Bermel - Turning

DEREK BERMEL TURNING for piano

Turning was written at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1995, where I studied with Henri Dutilleux. The work is dedicated to him and to Christopher Taylor, who premiered the work in Paris in June 1996 and who edited the work for this publication.

Turning is written in theme and variations form, opening with a simple song-hymn in the key of B major. The hymn is followed by a pentatonic echo in the piano¹s high register, a mirror of my musical consciousness‹East vs. West‹when I returned from studying Lobi gyil (xylophone) music in Ghana. In "Nightmares and Chickens," the first variation, the hymn is pecked out, culminating in a schizoid frenzy of pointillistic clucking, and eventually evaporating into the top register of the piano. "Kowië at Dawn," the second variation, is a portrait of a small village in Northwest Ghana. It begins with the sound of distant bells, but soon the town wakes and is drawn into a lively dance, evocative of gyil music. The third variation "Passage," harmonizes the pentatonic theme chromatically, and the hymn emerges tinged with a gospel slant. In the fourth variation, "Carnaval Noir," latin music mixes with the occasional ragtime twist. The carnival segues into the coda, in which an inverted rendition of the hymn returns in the top registers of the piano. The pentatonic echo returns as the work spirals backwards into a hazy reflection of the opening song.

DB

T U R N I N G I. Song for B. Slowly, with feeling ( = 56–60)

Derek Bermel

freely

slightly slower ( = 50) rubato 5

distant, unhurried

a tempo

9

3

3

l. h.

more passionate

pedale simile

rubato

3

slightly slower ( = 50)

13

poco

molto legato, strict tempo

relax

IDID

Š Copyright 1995 by X Pyre Music All Rights for the World Exclusively Administered by Songs of Peer, Ltd.

2

Lento

accel. poco a poco

21

troubled, stormy 3

3

3

â?‰

(accel. poco a poco) 24

3 3

3

3

= 72 27

3

cresc.

31

Lento (poco meno)

ritard.

accel. (as before)

3

dim.

relax 3

3

3

â?‰

pedale simile

3

5

for Bill Albright

II. Nightmares and Chickens

= 72 8 va

8 va

6

jittery, playful

57

sub. with great angst

6

8

jittery

7:3

❉ poco tenuto

8 va

❉

59

12

9

quasi-rag

accel.

evaporating ...

8

8 va

loco

62

12

12

17

65

loco

wait for decay

❉

8

for Abu

III. KowiĂŤ at Dawn = 60 (ma ad libitum) 8 va stark

68

6

l.h. unmeasured, freely

(pedale sempre)

(8)

sempre

distant bells, slowing‌

16

for Kay Kim

Solid ( = 80)

IV. Passage

150

plucked on string

sempre 154

â?‰ 8ba 159

l.h. loco

8ba

Glorious 8 va 163

20

for Erik Santos

V. Carnaval Noir Festive

= 92

196

senza pedale, ma poco legato

200

204

27

VI. Coda Hammered 8 va 319

8 va

8 va

8 va

8 va

loco

❉

❉

❉

❉

❉

lazier 8va (319)

5

6 5

rit.

5

5

settling down

5

cascading

320

Lento 3

espr.

3

dim.

relaxing . . .

3

3

dim. ❉

❉

❉

❉

❉