If we are trees - Gibson Mahnke

GibsonMahnke

Ifwearetrees forSoloViolin

Ifwearetrees

GibsonMahnke(b.2004)

I.Radicis………..1

InterludeI………3

II.Truncus……..3

III.Rami………..5

InterludeII…….6

IV.Frondis……..7

Instrumentation

SoloViolin

Duration ca.13’

PerformanceNotes

1 LightBowPressure-I.Radicisbeginswithlightbowpressure Thisinvolvesbowing withverylightpressureinordertobringoutthenaturalharmonicsoftheopenstring. Theeectshouldbelight,airy,andfocusontheresultantharmonicshimmers.Akey forbowpressurecanbeseenbelow:

l.b.pr.-LightBowPressure

ord.b.pr.-OrdinaryBowPressure

2 BowPlacementChanges-Someofthemostimportantaspectsofthispiecearethe timbraldierencescreatedwhenmovingbowplacementwhileplaying.Special attentionshouldbegiventothisaspectofthemusic.Akeyforbowplacementscanbe seenbelow:

m.s.t.-MoltoSulTasto

s.t.-SulTasto

ord.-Ordinary

s.p.-SulPonticello

m.s.p.-MoltoSulPonticello

3 FingerPressure-InI Radicis,therearemomentswhereagradualchangefrom ordinaryngerpressuretoharmonicpressureiscalledfor.Thischangeshouldbe

gradual,anditisneifsomeofthenotesdonotspeakwhilethengerpressureisat half-harmonicpressure.Thistechniqueisnotatedasfollowing:

4. HarmonicGlissando-BothInterludesIandInterludesIIexploretheideaofthe harmonicglissando.Thiseectiscreatedbyperformingaglissandowithharmonic pressureandshouldfocusontheharmonicshimmerresultingfromthetechnique. Boththesemovementsshouldbeplayedentirelyonasingularstring(withexceptionto thedoublestopinmeasure6ofInterludeI).

5. MoltoSulTasto,MoltoFlautando-II.Truncuscallsforatechniquenotatedas“molto sultasto,moltoautando”.Whenplayingfurtherandfurtheroverthengerboard, therebecomesapointwherethesoundhollowsoutandthetimbreoftheinstrument drasticallychanges.Doyourbesttomaintainthebowplacementandspeedto consistentlyworkwithinthistimbreintheportionsofthismovementmarked“molto sultasto,moltoautando”.

Formoreinformation,see: http://www.shakennotstuttered.com/benedetto

ProgramNotes

“well,anoldstumpisgood forsittingandresting. Come,Boy,sitdown. Sitdownandrest.” Andtheboydid. Andthetreewashappy.

- TheGivingTree,ShelSilverstein

Cover Photo: “Forest Covered by Fog” - Eberhard Grossgasteiger

p the quietest volume that still allows harmonics to speak L i k e d e w d r i p p i n g f r o m l e a ve s ( q = 9 0 )