Rei MUNAKATA: Shjo (2013) for ensemble

Rei Munakata Shjo (2013) for alto flute, slide whistle, percussion, piano, guitar, and cello

Instrumentation Alto flute in G

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, silk paper

Slide Whistle

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, silk paper, small spring drum, megaphone

Percussion

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, white gloves, big styrofoam, 2 caxixi, mortar with pestle, pepper corn, spring drum, bass drum

Grand Piano

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, white gloves, medium styrofoam, Chinese meditation ball, rubber bundle

Guitar

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, white gloves, small styrofoam, glass jar

Cello

Miso soup in Owan, aluminium foil, white gloves, 2 glass jars

Stage Disposition

B.D.

Perc

Pno

Guit Sw

Afl.

Vlc

Cond

= aluminium foil = silk paper = styrofoam

Audience

Introduction “Shjo” (2013) for chamber ensemble is commissioned by and written for Curious Chamber Players Stockholm as a part of project Nordic Darkness and Light. The main concept of the project consists of composer’s experience with geographical extremes of the north and how mute darkness in the winter and/or the midnight sun in the summer influence a composer’s mind and creativity. I have decided to focus on the cold winter of the North, and made a day trip to Kiruna, the most northern city in Sweden.

Around the time the airplane flew over the arctic curve, suddenly the view from the window crystallized. Perhaps it is from the gentleness of the sunlight, the pureness of the air, or the extreme temperature, all of the sudden every line, shapes, and details are so much clearer and crispier. The sound of my first step on the fresh snow of Kiruna also had the incredible sense of clarity. The crunchy squeaking noise is so clear and loud as if the noise has been amplified and the loud speakers are placed just right in front of your ears. th

I arrived Kiruna in the winter on February 8 2013 around 11 in the morning. Until I left Kiruna in the evening, I kept walking around and around the small city. VERY cold.

Simply calm, quiet, and cold.

The most striking experience from my visit to Kiruna was the sense of extreme slowness. As there is absolutely NOTHING happening, when you see a person, you start to see someone walking from very far away. And it takes a long time for him/her to walk towards you, near you, and away from you. The whole time you hear the footstep in the snow slowly and gradually magnified and disappearing. The sense of slow motion in the coldness and darkness is related to the sunlight. The sun is never completely up – only from 30 to 40 degrees angle the sun shines us the weak and fragile sunlight, painting the sky and cloud in purple and pink, creating long and dark shadows of trees and buildings. It is so faint as if even the speed of the light in Kiruna is in slow motion.

In the very north of Sweden, it is so cold that people do not talk too much to save warmness and energy inside of the body. Therefore, greeting between two people can be replaced by brief inhaling of air “shjo!”, instead of saying “hello” or “how are you”.

Program Note The following text should appear in the program book or brochure EXACTLY as below without editing or translating: Polar Light Warning Sign up at the reception and get an SMS everytime the Northen lights show up in or around Kiruna.

1 week – SEK 50 Try out our new pool table…

SEK 100 / hour Please pay at the reception

Performance Notes Conducting “Shjo” explores the extremes of tempo changes ranging from quarter note = 240 to 0. “Tempo” in this work represents the speed of the time frame and structure of the piece (musical phrases and materials often have independent activities that do not follow the time frame of the piece), marked by the conductor and his/her conducting.

Thus, it is important that the conductor’s conducting movement reflects the speed of the tempo rather than the pulsation.

As long as the tempo is not quarter note = 0, the conductor needs to move constantly without any stop. Naturally when the tempo gets slower, the conductor move slower from beat to the other as if it is a slow motion. Often the tempo changes occur during a beat, and the only way to show the tempo changes is to increase/decrease the speed of the hand movement during one beat. As a result, the conducting pattern becomes more like a choreographic wave of organic and beautiful motion – mostly VERY SLOW. I emphasize that it is very important that the conductor continues his/her movement constantly in an organic and fluent manner. The only time the conductor stops his/her movement is when the tempo is quarter = 0 (the freezing point) and during senza misura section. Note that even when the “tempo” is quarter = 0, often the instrumentalists perform musical phrases that are separated from the time frame and structure (conductor).

Tempo markings and conducting patterns The score is written graphically, and the proportions of musical timings and structures are spatially disposed as much as possible. However, due to the practicality, certain sections are simplified when it is necessary and does not cause any consequential problems. When the tempo is slow, only as a reference, approximate durations of the musical events are notated in seconds. However, the most important is that the movement is organic and natural without stressed with a sense of calmness and concentration. Conduct beautifully without being over theatrical.

Above example is the “conductor’s part” from the beginning of the score. It consists of two bars (first bar in 1/4 meter and second bar in 4/4 meter). The quarter notes indicate how the conductor should beat (no one should “play” the note!). The first bar should be only one beat (and do not subdivide even though it is a very slow beat) and the second bar should be in four beats. The piece should start with an upbeat of tempo quarter note = 60, and immediately when the downbeat starts, slow down the hand movement (ritardando). In the middle of the beat, when you reach tempo quarter note = 2, the hand movement should be extremely slow but continuously moving.

Accelerate the movement (accelerando) just before the next bar. This one single hand movement should last about 21 seconds.

General Notes Transposed score:

Alto flute sounds perfect fourth lower than written.

Guitar sounds one octave lower than written.

All accidentals only refer to the notes within the beam, the bar and/or tied from the previous note.

All glissandi are continuous without staying on given pitches.

[Costume] All performers in this piece must be barefoot without any shoes on!!!

Preferably wear clothes have the colours white, black, and/or silver only

[Miso Soup] in [Owan]

[Preparation before the performance] Cook Miso soup (six portions) before the concert. Keep the soup simple with very little ingredients. Store in a good quality thermos to keep the soup warm. Right before the performance of “Shjo”, an assistant should prepare Miso soup in six Owans (Owan is a Japanese style bowl specially for Miso soup). Cover the each Owan with a sheet of small aluminium foil lightly so that the audience cannot see the content. Distribute the soup to the musicians as discreet as possible before the performance.

[During the performance] The piece concludes with Miso soup eating. Once the music reaches the senza misura section in bar 58, quietly and calmly put away your instrument, take away the aluminium foil from the soup bowl without letting the foil to sound, and gently take the bowl in front of you. Keep your posture straight, hold the bowl by placing your left hand index, middle, ring, pinky fingers at the bottom and left thumb at the side. Place your right hand fingers lightly touching the side of the bowl only as a support. Constantly look at the content of the bowl whenever possible (do not look at the audience or the other members of the ensemble). Act naturally without being theatrical.

Eat the soup noisily in Japanese style (sipping noise is a sound of appreciation) until you finish the soup. Take a long time without hurrying and let the time pass. Focus on eating the soup, the soup itself, and yourself. The most important in life at this moment is to enjoy the soup, and take as long as it takes without worrying about the past or future. Be present for the moment, and concentrate on your soup meditation. DO NOT HURRY! When you finish the soup after a long time, simply stay there with your bowl in your hands and freeze. Slowly close your eyes and wait patiently until everyone finishes the soup and the conductor indicates that the piece has finished. The conductor should allow at least 45 seconds (or even more) of complete silence after the last person has finished the soup. The silence should be peaceful, warm, and calm without any stress. Enjoy the particular moment of your life.

Eating Miso soup is notated graphically in the score. Eat irregularly and noisily with two different types of sounds.

1) Arrow up: Sip with great noise “zzz…”. Make variations of continuous/discontinuous noise.

2) Arrow down: Exhale air with a sense of satisfaction and warmness like a relief. Eating Miso soup makes you feel like you are happily home.

[Continuous/discontinuous line]

All players are often asked to perform sound/noise consisting of different levels of speed (For example, blowing air, scraping, and bowing). This is notated graphically with two types of lines.

Continuous line:

Physical or air movement to produce the note is fast enough to create a continuous and stable tone or noise.

Discontinuous line:

Physical or air movement to produce the note is too slow and weak that the tone or noise is almost stopping and does not sustain as it should be.

The result is a very fragile, fragmented, and almost inaudible attempt of a particular sound/noise. The dotted discontinuous line also reflects the shape of the physical movement or air.

The speed of physical or air movement influences how continuous/discontinuous the note be, and this also reflects the dynamics.

Alto Flute [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• Place a piece of crumbled thin paper such as silk paper and a piece of crumbled aluminium foil (underneath the thin paper) on the floor where your feet can easily reach.

Embouchure All pitch bending caused by below embouchure changes are not notated in the score.  Open: Normal playing embouchure. 

Close: Cover the mouth-hole completely with lips.

Instrument turned outwards.

Instrument held with ordinary playing angle.

Instrument turned inwards.

Air/tone (Square note head): Air noise in eighth, quarter, and half note value. Only air noise sound without any tone. ↓↑↓↑↓↑

(Arrows up and down): Exhale and inhale air irregularly.

Others [Harmonics/whistle tone] All harmonics notes are notated with diamond note head indicating the fundamental (fingering) and normal note head indicating the particular harmonic partial (sounding pitch desired). In case of whistle tone, “whistle tone” is indicated (otherwise it is a normal harmonic tone).

[Tongue Sideways] Move the tongue sideways back and forth to interrupt a continuous tone/noise.

[Growling] Growl nonsense text in the lowest voice disgustingly, discontinuously, and irregularly into the flute (closed embouchure). The voice should not be a clear speaking voice but rather an unclear muffled struggle of vocal cord. The written pitch indicates the fingering.

[Feet] on thin paper and aluminium foil

Place your two feet silently on the thin paper such as silk paper and aluminium foil on the floor as shown in the picture to the left. Gently move your toes to create very soft and intimate rattling noise. Give enough space and time without being active. The sounding result should be extremely fragile and soft with a sense of distance and calmness. Concentrate on intense listening rather than “playing”, and do not carried away by other instruments that might be performing loud and aggressive.

Slide Whistle [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• Place a piece of crumbled thin paper such as silk paper and a piece of crumbled aluminium foil (underneath the thin paper) on the floor where your feet can easily reach.

• Hang the spring drum on a stand where you can easily reach.

• Roll a big piece of paper (A3 or A2) to cone shape to make a megaphone.

The slide whistle used in this piece requires the following qualities: 1) Instrument model that looks similar to the picture to the left.

2) Whole or a part of the instrument should be made of wood and the sound quality has the sound of wooden instrument.

3) Should be able to create varieties of dynamics.

4) Should be able to produce a clear tone in loud passages.

5) Like recorder, should be able to produce sub-tone when you blow too soft and weak.

Two line staff

The slide whistle part is notated in two line staff indicating how far the slide should be pulled out.

Upper line: the highest pitch (slide all the way up to the instrument’s body) Lower line: the lowest (slide far away from the body).

Two different ways to hold the slide whistle [Mouthpiece] Hold the slide whistle in an ordinary manner. Hold the instrument vertically, blow air from the mouthpiece directly, and one hand pull and pushes the slide up and down.

[Labium]

Hold the slide whistle horizontally as if you are holding a flute. The labium facing towards you, the mouthpiece to the left, and the slide to the right.

Blow air through the labium directly.

Embouchure 

Open: Normal playing embouchure.



Close: Cover the mouth-hole or labium completely with lips.

Instrument turned outwards.

Instrument held with ordinary playing angle.

Instrument turned inwards.

Air/tone (Square note head): Air noise in eighth, quarter, and half note value. Only air noise sound without any tone. ↓↑↓↑↓↑

(Arrows up and down): Exhale and inhale air.

“Sub-tone”

Blow very lightly and extremely quietly with very slow air speed so that you are no longer able to create a successful and continuous tone. The result should be a complex mixture of air noise and under tone.

Others [Tongue Sideways]

Move the tongue sideways back and forth to interrupt a continuous tone/noise.

[Feet] on thin paper and aluminium foil

Place your two feet silently on the thin paper such as silk paper and aluminium foil on the floor as shown in the picture to the left. Gently move your toes to create very soft and intimate rattling noise. Give enough space and time without being active. The sounding result should be extremely fragile and soft with a sense of distance and calmness.

Concentrate on intense listening rather than “playing”, and do not carried away by other instruments that might be performing loud and aggressive.

[Whisper] Whisper very quietly and extremely slowly without using the vocal cord into the megaphone. Whisper as if you are in a slow motion, stretch every vowel and take a lot of time to stress all consonants. You are supposed to say these words in a normal manner but the time frame of the tempo and music do not allow it. The disposition of the words on the score should be followed graphically.

“Polar light warning: Sign up at the reception and get SMS ..”

Percussion [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• [White gloves] Wear a pair of white gloves with a lot of texture such as nylon massage gloves before the performance starts, and take it off before the bass drum solo in bar 54.

[Disposition of percussion instruments] A long rectangular table should be placed next to the bass drum, and all the other instruments should be placed on the table (see [Stage Disposition]).

[Styrofoam]

Styrofoam Two line staff (per each hand)

The performer is often asked to scrape the surface of the Styrofoam with gloved finger or caxixi. This is notated in two line staff indicating the speed of the scraping movement.

A large size rectangular Styrofoam with rough surface.

Upper line: the fastest movement Lower line: the slowest movement In the example, when the line gradually goes up as during the first measure, the speed of the scraping increases. Just before the second bar, the speed of the scraping decreases and slows down as the line makes a curve and goes down. For the explanation for continuous/discontinuous lines, see [Continuous/discontinuous line].

[Spring Drum] on table

Spring drum with a big and fat drumhead should be placed on the table. Let the spring lie straight. It is important that the entire spring drum is on the table and not hanging off (see [Stage Disposition].

Spring Drum clef with two line staff

Place your left hand index finger at the point where the spring start touching the table. Tap the spring to see if the finger is at the right point. The result should be a good mixture of tone and spring noise supported by a good amount of drum resonance.

Place your right hand index finger further away to the right.

The two line staff shows where on the spring the hand should be placed. The upper line is for the r.h. and lower line for the l.h.

Notehead Square notehead: Slam the indicated point of the spring (see above) with index finger against the table. Do not leave the spring after the striking.

Line notehead with arrows: Roll the spring slightly away from/towards you. The horizontal line indicates that your finger should stay the particular point of the spring, and the arrows indicate which direction to roll (left arrow = away, right arrow = towards) Scrape along the spring with a very small movement. Let the scraping noise from the zigzag texture to come out.

[Caxixi] A pair of

A pair of rather small caxixi with gentle sound. The round bottom should be made of dried gourd or animal skin and not plastic.

One line staff Caxixi part is notated graphically in one line staff. There are two ways of playing the Caxixi in this piece.

1) Stir: Gently stir the caxixi back and forth or in a circular motion in a horizontal movement.

2) Shake: Suddenly but still gently shake the caxixi upwards like a small hiccup.

Holding angle Caxixi held horizontally (sideways).

No grain should touch the round bottom when stirred or shaken.

Caxixi held vertically (upright with the round bottom down). The grains touch the round bottom when stirred or shaken.

[Aluminium Foil] on table

[Mortar and Pestle] with [Peppercorn]

A piece of fresh aluminium foil should be placed on a flat surface such as a wooden table. Tap (“dead stroke”) different parts of the aluminium foil against the table surface with gloved fingers. After the tapping, leave your finger on the foil as long as you can until the next tapping with the particular hand.

Tapping itself should be very active while the sounding result is only a quiet hint of slight aluminium foil movement. Each tapping should be determined and meaningful with great importance. The silence between tapping should be as silent and intense as possible.

The mortar and pestle should be made of ceramics and not stones.

Place some peppercorn in the mortar.

There are two ways to perform the mortar and pestle.

1) 2)

[Bass Drum]

Graphical notation of gradual changes of Caxixi holding angle. All gradual movement of the angle should be as smooth, continuous, and organic as possible regardless of the musical phrases.

Grind the peppercorn with the mortar and pestle. Soft and gently grind the pepper as continuous as possible.

Gently scrape the outer surface of the mortar with the pestle as continuous as possible like a Tibetan Singing Bowl.

Very faint and quiet noise.

A big bass drum with natural skin on a stand.

Bass drum solo The bass drum solo from bar 54 marks the climax of the piece. Take off the gloves before the solo starts. Start the solo almost non-audible together with the piano tremolo. There are three playing techniques: 1) x = strike with nail, 2)  = strike with finger, 3)  = strike with palm. All notes should be performed “dead stroke” without lifting your nail, finger, or palm away after striking the drum.

From bar 57, the percussionist starts speaking while continuing the bass drum solo.

The two independent lines should not be synchronized. Loosely half open your mouth, pronounce the syllable “he” in a lazy and rude manner with the lowest voice.

Piano [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• Place Styrofoam, Chinese Meditation Ball, and Rubber Bundle where you can easily reach.

• [White gloves] Wear a pair of white gloves with a lot of texture such as nylon massage gloves before the performance starts, and take it off before the bass drum solo in bar 54.

Notehead Square notehead (“Slam”): Slam the indicated part of the piano strings with gloved palm like a “dead stroke”. Do not leave the strings after the striking. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Line notehead with arrows (“Vertical” movement): Scrape along the strings with gloved palm. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Arpeggio arrows (“horizontal” movement): Scrape across the strings with gloved palm. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Types of clefs Treble clef Regional clefs (I, II, III, and IV) Frame clefs (A and B)

Ordinary treble clef to specify a particular pitch to play on the piano key.

The Roman numerals, used as clef, indicate which region of the piano strings to be used, and the regions are divided with the piano frames (I = the lowest region and IV = the highest region). When three line staff is carried out together with a Roman numeral, the upper line indicates the higher pitches and the lower line the lower pitches within the indicated region.

The frame clefs indicate where on the body of the instrument to scrape with palm. Do not let the palms leave the piano frame during the whole passage.

A: The side of the piano body frame.

B: The horizontal frame just above the keys.

Bar 38: Scraping the piano strings in region IV. Bar 39: Scraping frame region B only.

Bar 40 – 43: Scraping the frame region A (the side of the piano body). Silently stand up, start scraping from the bass (left) side of the piano. Walk around the piano while scraping as shown in the picture to the right, and come back to the normal piano playing position.

[Inhale] - Inhaling noise “Shjo” In the extreme north of Sweden, instead of saying “hello” or “how are you?”, people simply makes a rapid swallowing of small amount of air with noise “shjo!”. Perform this repeatedly and irregularly. Contact a Northern Swedish person for the correct pronunciation.

[Styrofoam]

Styrofoam Two line staff (per each hand)

A medium size rectangular Styrofoam with rough surface.

The performer is often asked to scrape the surface of the Styrofoam with gloved finger. This is notated in two line staff indicating the speed of the scraping movement.

Upper line: the fastest movement Lower line: the slowest movement In the example, when the line gradually goes up as during the first measure, the speed of the scraping increases. Just before the second bar, the speed of the scraping decreases and slows down as the line makes a curve and goes down. For the explanation for continuous/discontinuous lines, see [Continuous/discontinuous line].

[Chinese Meditation Ball]

[Rubber Bundle]

Let one or two Chinese meditation ball[s] rattle gently in your palm every once a while. Relaxing and spacious without stress.

Put together several thick rubber bands to create a rubber bundle. Scrape the piano strings in zigzag motion up and down.

Guitar [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• Place Styrofoam and Glass Jar where you can easily reach.

•

[White gloves]

Wear a pair of white gloves with a lot of texture such as nylon massage gloves before the performance starts, and take it off before the bass drum solo in bar 54.

Notehead Square notehead (“Slam”): Slam the indicated part of the strings with gloved palm or glass jar like a “dead stroke”. Do not leave the strings after the striking.

This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Line notehead with arrows (“Vertical” movement): Scrape along the strings with gloved palm or glass jar. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Arpeggio arrows (“horizontal” movement): Scrape across the strings with gloved palm or glass jar. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike.

This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Damp indicated tone(s).

Gradual change from ordinary to damped tone and vice versa.

Types of clefs Treble clef Regional clefs (&, &, &) Frame clefs (A and B)

Ordinary treble clef to specify a particular pitch to play.

String numbers, used as clef, indicate which strings to play. When the three line staff is carried out, the upper line indicates strings &, the middle line &, and the lower line &. The player is asked to use the palms to slam or scrape. Naturally the palms are too big to only slam or scrape the indicated strings, and it is hard to avoid the unwanted strings. The important is to make difference between high, middle, and low “regions” of “string surface”.

The frame clefs indicate where on the body of the instrument to scrape with gloved palms. Do not let the palms leave the guitar frame during the whole passage.

A: The side of the guitar body frame.

B: The front surface of the soundboard.

Bar 38: Scraping the strings.

Bar 39: Scraping frame region B only.

Bar 40 – 43: Scraping the frame region A (the side of the guitar body). Silently place the instrument on your knee, start scraping from the upper side of the guitar gradually to the bottom as indicated in the picture to the right.

Behind the nut

Pluck the strings behind the nut. In the example to the left, pluck behind the nuts of strings , , and  in an arpeggio with gloved finger/nail.

Guitar neck clef

The guitar diagram with two line staff indicates graphically where on the neck of the guitar to perform. The upper line indicates the nut and the lower line the end of the fingerboard.

In this example, the left hand damps all the strings near the nut, and the right hand performs the glass jar on the strings moving very slowly from the end of the fingerboard to the nut while turning the glass jar extremely slowly in half circular motion.

[Inhale] - Inhaling noise “Shjo” In the extreme north of Sweden, instead of saying “hello” or “how are you?”, people simply makes a rapid swallowing of small amount of air with noise “shjo!”. Perform this repeatedly and irregularly. Contact a Northern Swedish person for the correct pronunciation.

[Styrofoam]

Styrofoam Two line staff (per each hand)

A small size rectangular Styrofoam with rough surface.

The performer is often asked to scrape the surface of the Styrofoam with gloved finger. This is notated in two line staff indicating the speed of the scraping movement.

Upper line: the fastest movement Lower line: the slowest movement In the example, when the line gradually goes up as during the first measure, the speed of the scraping increases. Just before the second bar, the speed of the scraping decreases and slows down as the line makes a curve and goes down. For the explanation for continuous/discontinuous lines, see [Continuous/discontinuous line].

[Glass Jar]

Find a glass jar (for example yogurt jar) that is easy to hold and has the zigzag bottom.

Place the zigzag bottom against the indicated guitar strings firmly so that it reaches the fingerboard. Scrape the strings by turning (with or without moving position as indicated) the jar in half circular motion back and forth in the indicated speed.

Cello [Preparation before the performance] • Take your shoes off.

• Place Miso soup bowl with foil next to you on a small table where you can easily reach.

• Place two Glass Jars where you can easily reach.

• [White gloves] Wear a pair of white gloves with a lot of texture such as nylon massage gloves before the performance starts, and take it off before the bass drum solo in bar 54.

Notehead Square notehead (“Slam”): Slam the indicated part of the strings with gloved palm or bow like a “dead stroke”. Do not leave the strings after the striking. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Line notehead with arrows (“Vertical” movement): Scrape along the strings with gloved palm or bow. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike.

This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Arpeggio arrows (“horizontal” movement): Scrape across the strings with gloved palm or bow. Stay on the strings before and after. Do not hit or strike. This gesture should be performed with a sense of precision, determination, edginess, and decisiveness without any hesitation regardless of different dynamics and durations.

Types of clefs Bass clef

Ordinary bass clef to specify a particular pitch to play.

Bridge clef

Regional clefs (I&II, II&III, III&IV)

Place the bow on the surface of the bridge between the strings and soundboard. Insert the bow between the strings and the soundboard before the piece starts to prepare. Bow the wooden surface of the bridge according to the speed indicated.

Roman numerals, used as clef, indicate which strings to play. When the three line staff is carried out, the upper line indicates strings I&II, the middle line II&III, and the lower line III&IV. The player is asked to use the palms or the bow to slam or scrape. Naturally the palms are too big to only slam or scrape the indicated strings, and it is hard to avoid the unwanted strings. The important is to make difference between high, middle, and low “regions” of “string surface”.

Frame clefs (A and B)

The frame clefs indicate where on the body frame of the instrument to scrape with gloved palms. Do not let the palms leave the cello frame during the whole passage.

A: The side of the cello body frame.

B: The upper front surface of the soundboard.

Bar 38: Scraping the strings.

Bar 39: Scraping frame region B only.

Bar 40 – 43: Scraping the frame region A (the side of the cello body). Scrape from the upper side of the cello gradually to the bottom (as far as possible) as indicated in the picture to the right.

[Inhale] - Inhaling noise “Shjo” In the extreme north of Sweden, instead of saying “hello” or “how are you?”, people simply makes a rapid swallowing of small amount of air with noise “shjo!”. Perform this repeatedly and irregularly. Contact a Northern Swedish person for the correct pronunciation.

Bar 46 Damp the C string firmly with left hand palm. Bow extremely slowly at the tip of the over-pressured bow on molto sul tasto. The speed of the bow should be extremely slow that it is almost stopping and most of the time it is not possible to create any sound as if the bow is stuck on the string. One very little bow should be used during the entire passage from bar 46 to 57.

[Glass Jars]

Find two glass jars (for example yogurt jar) that are easy to hold and has the zigzag bottom.

Place the zigzag bottoms of two glass jars against each other. Scrape lightly and gently by turning the jar very slowly in half circular motion back and forth.

The character of the sound should be relaxing and meditative without any stress. It does not have to sound all the time. Try to achieve a sense of calm irregularity, and listen carefully to each “grain” of noise. Take a lot of time – At least 50 seconds minimum.

Copyright © 2013 Rei Munakata Please contact the composer for any question or comment. Best wishes, Rei Munakata (rei_munakata@yahoo.com), April 27th, 2013 Berlin and Stockholm