Jeremy Rosenstock
beckett fragments for cello and live electronics
beckett fragments for Cello and Live Electronics Performance Notes Positioning The laptop musician should sit on stage next to the cellist, with contact microphones running from the cello to the laptop. The laptop should run the Max/MSP processing patch to a stereo system in the performance space. Structure There are two sections. Part I is a semi-improvised section featuring the cellist imitating the laptop musician. Part II features the cellist playing the score while the laptop musician adjusts the electronic patch to react to the volume of the cello part.
Text Instructions for Part I The laptop musician should begin the piece with one of the two samples played backwards. From there, the laptop musician should slowly decrease the speed of the samples until the speed reaches “0,” and the electronics stop. The cellist should attempt to imitate any and all sounds created by the laptop, inspired by the sonic atmosphere around them. Once the speed reaches “0,” the cellist should stop playing when cued by the laptop musician and begin Part II after a short pause.
Text Instructions for Part II The cellist plays the composed score, while the laptop musician adjusts the patch to react, and be controlled by, the cellist. The amplitude should control the speed at first, and, with it, the pitches of the samples. The samples should grow less fragmented over time, leading up to the final two measures, which should feature a lengthier, more coherent excerpt from Samuel Beckett's novel, Watt.
A Note on Electronics There are two samples used in the work: One is the aforementioned Samuel Beckett reading from his novel Watt, and the other is from an interview about his works. The laptop musician should only use the interview sample for Part I, and the Watt reading for Part II.
beckett fragments for cello and live processing Jeremy Rosenstock
increase bow
q = 50 Violoncello
. ? œ œJ Œ ™ œ œ bœ bœ. Œ ™ Ó J
pressure œ œ. ™ œ œ - b˙ n bœ nœ w JŒ
mf
6
?
œ œ. ™ œ œ. bœ. bœ J ‰ Ó JŒ
∑
œ œ. - b˙ . b œ bœ J ‰ Œ bœ nœ n˙
increase bow pressure to gliss. scratch tone
b˙
mf slur all glissandi
12
ord.
?
. . bbbbb œ œJ Œ ™ œ œ œ Œ Ó
∑
œ œJ. ‰ Ó
∑
œ œJ. Œ ™ œ œ.
mp
gli
18
gliss. ? bb b œ œ œ Œ nœ nœ. ‰ Ó bb J
nœ nœJ. ‰ Ó
∑
ss. œ n œ œ œJ. Œ ™ œ œ. œ œ. bœ mf
gliss.
gliss.
nœ bœ
nœ b˙
24
? bb b nœ bb
. nœ œR≈ œ 3
accel. gliss.
œ œ nœ œ
œ. ≈Œ œ œ. bœ R
n˙ &
nœ œ bœ
3
f
29
increase bow pressure to scratch tone gliss.
b & b bbb b˙
w
q = 50 ord.
?
∑
gli
. . nœ œJ Œ ™ œ œR ≈ nœ 3
ff
mf
ss. .œ .œ œ n œ Œ œ b œ ≈Œ Œ R 3
3
gli
.œ .œ .œ nœ ™ snsœ. ™ Œ R ≈Ó nœ J Œ ™ œ bœ
34
? bb b nœ œR. ≈ œ bb 3
œ œJ. Œ ™ Œ
∑
nnnnn
3
39
. . ? œ œJ Œ ™ œ œ bœ bœ. Œ ™ Œ J
œ œ. ™ œ œ. bœ b˙ J Œ
w w
nœ
∑
mp
45
pizz.
arco gliss.
? œj ‰ Œ œ œ . œ b œ b œj Œ ™ œ b œ Œ Ó .
j‰ Œ œ œ. œ œ. b œ b œ ™ n œ ™ Œ
∑
mf
rit. 51
pizz.
?
Œ
Œ
Ó
œ
∑
œ
Œ œ
55
?
≈ Ó
Œ bœ
bœ
œ
bœ
œ
√ w w
Œ œ
b œ. b œ. √ bw w
ebb and flow between ord. and pitched scratch tone