Candey | Not So Far As The Forest

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Not So Far As The Forest

SC O

one song for soprano and cello

PE R

U SA L

Griffin Candey 2018

PE R U SA L SC O

R E

R E

SC O

Not So Far As The Forest

U SA L

one song for soprano and cello

Griffin Candey

PE R

2018

Program Note

R E

Not So Far As The Forest, commissioned by Detroit’s Juxtatonal (Jocelyn Zelasko and Bryan Hayslett) takes on the final and titular poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s five-poem set of the same name. These poems, rife with haunted imagery, death, and decay, paint a stark contrast to Millay’s work from only years earlier, poems that often traffic in confident, sexual, often flippant portraits of a young, openly-queer poet rising and thriving in a world that often tried to pin her down or diminish her. This shift in tone came from a tremendous loss: having spent time in France and having a brief and ill-fated romance with a French artist which left her pregnant, she retreated to rural England with her mother, with whom she was alway svery close—and while there, her mother brewed a medicinal tea, without her daughter’s knowledge or permission, that aborted Edna’s pregnancy. (There are conflicting accounts of how much Edna knew of this before or after.) What is certain is that Edna remained sick for months after this, only fully recovering some four or five years later.

Retreating back to upstate New York, where she was born, Edna purchased her Steepletop residency, where she spent the rest of her life—and the first poems she wrote upon picking the pen back up were these five poems.

Instrumentation

PE R

soprano and cello

U SA L

SC O

This titular poem follows a bird whose wings have been clipped and, having attempted an escape, is left lying in the barren field between the comfortable home and the native forest. The narrator’s voice, addressing the bird, is liltingly bitter and critical, positing finally that a “once confined thing is never again free.” (Note: I would love to set all five of these poems—if this interest you, please do reach out!)

Duration: 5'

First printing, August 2024

Copyright ©2018 Griffin Candey. All Rights Reserved.

Program Note Copyright ©2018 Griffin Candey. All Rights Reserved Published by Just a Theory Press | www.justatheorypress.com

Score commissioned and premiered by Detroit's Juxtatonal ____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Not So Far as the Forest

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on poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay — composed by Griffin Candey

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Soprano

&

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SC O

Percussion 1

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Both soprano and cellist play percussive sticks, beginning around 240 BPM — the beat pattern of the sticks bears no relation to the vocal line or the violincello, instead acting more as background wash. The vocalist should, over the course of the piece, very slowly decrease the BPM of the percussive effect until, toward the close of the piece, the rate drops to around 100-115 BPM. The first percussive click from both players should be strikingly loud, with the rest for the entirety of the piece staying around mp. This effect can be played by a lone percussionist if desired.

∑

Cellist quickly drops out of the same BMP as the vocalist, slowing to a stop within 4-5 seconds — they can take several seconds to swap instruments as the soprano continues with the percussive effect, then begin playing.

Cello

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Percussion 2

U SA L

?

‰

j j œb œ œ b œ - œ- N œ œ œ- œ- J 7

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Timing in this piece is almost entirely a piacere, and is dictated more by spacing than by value of note; when it is important that the cellist and vocalist land on something together, the moment is notated with a diamond symbol.

Strong beats in the vocal line (i.e. notes that are the most important words in phrases) are indicated with tenuti.

2

PE R

ã

Perc. 1

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2

&

Sopr.

? Ow

2

Vc.

F

-̇

Poor,

- œ . b ˙3 œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ 3 bœ œ N˙. pas

-

Oœ ..

sio - nate thing,

-̇ r˙ œœ

e - ven

œ bœ

œ

œ œ œj œ >

Ȯ Í

messy gliss.

wO ..

with this clipped

wing,

bœ J

how

2 3

ã

Perc. 1

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& b œ- b œ œ

– 3 j œ œ b œ- œ b3œ œ œ j Nœ - œ œ.

3

Sopr.

well you flew!

? Ȯ

—

3

bœ

œ

Ȯ ..

œ

œ

œœ

far

bœ

as the fo - rest

al niente

WO –

bœ

F

4

&

Sopr.

?

4

Vc.

P j œ b œ- œ œ œ œ b œ .

Ÿi w nat.

Un - woun - ded and un - spent,

Z p subito

5

ã

Perc. 1

s. p.

nat.

bœ

bœ

f – >˙

‰ œ

PE R

– & œ- b œ .

lur-ching

flight,

œ 5

Vc.

se - rene

but

for the eye's bright

s. p.

nat.

bœ

Z subito p

bœ nœ

– ä # œ œ n3œ

the un - e - qual wind

messy, late gliss. up on G string, one octave — then, landing heavily on next double stop

? œ bœ. œ –

5

3 j n œ- œ - aœ Nœ œ #œ œ œ #œ

œ

œ

œ œœ œ J 3

È Ÿ w. bœ

trou - ble,

œ

– Z

Was

subito

it the

œ

p

> /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

5

Sopr.

bœ nœ œ

Ÿwi

– F N >œ œ ..

R

SC O

4

bœ nœ œ

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U SA L

ã

Perc. 1

bœ nœ œ

R E

Vc.

bœ

though not so

w> w –

b w> 6 œ bœ w >–

œ # œ- œ . # œ œ . œ # œ -

un - der lopped fea - thers

P– 3 ˙ œ n ˙-

that brought

b˙. ˙.

you down

n˙ –

‰ œj œ # œ to

sit

in

sul tasto

al niente

œ

3 6

ã

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3

Sopr.

j Œ œ # œ œ- œ

# œ- œ .

J

&œ ˙ -

6

fol - ded

co - lors

on

6 ˙ # œ- œ . ? œ ˙ j œ œ. œ œ œ. œJ 3

the

œ œ

œ œœ

nat.

Vc.

j & œ œ b œ n œ œ n œ . œr œ ..

- pa - ling the yel-low stub - ble?

j œ ? œ

j œ œ

8

ã

j œ œ

j j j j jj œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœ

PE R 8

&

arco

?

8

Vc.

vi - si - ble

as

a ship,

j œ œ –

pizz.

j œ

œ

j œœ

œœ œœ œœ œœ

j œœ

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slower, more drawn out

Sopr.

N ww w

U SA L

7

Perc. 1

field,

„

3

Vc.

œœ .. œ.

N ˙-

– " œ- n œ œ œ b œ n œ œ3

3

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7

Sopr.

le - vel

p

SC O

ã

emp - ty

œœ .. œ.

7

Perc. 1

j œ œ

3

R E

Perc. 1

œ

π

œ

œ

œ.

Re

- bel

œ

œ

-

– >œ .

œ J ˙

lious bird,

œ

œ

œ

warm

œ

œ

– ˙ œœ ˙ j

s. p.

˙

œ œ >

F

>œ R œ. bo - dy

œ œ œ œ œœ œ

>œ œ .

R

œ.

fo - reign

œ œ

3

œ J #œ œ

and bright,

œ

nat.

œ œ

œ

œ œ

œ

4 9

ã

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&

Sopr.

˙ ? ˙

has

9

Vc.

– œ b˙.

J

œ. œ b œJ

9

no - one

j œ

p

told you?

˙ ˙

– >œ . œ ‰ J

—

b˙ j b˙ œ –

œ œ œ b˙

Hope - less

w jw

˙ ˙ –

œ

j œ œ

is

b ˙˙

ã & œ

arco

11

ã

11

Sopr.

&

? Ȯ

11

Vc.

11

Perc. 2

ã

b˙

bran - ches.

œ.

Here

œ w œ œ- w œ-

˙. ˙.

to - ward

w jw œ

is

al niente

bœ

n ˙- .

your

home,

Ȯ ..

π

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PE R

Perc. 1

the high

œ

p -̇

U SA L

Vc.

œ œ.

bœ ? bœ œ œ

10

flight

œ œ

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10

Sopr.

b ˙˙

SC O

10

Perc. 1

j œ œ

your

œ

R E

Perc. 1

œ œ œ

be - tween

œ- b œ œ

barn - yard

œ

œ -̇ J

strewn with grain

wO π

bœ bœ ,

–

œ- . b œ w-

and the fo - rest tree.

Ȯ ..

– π / / / / / / / / / / / / / ////////////////////////////////

Cellist ends harmonic, swaps instruments back to percussive sticks, and joins with soprano's percussive effect at whatever rate they are currently.

5

12

Perc. 1

ã

Vertical lines signify accented percussive strike with sticks — double lines indicate either two adjacent strikes or two strikes separated by one, as decided mutually by performers.

P j b˙ œ

12

Sopr.

|

|

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&

œ

j œ- œ

œ œ bœ. œ J - b œ -̇

Though time

re - fea - ther

the wing,

an - kle

j -̇ œ

œ-

slip

the

œ J

ring,

the

12

optional: each percussion accent can be accompanied by a stomp

13

Perc. 1

ã

Sopr.

œ b œ- .

J

ã

3

-̇

thing

|

||

is

ne - ver

a - gain

|

Œ

free.

||

||

||

|

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PE R

Perc. 2

||

N w- .

j œ œ- b œ b œ b ˙

U SA L

once - con - fined

13

||

|

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œ &

13

|

|

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R E

ã

SC O

Perc. 2

piece ends with one accented strike, as loud as the first

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