On the Clarification of Slurs, Op. 84

Full Score (Concert Pitch)

On the Clarification of Slurs (2017)

Joe Clark Op. 84 A Duete-Etude for Alto Clarinet and Trombone

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DURATION: 1'15" INSTRUMENTATION: Alto Clarinet Trombone

PROGRAM NOTES: This piece was composed for the Center for Advanced Notation's Composition Competition in fall 2017. The rules stipulated, among other parameters, that compositions must fit entirely on one page of score, that compositions must be written for at least one instrument, but no fewer than two, and that scores must be submitted in concert pitch (otherwise, how could anyone read them?). The dual nature of slurs as articulation and phrase mark has always bothered me, so I figured this would be a prime opportunity to correct this abuse of notation.

PERFORMANCE NOTES: It is a known fact that slurs mean different things to different people. For wind players, a slur is generally an articulation - or rather, a lack thereof. It says that notes under the slur should be connected with air only - unless, of course, it's a transcription from an instrument where slurs mean something different. For strings, it means notes to be played under a single bow, usually, unless this is clearly impractical. For pianists/organists/harpsichordists/etc., it often means to play legato (whatever that means?

Overlapping notes slightly? Using the sustain pedal? Using your legato facial expression?). And sometimes you even see slurs on things like mallet percussion isntruments that manifestly cannot produce any sort of legato (although players certainly try their darnedest). In any of these cases, a slur can also be a "phrase marking" that encompasses an entire musical phrase, but frankly this is just confusing and probably just gives composers an out when they didn't think about their slurs carefully enough or did too much copy-and-pasting.

This piece sets out to begin to rectify these abuses of notation. Slurs now mean one thing and one thing only: do not articulate the notes under the slur. Thus, slurs may appear in wind, string, and vocal writing but not keyboard or percussion writing (since by definition, every note must be articulated). When playing trombone, it's also worth noting that true legato playing produces glissandi between every note. Thus, a dotted line slur is employed when a traditional trombone legato is desired and a regular (non-dotted) slur is employed when glissandi are wanted, along with a notation of the beginning slide position (negating the need for those awkward glissando lines, since no one knows whether they should be straight or wavy in the first place).

How, then, are composers to indicate phrasing? More markings on the page would just be confusing. Fortunately, the answer is simple - color! Taken from the well-known yet still humble traffic signal, green noteheads indicate to keep going, yellow noteheads indicate to prepare to stop (NB: Except when performing in Massachusetts, in which case they mean to speed up), and red noteheads indicate to stop the phrase motion (or, in MA, to just barrel through to the next phrase, as long as you're not too far behind the other players). The system is intuitive and is an invaluable aid in learning expression through phrasing (and this Notation Innovation is absolutely in no way sponsored by Epson Color Inkjet Cardtridges).

In addition to providing players with newly simplified notation, it is a boon to the field of composition as well. Composers are forced to consider trombone slide positions when notating slurs, and forced to consider phrasing even when not writing out bowings for string players. Once this notation catches on, we can enter a new era of compositional rigor.

The instrumentation for this seminal work was carefully considered. Trombone was chosen to differentiate between dotted and solid slurs, as well as to give trombonists a little head-start with this new notation. Alto clarinet was the obvious pairing - besides their general availability, their superior intonation and lyrical tone quality was simply too much to pass up.

As always, the one-page score is designed to be printed double-sided for your personal convenience.

-Joe Clark, 25.11.2017 JOE CLARK is a first-year master's student at the University of Illinois, where he is studying Wind Band Conducting under Dr. Steve Peterson. He is also a co-director of the UIUC Clarinet Choir and a member of the reed quintet Paradiso. He recently graduated from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester, where he received a triple major in music education, clarinet performance, and mathematics. While there, he studied clarinet with Kenneth Grant and conducting with Oliver Hagen and Eric Laprade. He has played with a number of chamber groups, including the reed quintet CirQ, the wind quintet Azzimato Winds, and the clarinet quartet Three Stands Apiece. Following his Master's degree, he intends to become a high school band director.

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Full Score (Concert Pitch) Dedicated to the Advancement of Musical Notation

On the Clarification of Slurs Joe Clark

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Trombone

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