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. ❉
❉
❉
❉
❉