Unstable Equilibrium for Violin and Violoncello (No. 20a from Paul Klee: Painted Songs)

Unstable Equilibrium for Violin and Violoncello No. 20a from Paul Klee: Painted Songs

Jonathan Posthuma

About Paul Klee: Painted Songs Paul Klee: Painted Songs is an ongoing series of instrumental chamber works inspired by the visual art of Paul Klee. The series began in 2011 as a composition assignment from my first composition teacher, Luke Dahn, who asked all of his students to compose a work for clarinet and piano inspired by the iconic "Twittering Machine." Over the years, I have added to the series, continuing to draw on the wealth of inspiration from Klee's images, which are filled with musical references, textures, colors, and symbols that closely link musical concepts with Klee's philosophy of visual art. To me, these pieces are musical settings of visual poetry, hence "painted songs." What continues to fascinate me about Klee is both the diversity and consistency of his total body of work. Throughout his vast career, certain ideas continue to resurface and find new applications. In this spirit, Paul Klee: Painted Songs continues to expand, ever exploring the poetry of his work through musical interpretation.

Performing Paul Klee: Painted Songs Each piece within Paul Klee: Painted Songs can be performed separately and is considered an independent, free-standing musical work. But, performers are encouraged to recontextualize these pieces into "galleries." Like a curator of an art gallery, performers can combine these works in any order or number, interpolate them with other works by other composers, or arrange them for different instrumental forces. Some pieces are more flexible than others, but the full work is designed to be self-referential and open to interpretation. As the series grows larger, I have aided "curators" by arranging and composing my own "galleries," multi-movement works that were conceived together, but even these can be rearranged and will evolve as more "painted songs" are added to the series and developed in collaboration with performers.

About "Unstable Equilibrium" (Schwankendes Gleichgewicht, 1932) Patches of color and texture are given balance and direction by a series of arrows in opposing directions. The seams of this painting appear stretched and pulled, but the result is not turmoil, but stability. Two lines of counterpoint push and pull on one another, usually in thirds and sixths, intervals that can feel both stable and instable. Their flexible, chant-like melodies act upon one another, searching for stability as they meander through stable/instable chromaticism.

Note: No. 20a "Unstable Equilibrium" appears as Mvt. XI in Gallery II and can be performed by any two voices that have an overlapping range, transposing as needed. The work can also be performed multiple times within a single gallery by different duets, allowing for moments reflection and variation.

Unstable Equilibrium (Schwankendes Gleichgewicht, 1932) œ = 60

Violin

molto legato ° & œ œ œ

No. 20a from Paul Klee: Painted Songs

œ œ œ #œ #œ œ

U œ = 80 #œ bœ œ œ œ nœ #œ #œ bœ bœ bœ

œ bœ bœ œ bœ bœ bœ

U bœ n œ n œ œ bœ œ œ œ nœ nœ nœ

2

œ

pp

¢ & bœ bœ bœ molto legato

Violoncello

pp

Vln.

accel.

accel. rit. ° b œ b œ b œ b œ & nœ bœ œ œ n œ n œ œ bœ

3

p

Vc.

p

pp

p

pp

accel. rit.

U œ= 100 œ œ b œ n œ bœ nœ œ œ bœ œ nœ #œ œ œ œ nœ œ bœ bœ 4

pp

mp

pp

mp

œ U = 120 ° & #œ nœ œ #œ nœ œ nœ nœ

6

5

accel.

rit.

œ œ bœ bœ

pp

Vc.

rit.

U ? œ nœ nœ œ œ bœ bœ nœ bœ œ nœ nœ #œ #œ #œ #œ ¢& œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ nœ #œ #œ p

Vln.

œ bœ œ nœ nœ #œ #œ #œ #œ œ nœ nœ mf

pp

mf

œ= 160

œ slow U ° œ= 140 & œ bœ bœ #œ œ œ œ bœ nœ pp

Vc.

U fast nœ #œ ™ œ p

mf

U U ? œ nœ nœ nœ #œ œ œ bœ bœ bœ nœ nœ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ nœ nœ #œ #œ nœ œ ¢ #œ n œ ™ n œ pp

Vln.

Jonathan Posthuma (b. 1989)

7

8

accel.

œ œ nœ #œ #œ œ bœ bœ bœb œ œ œ œ œ

pp

p

mf

œ= 140 U nœ nœ #œ œ nœ n œ bœ rit.

f

mf

f

mf

nœ nœ#œ#œ U U bœ bœ bœ œ œ œ œ b œ b œ n œ b œ œ n œ œ # œ n œ # œ n œ ? # œ n œ œ œ ¢ #œ #œ bœ œ nœ pp

© 2017 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com

3

accel. ° œ nœ n œ & œ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ

9

rit.

Vln.

œ = 120 rit. accel. œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ #œ b œ œ œ œ n œ #œ #œ b œ bœ 10

f

Vc.

? œ #œ nœ bœ bœ ¢

nœ bœ f

p

mf

œ nœ #œ #œ nœ bœ bœ œ bœ b œ œ bœ nœ nœ œ bœ œ œ nœ nœ nœ p

mf

œ= 80 œ = 100 accel. rit.

U b œ ° bœ nœ b œ bœ œ b œ b œ bœ nœ nœ œ bœ œ nœ #œ #œ &

12

11

Vln.

pp

Vc.

Vln.

¢

?

pp

° & bœ bœ œ nœ ¢

ppp

œ œ n œ œ œ #œ # œ œ #œ bœ

pp

Vc.

p

p

13

œ

? nœ #œ œ œ nœ pp

U œ œ œ nœ #œ #œ œ

ppp

14

U ˙ ppp U ˙

ppp

b˙ ˙

œ œ nœ nœ bœ œ

= 60 slow (poco rit. al fine)

p

bœ b œ nœ nœ œ

b˙

n˙ ˙

16

˙ b˙

œ œ

p

15

˙

œ bœ

˙

U w niente

˙

U bw

niente

November 21, 2017 Saint Paul, MN

© 2017 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com