J 3 p

a tempo

-N

(√)

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# œ- .

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espress.

gliss.

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#œ 42 œ

gliss.

gliss.

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44

4

- Far Beyond Far Agitato q = 84

3 3 3 3 3 3 U 4 3 ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ œ ≈ # œ & 4 #œ œ œ œ n œO 4 Ȯ œ œ # >œ # œ # >œ œ œ > œ > œ > > > > > > > > > > > p sub. ƒ vigorously, wildly 3

‰

3

fragile, still

3 3 U 4 ≈ ≈ ≈ œ j & 4 #œ œ ≈ > # >œ > # >œ > >œ >œ œ # œO œO .. > p sub.

3

3

3

rit.

43 # O O # œO œO 42 # œ # œ ≈ # œ œ ≈ œ n O O # œ œ > > >> > œ œ >p sub. π ƒ 3

3

U

43 O O # O 46 # # Ȯ œ œ# œ gliss.

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3

Floating, freely q = c 66

ce

Agitato q = 84

gliss.

45

fragile, still

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& 45 O # O Ȯ O œœ- # œ p fragile, cantabile

rit.

gliss.

3

vigorously, wildly

fragile, still

Floating, freely q = c 66

U

œ # œ ≈ # œ # œ ≈ œ ≈ œ > > > > > # >œ > # œO œO .. ƒ F p sub.

‰

3

wildly

gliss.

gliss.

œO # # œO œO- n Ȯ

m

3

≈ 44 #œ #œ >> ƒ vigorously, 3

poco

42

# Ȯ

- U Oœ # Oœ Oœ

gliss.

3

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gliss.

œO

œO

œO

gliss.

U 64 # # œO O O Oj Ȯ - # œ œ- # œ gliss.

3

p cantabile

gliss.

Agitato q = 84

(lead to high E)

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rit.

gliss.

46 # Ȯ p

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ew

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44 œO

gliss.

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& 42 # œ ≈ ‰ O œ > >œ ƒ π 3

π

43 O œ

Floating, freely q = c 66

Agitato q = 84

5 &4 Œ

j Oœ π

y

3 3 2 ≈ ≈ ‰ & 4 #œ #œ #œ > œ > > > ƒ

Floating, freely q = c 66

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Agitato q = 84

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fragile, cantabile

# # œO- œO œO

gliss.

# Ȯ

π

fragile, cantabile

Slowly q = c 50

œO

gliss.

3 44 # # œO O . œO O . œO j U - # œ . - œ . - # œO œO

π

gliss.

gliss.

cantabile

√

Sul I.

accel.

3 3 3 2 ≈ ≈ ‰ ≈ 4 #œ # œ # œ œ > > œ > > >œ > " f" ƒ

propelling energy

gliss. approx. N ¿j

4 4

˙

U̇

ƒ

p

dramatically

42

45

- Far Beyond Far -

5 Slowly, gradually fading high into the sky q = c 50

(ad. lib length of breaths; gracefully; they should get longer as pitches recede higher, through the end of the piece)

‰

π

, #œ

poco

# œ-

, ‰

p

(q = c 84)

, ‰

√ port. # œ

3

œ # >œ > f

Getting slower

≈ Œ & # œ # œ ≈ œ >œ > > > F

‰

π

‰

,

dim.

Ø

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dim.

p œ-

∏

‰

,

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,

‰

ot F

‰

,

œ-

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‰

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ie

‰

œ-

ev

& ∏

,

œ-

rR

Very slow

Fo

√port. œ

3

,

œ-

, ‰

# œ-

, ‰

dim.

(q = c 84) 3

œ #œ P

j ‰ N œ. p playfully loco

U

(Sul I.)

Œ

(let ring)

Ow

∏

gliss. #œ #œ

≈ ‰

fo

3

,

≈ ‰ Œ

,

rm

(q = c 84)

√ port. # œ

ce

Nœ œ. œgliss.

an

(√) œ &

(q = c 50)

‰

,

Œ

œπ

‰

,

,

(highest note possible; gliss. off the fingerboard)

j O —

n.