Shards

shards

clarinet

‘cello

piano

julian grant

2008

shards clarinet in Bb ‘cello piano

julian grant 2008

1. diminishing returns p.1 2. on hearing an aria by handel p.10 3. my secret mongolia p.12 4. can we have a tango please mr. ogawa? p.14

duration 6 minutes

the score is transposed

shards programme note

From 2000 onwards I have written a host of piano pieces, almost like keeping a little diary, or musical journal. The pieces are mostly tiny and have been collected under the title shivereens, which is an old colloquial Scottish term for fragment or shard. Some pieces are written on the spur of the moment, others are excerpted from longer works, or tangential jottings on musical ideas used elsewhere. shards consists of four of these pieces, dressed up for clarinet, ‘cello and piano. diminishing returns is a technical exercise where two little ideas, a motoric theme and a repeated chord figure are presented alternately, yet throughout the piece the repetitions shorten, diminish, and collide. The original material comes from my opera the uninvited from a market scene in south London that ends in a riot. on hearing an aria by handel is a little elegy in memory of a friend, Nancy, prematurely taken away by cancer, who introduced me to the music of Handel, and instilled a love of this music that has never left me. This little piece takes a shard from an aria from Ariodante (1735). my secret mongolia is a transcription of a tiny fragment of folksong heard on the Mongolian steppe at sunset sung and played on a morinxuur (horseheaded fiddle) by a tribesman. can we have a tango please mr. ogawa? was written for my eldest daughter, as when we lived in Japan, she was taken to school by a driver, Mr. Ogawa, who was a keen ballroom dancer and who played dance music in the car of a morning. Hattie liked tangos, and took to requesting them. I imagined a car radio that had many stations, all of them tuned to tangos; the piece jumps abruptly between different styles of tango.

 julian grant 2008

Â

.....shards.....

1. diminishing returns JULIAN GRANT

Allegro q = 132

 

Clarinet in Bb

Violoncello

         p molto ritmico                 



   

Piano

5

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           

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p molto ritmico

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 

 





© JULIAN GRANT 2008. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

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29

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Cl.

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Cl.

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4 42

Cl.

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

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Cl.

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

 

                                            

  

  

  

  

  

  

55

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

                                                     



           

   

   

    

    

   

   





 

6

                                          

56

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

    



         

59

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

  

     

  

   

  

  

       





 



f

          

       

 

 

    



      

 







sub.p

 



f

     

   



  

     



sub.p

   



 

        



sub.p

                  

                   

    



[5+4]

               



3

f



 



 





 

 

 

62

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

                                                        



           

  

  

  

        

  

 

 

   

       

  

  

       

 

 

   

              



      pp

 

66

Cl.

7



     





 



pp

Vc.

Pno.

   



            

71

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.



Vc.

Pno.

      

        pp



  

   



  

               







      





 



 













   f



      



p

   

    mf

[5+4]

     

          

 

p      

f                p



          p       

  

            

          f         

           

           



 

   

     

f

p

pp

       

p



arco sul G

    

 

                         mf           

pp

 

76

Cl.



       

pizz







 

  



             

           

8

79

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.



        

     



             

p

                     



              

f





  

    



 

 



          

 

                        





 



                                         

83

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

ff                                             ff                                                                 



                                                                                                         ff                        

87

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.



[4+5]

   

   

                            

          

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

       91                                                        





98

Cl.

Vc.

   







 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

pp

  

ff

    





 



 

       

Vc.

Pno.

  



       

p

- vibrato pizz      mf





   

101

Cl.

9

    6          6    ff



Pno.



 

                                                                                                                                        

   

  





 



       p



mf

  



       



10

2. On hearing an aria by Handel Adagietto e = 88 1

  

Clarinet in Bb

Violoncello

Piano



pp

    

arco



        



 



 







 

pp



   

sempre p



 

 





Vc.

       arco         pizz       

Pno.



    

10

Cl.

Vc.







     



                

Pno.

 









 

  

 

sim.

      

  



 







     











 



      

      







 









  

  





        

  

















        

 

    

mp



 











   

 



    

 











           

   

 

pp intense

     

  

 

   

5

Cl.



JULIAN GRANT

 





       

    



 

11 15

Cl.

Vc.

 

quasi cadenza





 

Pno.

 

Vc.

Pno.

p

  

 

pp





     



  

  





  

        

 



         

Vc.

Pno.





    

 

     







  



   





    





















 













         













     



 



 

        

       



 



     



        

  

 

                  

23

Cl.

  

   



p

 



 

    

  p

       

19

Cl.

     

 

 



a tempo



 

 



  

                              p                  



     



    

 

    



pp

12

3. my secret mongolia

1

Cl.

JULIAN GRANT

q = 72

  

         p

Vc.

Pno.

   



       



   





6

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.





          marcato il melodia



   







  

  

  

  

   

  

 

 





      

  

  

   

   











mp

p



  sim.   

           





 







          

   



  

   













   



 



    



13

11

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.









  



  



  



      

       



     

 

 

  



 





Cl.

Vc.



              

        



   

Pno.

 





 



 







     





 







 



 

  



15

  

 

 



 











14

4. can we have a tango please, mr. ogawa?

rallentando poco a poco

very fast q = 160

            f sf             

             sf                  f sf    sf                          sf sf  f                         

1

Clarinet in Bb

Violoncello

Piano

5

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

          



         

9

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.



   

   

   







    

        

  







      

slow

 

p



   



p

  p 

    

    

  



rall.

           

          

     



 

p with passion



mf

         

  

JULIAN GRANT

        mf              mf            

slow and sultry - rubato

rall.

  



  

    

     

          

 









 









fast, with abandon q = 132

  

13

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

ad lib.

pp

  





pp

       

 



 

     

pp crystalline

15

Cl.

 

Vc.

  

Pno.



     f

        

Vc.

    



f



             

     sf

  

 

                    sf

 

gliss.

    









 



   

                                       

    

lunga

       

Pno.



           

f

ten.

 

18

Cl.

 

                                

     

        





 

  

      



15

f molto vibrato

    

 sf   

    f

  

                         

  

   

       

        

  

                   

16



22

Cl.

Vc.

  



      

Pno.

p stacc.

    

 

 

       sf      

  p

  

   



      mf

Vc.





mp





mp

 

loco



   

    



   p

        





mf

                 



f

sf

 

sf







 







               

  



   

               sf sf p                

           mp      arco                    

       

 

            

                

  

Pno.





p

31

Cl.



        sf        sf

       sf      



suddenly much faster (presto)

pizz: swing it!

 



q = 168

 

Pno.



 

sf

p

Vc.





     sf    

sf

  p

27

Cl.

         p stacc. sf     



rall.declamato

    

          



 

               

 



mf crescendo

  



         mf crescendo

  

    

mf crescendo







  

    



                              

34

Cl.

Vc.

 

                   



      

Pno.

 

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.



 

         

Vc.

pizz

      f     



    



 

f

    

      









 



    





     

  

  

sf arco



sf

          sf

            

 

Pno.

     



 

   

  

          

  





 

       

suddenly previous tempo

41

Cl.

    

q = 132

     

37

    

 

17

  

sffz

 

    











     

  

  

 



          

sffz



   

 

   



     sf      

        



    

 

  

 

 

 

 

sffz

sf

 





       

     

sffz

  



 

  

  

sffz

  





   

 

  

  

 

 

 



18 44

Cl.

Vc.

Pno.

            



  

         

Vc.

Pno.

  



Vc.

  



 



  

  





    



        



sffz





   



 





 



5

 

    

pp sec, leggiero

        



  

  



       



  

 





pp

 



   



                



           





 

 



   

 

  

 

  

sffz

 

5

sffz







5

      

Faster q = 160

       

   

     

        

 

        

Pno.

 

  

sffz

     

48

Cl.

5



     

        

 

46

Cl.

 

  

sffz

     

    

pp



      pp    

FINE: Beijing 26 Nov 2008