tardemah I

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 ™

Oj 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

Oj 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