HAOSI HOWARD CHEN
tardemah I for violoncello soloist
(2018-19)
PERFORMANCE REMARKS
I.
SPECIAL CLEFS: 1. fingerboard indicates tablature notation in relation to the fretboard of the violoncello. 2. nose/mouth indicates a clef specific to the breathing action of the violoncellist. Whereas a downward arrow indicates breathing-out/exhale, an upward arrow indicates breathing-in/inhale. 3. tail/bridge indicates the specific space between the bridge and the tail of the instrument, with the lines representing the contact point at the tail/bridge.
II.
MOVEMENTS, BREATHING, BOWING: The damping sign indicates when the player should hold his/her breathing and/or any playing action.
The duration of the piece is about 9 minutes.
PROGRAM NOTES
The Hebrew word, “tardemah”, means “deep sleep”. It first appears in the following Bible passage: “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;” (Genesis 2:21, KJV) it is a kind of sleep that is not self-induced, therefore one cannot wake from it through one’s own efforts. In this piece, the violoncellist must coordinate his/her breathing with the playing of the violoncello, be it with the bow, or with the pizzicati. One must be constantly aware of the corporeal breathing which is often so taken-for-granted during the playing of this instrument. Each breath is intentional, nuanced, and musically consequent.
tardemah I
for violoncello soloist °nose
breathe-out
senza misura
mouth
bow under the strings
stop suddenly, then con nue
U U… œO O uœ
U U… œO O uœ
U≥ I IV O ? œ O uœ
violoncello soloist
7 e = ca. 48 8 -™
delica ssimo
U U … # œO O uœ
UU -
UU -
… œO O uœ
-≥ U … œO ™™ Oœ ™™ pp -
…bJUœOO uœ U
… œO O uœ
¢
4 4
Ó
[m]
U U … œO O uœ
Haosi Howard Chen (*1991)
bow-freeze, then cont.
to bow-frog
… Œ™
tailpiece
j >.
bridge
Ó
6 8 Oj
[h]
"air-bowing" fast
_
exhale
>≥ ˙
ord.
?
f
Ȯ Ȯ
œOœ
œOœ J
p
pf
j Oœœ J
p, sempre
cresc. molto
4 4
s.p.
œOOœ
p, sub.
fingerboard
at an irregular pace/interal, as if pan ng, though not at all fran c
7 8 ™-
exhale
í™
1™
pf inhale
nose
bow-freeze
4 6 4?
pizz. III, 7. harmonic
œOOœ J
‰
Kn>O ‰ ≈ R &
‰™
fz
r O ‰
arco 9. harmonic
-O≤ … R tail≈
2. harmonic fz
3 4
bridge
mouth
Œ
≈ ¿
> > > > > J ® "air"-bowing
p, dolce fingerboard
¿
¿
Œ
arco
f
nose
mouth
Ó
bridge
II III vibr. molto, to the frog
Œ
¢
4 15 4 ° nose
mouth
>
>
>
1
p, sub.
Vc. ¢
?
6
>
>
& ?
≈
Œ
O œ
m.s.p.
? œO
… Ó
1
œ
œ
Oœ
-œ
¿
¿
>œ
¿ >œ
mfpp
Œ
pizz.
>O
più f
fast-bowing
… Œ
slap, then gliss.
> œ
?
≥ ≤ >. >. ˜œ.œ . #œœ > > (simile)
arco
ff, sempre
5
>.
5 e = ca.^56, subito 8 1™ 1
Ϊ
Œ
rfz [hm]
(f)
˜œ.œ . > >
>.
>. >. µœœ
>.
>.
>.
>. Oj ™ œOœ ™™ ™
-J
pp
j O œ
O œ
…™ ‰
6 e = ca. 36, subito 8 ™
choked, then hold your breath
f
p
Ær 1
>. -
Œ
s.p. sempre
≤ ≤ bow-freeze, then cont. ≤ bow-freeze, then cont. Kr III, 9. harmonic O µ O m.s.p. µ O O µO
≈
>. RÔ
[ˈʌ](as in "up") _
O™
Ϫ
p
… ‰™ ‰™
‰ -O œ
rall. molto
≤ Oœ.
Oœ.
… ≈
Œ
≈
Œ
© 2019 hhchenmusic@gmail.com
pp fingerboard
Oœ.
ha!
≈
&
>
‰ (f)
?
®
…™ Œ
j 1
inhale
‰
p, dolce
Ϫ
hold your breath
[a] overpressure (stopped)
>-≥ bridge 666>-6 fff YY YY ™™ RÔ > > tail
≤ O™
IV, ord.
/0
shouted
ff
-
[m] fp
p, dolce
œR Ô
7.
j Oœ
O œ
® ¿ >.
sfpp
J
‰
vibr.
6
6m 8 >-
[h]
O
O œ
¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
‰
Ÿ~~~~ Ÿ~~ Ÿ~~~~ Ÿ~~~ j j r jj ¿r rr ¿ ¿ ™™ ¿ ≈ Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pizz. œ Oœ O Oœ Oœ ™™™™ Oœ Oœ œO Oœ œO œ b œ. J R f >
fp
nasal-"roll"
Ó
≥ Jb O
‰
¿ ¿
¿
hold your breath
[h]
harmonic-gliss.
&
[ʃ]
≤ Y>Y ™™
slap fingerboard
1
Œ
bow almost at the tail tail
3 4
inhale, slowly
¿
pp, sempre
6
4 11 4 °
¿
™™î
4 4
[m] [h] III
IV
p, sempre
II
5 8
tu
corde, ord.
>-
>-
>-
"air-bowing"
≤
™
quasi cresc.
overpressure
™
… >-≥ Œ 666>-6 RÔ
bow-freeze
≤j ¿ p-
fingerboard
4 4
° nose 18
-J
exhale
‰
mouth
… ‰
freeze completely
… ‰
freeze completely
Œ
5 8
™
as if paralyzed, for the exact dura on of the measure, in tempo (breathe discreetly, only when absolutely needed)
[a] bow-freeze, then cont.
≤j -¿
… ‰
tail
bridge
pp less pressure
¢finger-
OO OO
… ‰
2
Ϊ
4 e = ca. 56, subito 4 ≤ bridge
fingers off the strings, then freeze completely
vibr.
& #Ȯ
quasi n
Ϊ
e = ca. 128
m.s.p.
¿™
‰
tail
to bow-frog
Ȯ
-œ
adjust appropriately between m.s.t./s.t./s.p./m.s.p.
≥ >œ
sfp
p
Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#O ™™™™ O œ œ ppp
board
5 8
1
inhale, slowly nose mouth
[ʃ]
senza misura
23 <Ÿ>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ? Ȯ œO & #Ȯ O alternate ad lib. between the two trills
interject ad lib. while con nue trilling
(arco) j + œO
+
ÆœJ >
ÆœJ >
ÆœJ >
sfz
sfz
sfz
œ cantabile più a più
rall. molto (w/ ea. e) 5 24 ° 8-
breathe-out, then inhale, always very calm and evenly
nose
mouth
[m]
¢
?
3 29 4 &
1
[ʃ]
[m]
1
[ʃ]
[m]
µO J &
III, 11. harmonic
Ϊ
‰
4 4
-
1
[ʃ]
1
[m]
[ʃ]
[m]
harmonic-gliss.
O
nKO
7. harmonic
quasi f
-
1
[ʃ]
j O
[m]
≤ œOOœ
hold breath
… ‰
1
[ʃ]
?
Ϊ
quick bow-slash in the air, making a "swoosh" sound
to bow-frog
9. harmonic
5 8
/
–≥ j ¿>
ff
…Œ ™
Oj œ
j + œO
O >œ
f, sempre
slap, then gliss. III
>
‰
from here on out, breathe as normally as in a performance a total of at least 3 mes (depending on the hall), dura on of rest may be ad lib. but within reason
e = ca. 72, subito pizz. III
slap, then gliss. IV
œ
>
? í ™™O p
f
allargando molto (w/ each y) pizz. I
rall. poco
Oj œ
… ‰
Œ
… U ≈
?˙
˙
p
harmonic-gliss.
œœ
s.t.
OO
dbl.-stop gliss. s.p.
OO
&O
œ
simile ma più p e meno f, sempre
-≥ m.s.p. Kn Oj O J & -
7. harmonic
II III arco
pizz. I
slap, then gliss. II
… ‰
>
3 4 ™ ™î
keep both eyes closed un l a er the end
j J
"air-bowing"
gradually point the bow away from the violoncello, freeze when complete
… √ Œ
Soli Deo Gloria