Rei MUNAKATA: Speed (2017), semi-staged work for 2 duos and 1 performer

Rei Munakata Speed (2017) semi-staged work for 2 duos and 1 performer

Introduction Speed (2017) for 2 duos and 1 performer is commissioned by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee(Konstnärsnamnden), as the result of project ¨SPEED - Sonic stream and concentration¨ funded by Konstnärsnamnden.

First performance: May 28th, 2017 Klang Avantgarde Music Festival Litteraturhaus, Copenhagen DENMARK Anna Melander/flute, Frederik Munk Larsen/guitar, Karolina Öhman/cello, Erika Öhman/percussion, and Rei Munakata/performer

Instrumentation Duo I YURURI

Duo II SATTO

PERFORMER

Flute

Flute Stones

Guitar

Guitar Metal pot lid Paper Cornflakes Salt Small bell Muffin forms Feathers

Percussion

Large concert bass drum Kick drum with pedal Small drum Low tom Knife Metal plate Ocean drum Gravel in pot Extra gravel to throw on bass drum 7 coins Bongo 12 Porcelain plates Meinl original spark shaker Soap bubble

Cello

Cello with bow Water in teapot Teacup Stones Soap bubble

Performer

Koinobori fish with a thread Metal garden pot, ¨Black hole¨ Soap bubble

Acoustics and Amplification The concert venue should be carefully chosen based on the acoustics since the default nuances and dynamics of speed are quiet and dry. It is important that any small scraping is clearly audible throughout the performance.The ideal situation is a performance in a very small and intimate venue without amplification. In a larger concert venue, amplification is recommended for each instruments, objects, and voices.

Program Note Speed (2017) Acceleration of Gravity: A free-falling object is an object that is falling under sole influence of gravity.

A free-falling object has an acceleration of 9.8 m/s/s, downward (on Earth).

Norrland. I see a person walking towards me on the same street. He walks and walks for a very long time to surpass me and takes very long time to disappear — approximately 30 minutes in total. Absolutely nothing is happening otherwise. Even the faint sunlight seems to take longer time to reach my skin. The sense of slowness and calmness together with focused and minimalistic event under the faint light and coldness created a sense of strong concentration and tension I have never felt in my life. Loneliness. Silence. Slowness.

A finger lands on the drumhead membrane and there is a noise. The musical expression or depth of the destined tone/noise is carefully crafted by the performer’s speed of finger/ hand/arm movement with a sense of gravitational force. The gravity is the core element of the universe that creates infinite possibilities and combinations of speed and velocity. As a metaphor, the drumheads, the nut, and the floor are like a surface of a planet or a black hole with various gravitational forces. The instruments and objects are attracting the fingers, hands, and arms of the performer to land on them, and bounce off into the air in various ways.

When Concorde, British-French turbojet supersonic aircraft operated until 2003, flied faster than the speed of sound, the air pressure waves are forcefully compressed together and bounce back with enormous amounts of sound energy like an explosion called sonic boom.

Concept I visited Kiruna in February 2013, and was particularly inspired by the extreme slowness of life in Norrland. I see a person walking towards me on the same street. He walks and walks for a very long time to surpass me and takes very long time to disappear — approximately 30 minutes in total. Absolutely nothing is happening otherwise. Even the faint sunlight seems to take longer time to reach my skin. The sense of slowness and calmness together with focused and minimalistic life event under the faint light and coldness created a sense of strong concentration and tension I have never felt in my life. A kind of special energy hiding behind the calmness. Where does it come from? Perhaps from the feeling of loneliness? Or the intense silence? The extreme coldness and slowness? Why did the slowness give me such a strong impact? I became interested in how different types of speed can influence one’s expression and perception.

Speed (2017) is scored for 2 duos and 1 performer with instruments and objects.

Each duo coordinates as a chamber music unit, however, the 2 duos should not coordinate with each other unless otherwise specified.

Duo 1: YURURI Exploration of riterdando and failing due to the gravitational force and the sense of slow moving ¨corners¨ of sound.

Duo 2: SATTO Exploration of acceleration and ascending due to the gravitational force and the effect of supersonic high-speed travel and the gravity of the blackhole.

PERFORMER The role of the performer is to interact physically and vocally with the music to enhance the compositional ideas and associations of Speed. The performer does not require any particular instrumental technique or knowledge.

Speed (2017) is a semi-staged work consisting of 3 types of materials: Preface (the entrance of the musicians), Scenes (score notated music), and Interludes (physical and theatrical demonstration of the concept with occasional improvisational element).

The structure of the work is as follows: Preface SCENE 1 Interlude A SCENE 2 Interlude B SCENE 3 All scenes and interludes should be performed attaca without any break in-between.

Disposition STAGE BACK

PERCUSSION BLACK HOLE

Bass drum Kick drum

FLUTE

CELLO

GUITAR

STAGE FRONT

Audience

Audience

OFF STAGE, back of the audience

Technical Rider Large concert bass drum Kick drum with pedal Bongo 4 tables 4 or 5 music stands

Amplification (only in a large concert venue) 7 condensar microphones mic 1 Flute mic 2 Guitar mic 3 Black hole mic 4 Gravel in pot (percussion) mic 5 Bass drum/kick drum mic 6 Cello mic 7 Performer’s voice ¨OFF STAGE, back of the audience¨ Other instruments and items should be provided by the performers

The instrument names (FLUTE, GUITAR, CELLO, PERCUSSION) are placed at the default position of the instrumentalists on the stage.

Performance Notes SCORE The score of Speed (2017) uses the following terminologies: Yururi Satto

The Yururi duo for flute and guitar is referred to as YURURI throughout the score.

The Satto duo for cello and percussion is referred to as SATTO throughout the score.

Each instrumental names are indicated when each player is assigned independent tasks or the duos are not performing as duos.

BLACKHOLE

The metal garden pot is referred to as BLACKHOLE throughout the score.

Default position

The default position indicates the initial performance position as shown in the Disposition. Sit or stand still with a sense of meditative calmness. Be with the moment and concentrate. The whole body should be relaxed without any tension but with a good posture. Enjoy the moment of your life, and simply wait without anticipation.

The score of Speed (2017) consists of two materials, ¨Timeline¨ and ¨Sound material¨, and each musician/performer follows both scores during a performance.

Timeline

The ¨timeline¨ indicates the overall structure and form of the piece, and all the choreographical events and spatial use of the stage are graphically described.

It also indicates the timings between the musical groups. The timings are mostly approximate unless otherwise specifically indicated.

The numbers and letters in circle followed by wavy line indicate that you switch to the ¨Sound material¨ in the respective number/letter. The comma corresponds to the end of the particular sound material.

Sound material

The ¨sound material¨ is the list of instrumental musical materials written in the conventional notation.

For Yururi duo, the sound materials are labeled with circled number. For Satto duo, the sound materials are labeled with circled letter.

When you reach the end of each material, indicated by a big comma, immediately go back to the Timeline.

Each duo coordinates as a chamber music unit, however, the 2 duos should not coordinate with each other unless otherwise specified.

BLACKHOLE A metal garden pot on snare drum A round metal flower pot or garden planter that is about the size of a snare drum. Find a pot that gives a big noise with resonance when a stone hits the bottom of the pot.

Place securely the pot on a snare drum stand.Opening of the pot upwards.

The BLACKHOLE is graphically notated like a blackhole with lines simulating the gravitational force as if sucking up all matters in the score. The flautist and the cellist run towards and rotate around the BLACKHOLE, and eventually throw stones into it.

FISH

Koinobori (鯉のぼり）, meaning ¨carp streamer¨ in Japanese, is a carp fishshaped windsock traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Tango no sekku（端 午の節句）, a traditional calendrical event which is now designated a national holiday for children. Often made of cloth, plastic, or paper.

The PERFORMER is asked to hold the thread attached to the mouth part of the fish, drag, and wave when appearing from the back stage during the final scene.

All other objects and tools are described in the individual performance notes.

SYNOPSIS While all choreographical instructions are graphically described in detail in the Timeline, the nuances and verbal explanations are listed below for reference.

Timeline Before the performance Prelude

Choreographies, conceptual metaphors, and the explanation of cues The stage light is off, and the room is dark.

All performers are gathered in the BACKSTAGE, the back of the audience.

Page 1

The stage light turns on.

All performers start to walk from the back of the audience to the stage (through the middle of the audience) with the respective walking speed indicated.

Instrumentalists: Take the default position (see Disposition) and sit on the chair very slowly for YURURI or very fast for SATTO. YURURI: Start to raise arms and instruments to prepare in slow motion until the Scene 1.

SATTO: Start to raise arms and instruments to prepare for the ¨Sound boom¨.

When the PERFORMER arrives at the STAGE FRONT (his/her back towards the audience), slowly start twisting legs and arms towards the audience as if a pitcher prepares to throw a baseball in a very slow motion (but without a real ball). Only at the very end of the throwing gesture, rapidly accelerate the movement to vigorously ¨throw¨ the imaginary high-speed ball to the back of the audience. Freeze.

SATTO: Exactly 4 seconds after the baseball ¨throwing¨, hit the bass drum and open cello strings with palm. Metaphor: Since the speed of the ¨throwing¨ gesture is faster than the speed of the sound, the sound waves are pressed together and explode as a ¨sound boom¨ (Supersonic Concorde aircraft).

PERFORMER: Immediately run back to the back of the audience.

Scene 1

Page 2

YURURI starts Sound material 1.

Cue YURURI to SATTO: Towards the end of the YURURI material, the guitar player starts to throw cornflakes during a long riterdando passage. SATTO starts its Sound material An approximately around the 4th cornflake throwing (out of 5) if not earlier.

Interlude A

Page 2

CELLO: Suddenly starts to throw kiss in the air. Light and soundless kisses like blowing soap bubble. Use the hand/arm to indicate different directions of the imaginary course of the kiss traveling in the air. Fill the room with love.

GUITAR: Slowly stand up and pick up muffin forms. Drop one by one. The bottom of the muffin form should face downwards in order to let the form spin and fall slowly. There is air friction everywhere, and free-fall does not exist on the earth.

Scene 2

Page 2

SATTO rejoins when YURURI finishes the sound material.

Interlude B

Page 2-4

Walking: FLUTE and CELLO put down the instruments and start walking towards the BLACKHOLE. Start very slowly, and accelerate the walking speed as if you are attracted by the gravitational force of the BLACKHOLE. PERCUSSION: While the flautist and cellist walk faster and faster, the Spark shaker stirring becomes slower and slower. Metaphor: A person goes into the black hole experiences the world moving faster and faster while an observer sees the speed of the person going into the blackhole slower and slower.

GUITAR: Similarly from the muffin form dropping, this time gently drop the feather one by one. Almost no gravity is sensed.

BLACKHOLE rotation When flautist and cellist arrive at the BLACKHOLE, keep walking (quasi running) around the BLACKHOLE until ¨rit… stop¨ indicated in the score.

Whispering and plate dropping: PERFORMER: Whispers (or speaks) with very airy and ghost like voice. Terrified, nervous, and unsatisfied… Speak each word slowly and stretch the last part ¨ma —— i¨. Faint and shaking. Take a lot of time after each note.

PERCUSSION: After each word of the PERFORMER; drop a porcelain plate on the floor (or another porcelain plate). Harsh breaking noise. 9 words in total. ichima - i (one plate)… nima - i (two plates)… sanma - i (three plates)… yonma - i (four plates)…. goma - i (five plates)…. rokuma - i (six plates)… shichima - i (seven plates)…. hachima - i (eight plates)…. kyuuma - i (nine plates)…. ……… i - chi - mai…. ta - ri - na - i. (missing one plate…)

CUE the last sentense ¨i-chi-mai… ta-ri-na-i¨: GUITAR: Stop the feather dropping and get ready with guitar and small metal pot lid.

PERCUSSION: Prepare to play the spark shaker and gravel in pot.

FLUTE and CELLO: Slow down the running and eventually stop. FLUTE: grab a stone, and start a slow throwing gesture exactly when the last sentense of the PERFORMER ends. ¨Big Bang¨: FLUTE: throw the first stone into the BLACK HOLE. PERCUSSION and GUITAR start playing exactly together with the first stone.

FLUTE and CELLO: Keep throwing stones into the black hole one by one.

The Big Bang finishes exactly with the last stone thrown by CELLO. TUTTI immediately go back to default position.

Scene 3

Page 4

YURURI and SATTO start playing exactly at the same time, but naturally not coordinated after the first note. SATTO finishes the short phrase while YURURI continues.

1st Cue: GUITAR starts to hit the resonance body of the instrument. This indicates SATTO to resume and the PERFORMER to start the Fish dance.

2nd Cue: SATTO, playing and whispering (no voice) from the beginning of the phrase, gradually start to speak/shout with clear voice participation. This is the cue for YURURI to resume the last sound material. ¨Fish Dance¨ PERFORMER, dragging the Koinobori Fish on the floor, starts to walk into the hall from the back of the audience. Slowly wave the hand higher to let the Fish bounce as if dancing. Keep walking towards the stage (eventually to the BLACKHOLE) and dance more and more vigorously.

SATTO concludes its sound material with 3 big hits of drums. PERFORMER: throw the fish into the BLACKHOLE exactly with SATTO’s third hit!

SATTO and PERFORMER: Put away the instruments and start blow soap bubble towards all directions. Light and gentle with very slow motion movements. There is no more gravity left… Fill the room with love.

Performance Notes

Rei Munakata

YURURI for flute and guitar All glissandi are continuous without staying on given pitches.

The score is transposed, and the guitar sounds octave lower than written.

Gravity In principle, all components and musical lines in “Yururi” should be phrased and directed downward throughout the piece as if the music is forcefully attracted towards the earth.

“Yururi” is based on four different speed curves as the core musical material as following: Speed curves and glissandi

!

Falling (negative exponential)

Falling (positive exponential)

Start falling very fast but the speed decreases and land smoothly without any explosive accent.

Carefully touch the ground without making any sound like a catwalk.

Start falling slowly and the speed increases.

Great explosive accent should be emphasised when a falling object hits the ground very hard.

!

Bouncing back (positive exponential)

Bouncing back (negative exponential)

Start lifting up slowly and the speed accelerates.

Quickly swipe off at the end.

After a shock of accent, bounce back very quickly, and the speed decreases.

From suddenly taking off to floating in the air like slow motion at the end.

!

!

Fermata and “senza misura” The spatial awareness and the concept of time interval are the keys to “Yururi”.

A free-falling object in the space continues to move eternally in one direction when pushed. The sense of “falling eternity from one push” should be achieved in all free and senza misura passages. All fermata durations are up the performers’ musicality, personality, and interpretation of the moment.

This careful awareness of fragile musical timings should be determined by the performers’ musicality, personality, and interpretation according to the environment and the feeling of the moment. Take time and be patient — do not hurry! Let the moment happen naturally by allowing yourself to be carried away in the stream of sound and silence.

Choreography “Yururi” is NOT a theatrical work, and the performers should not act like an actor. However every physical movement, even during silence, should be planned carefully throughout the piece. Just like the butterfly effect in chaos theory, all actions required in order to perform “Yururi” should be dependent with each other and strongly connected with the speed curves explained above.

In general, take as much time as possible with a sense of Japanese Noh theatre like calmness and concentration. Slow motion whenever possible in the following examples: - When you prepare a gesture or a phrase.

- When you raise your arms and instruments.

- When you breathe.

- When switching from one instrument to the other, from one technique to the other, and from one direction to the other.

- When you turn the page.

- When you walk to the stage and sit down.

FLUTE [Flute] Breathing When the breathing noise is in focus rather than the ordinary flute playing, the breath staff line is carried out.

The breath staff line, consisting of 2 lines, shows how much air is left in the performer’s lungs.

The upper line “100%” = The performer is fully breathed in and can take no more air.

The lower line “0%” = The performer has used up all the air.

!

The breathing line is illustrated graphically under the idea of gravitational force and speed curve.

Ascending curves = inhale (“in”), always closed mouthpiece (⬛ ).

!

The different angles and shape of the curves determine the speed of airflow.

!

Descending curves = exhale (“ex”), always open mouthpiece (⬜ ).

!

The different angles and shape of the curves determine the speed of airflow.

!

The following example shows a typical flute breathing passage:

Suddenly and quickly breath in (closed embouchure) with a well-articulated sforzando.

Hold the breath until the third beat. Change the embouchure discreetly during this silence.

From the third beat, slowly and gradually start exhaling (open embouchure).

!

Then, the exponential exhaling exhausts all the air like a shooting star, and quickly inhaling (closed embouchure) with a strong accent.

Different types of boundary between inhaling and exhaling: In “Yururi”, the music often searches for the imperceptible boundary between inhaling and exhaling, and the performer is asked to switch without a clear point and a “corner” to create a martial art like timing and a sense of eternal circular airflow. !

The dotted line and thin line are a graphical illustration of how thin the boundary between the silence and the airflow to achieve the gradual transition.

The example shows a clear boundary and a rapid change from exhaling to inhaling. Note that the dynamic indication “f” is at the beginning of inhaling, and thus, the exhaling should not make any accented at the end of the crescendo.

!

However musically speaking, it is natural to have an accented “outburst” at the end of such an exponential cresc.passage. In this case, make sure the exhaling accent is before the beat like an acciaccatura, and even greater accent when inhaling.

Air speed Air speed is an important element of the flute part in Yururi, and in general, colourful variety of different air speed and velocity should be experimented during the entire work based on the idea of the “speed curves”.

Definition of air speed:

!

1) the actual air speed itself.

2) The friction between the surface of the lips and the air.

3) The airflow influenced by various embouchure shapes (focused and narrow, loose and wide, etc).

Very “fast” air speed.

Forcefully over-blow (but without changing harmonic partial) with a sense of intense friction.

Keep changing the embouchure shape to achieve constantly changing mix of tone/air colour.

Soulful and spiritual in character, very determined without hesitation.

[Speaking] “Speaking” is not really a proper speaking but rather just a sigh-like voice slipping out from very loosely half-opened mouth.

The intimate voice should sound unintentional and mysterious, lazy and unfocused during a warm and relaxing Sunday afternoon rather than a cold and busy Monday morning.

All speaking should not be theatrical in anyway. Keep a complete poker face. “a” = Slightly suggestive with a touch of being demanding. But under complete poker face. “e” = Slight sense of questioning and being lost as if something unexpected happened. But under complete poker face.

GUITAR [Paper] Very thin white wrapping tissue paper often used to wrap items in a department store.

It should be unused, new, and crispy enough that the paper is totally silent when waving gently, and rattles loudly when waving hard.

Experiment with different sizes and the material qualities: It should not be too clumsy when picking up and throwing in the air.

Approximately A5 size.

!

Place all papers on a table before the performance. Organize so that it is very easy to pick up just one piece of paper quickly and swiftly during the performance.

Wave The guitarist is asked to wave the paper up and down in different speed and velocity, which has close relation to the breathing of the flute part.

The paper staff line, consisting of 2 lines, shows approximate distance of paper movement in the air. !

The upper line “up” = Up in the air, approximately just above the head.

The lower line “down” = Down, approximately the level of the guitar on the lap.

The paper movement is illustrated graphically under the idea of gravitational force and speed curve.

Ascending curves: Move upwards The different angles and shape of the curves determine the speed and velocity of the movement. !

!

Descending curves: Move downwards The different angles and shape of the curves determine the speed and velocity of the movement. !

Types of lines Dotted line Continuous line

!

“……………” “_________”

= Move gently without making any sound or noise. = Wave the paper in order to make some noise according to the nuance and expression.

The following example shows a typical paper waving passage:

Initially all papers are placed on a table.

Very slowly and gradually pick up a piece of paper, and move upwards silently (dotted lines = moving silently). Always in a slow motion with intense concentration.

!

Bar 2, 2nd beat: Quickly accelerate the speed and wave the paper down and up as illustrated graphically. Only sound with continuous line.

It is important that the initial slow and silent “choreography” leads into the waving in bar 2 naturally and organic in one phrase.

Throw Throw away the indicated item (paper, bunch of cornflake, bunch of salt, etc) swiftly in the air in the direction that does not interfere the performance but is clearly visible for the audience. !

Paper to Guitar Tamburo The example shows the transition between paper waving and guitar tamburo.

Hold the paper in a way that a part of the hand is available to perform tamburo effect without dropping the paper.

When you wave downward (the continuous line under sixteenth note value marked “f”), direct the hand towards the guitar to connect these two techniques in one motion without any gap.

Importantly, do not loose the paper from your hand in order to be able to continue the paper waving immediately.

!

[Breathing] See under Flute Player

[Speaking] “Speaking” is not really a proper speaking but rather just a sigh-like voice slipping out from very loosely half-opened mouth.

The intimate voice should sound unintentional and mysterious, lazy and unfocused during a warm and relaxing Sunday afternoon rather than a cold and busy Monday morning.

All speaking should not be theatrical in anyway. Keep a complete poker face. “a” = Slightly suggestive with a touch of being demanding. But under complete poker face. “e” = Slight sense of questioning and being lost as if something unexpected happened. But under complete poker face.

[Small Bell] One or two pieces (no more) of small bells (ex. Japanese Shinto bell) that contains pellets that sound when agitated.

Hang the bell(s) with a thread from the note stand or similar.

The sound quality should be intimate and fragile with a sense of good resonance without being overly loud or violent.

Tap gently (always twice every time) and let it resonate. !

The silence interval should be long enough to achieve a sense of calmness. Wait for the right moment and be patient.

[Muffin forms] and [ Feathers] Slowly put down the guitar and stand up in slow motion. Pick up muffin forms or feathers and drop one by one. The bottom of the muffin form should face downwards in order to let the form spin and fall slowly. Let the feathers fly around in the air covering as much area as possible. There is air friction everywhere, and free-fall does not exist on the earth.

[Metal pot lid] A lid belonging to a small metal pot from IKEA. Hold it with the left hand and use as a slide while the right hand performs rasgueado. !

[Guitar] Tapping The performer is often asked to tap (instead of plucking) the strings in arpeggio motion with the right hand (upper 2 line staff) while fingering the indicated notes with the left hand (lower ordinary 5 line staff in treble clef) to achieve a ghostly delicate and mysterious sound quality.

The upper 2 line staff indicates where on the strings to tap AND how busy they should be tapped: The upper line = near the bridge (ponticello). Very fast and busy.

The lower line = approx. middle of the fingerboard (tasto). Very slow and relaxed.

In some passages, graphically notated dots also indicate how busy the strings should be tapped. !

OSSIA: In an expressive and louder passage, feel free to randomly throw in different types of tremolo or rasqueado to enhance the expression. But the tapping should remain as the base of the phrasing.

The lower 5 line staff indicates which notes to keep with the l.h. and for how long (indicated by horizontal line after a note). The important is that the chords are gradually appearing and disappearing. Feel free to experiment with different cross fading voice leadings.

Performance Notes

Rei Munakata

SATTO for cello and percussion All glissandi are continuous without staying on given pitches.

Gravity In principle, all components and musical lines in “Satto” should be phrased and directed downward throughout the piece as if the music is forcefully attracted towards the earth.

“Satto” is based on four different speed curves as the core musical material as following: Speed curves and glissandi

!

Falling (negative exponential)

Falling (positive exponential)

Start falling very fast but the speed decreases and land smoothly without any explosive accent.

Carefully touch the ground without making any sound like a catwalk.

Start falling slowly and the speed increases.

Great explosive accent should be emphasised when a falling object hits the ground very hard.

!

Bouncing back (positive exponential)

Bouncing back (negative exponential)

Start lifting up slowly and the speed accelerates.

Quickly swipe off at the end.

After a shock of accent, bounce back very quickly, and the speed decreases.

From suddenly taking off to floating in the air like slow motion at the end.

!

!

Fermata and “senza misura” The spatial awareness and the concept of time interval are the keys to “Satto”. The velocity of the musical stream and the sense of concentration during particular time duration must consist the sense of ¨searching¨ for the refined choice of moment. This careful awareness of fragile musical timings should be determined by the performers’ musicality, personality, and interpretation according to the environment and the feeling of the moment. This careful awareness of fragile musical timings should be determined by the performers’ musicality, personality, and interpretation according to the environment and the feeling of the moment. Take time and be patient – do not hurry! Let the moment happen naturally by allowing yourself to be carried away in the stream of sound and silence.

Choreography “Satto” is NOT a theatrical work, and the performers should not act like an actor. However every physical movement, even during silence, should be planned carefully throughout the piece. Just like the butterfly effect in chaos theory, all actions required in order to perform “Satto” should be dependent with each other and strongly connected with the speed curves explained above.

In general, take as much time as possible with a sense of Japanese Noh theatre like calmness and concentration. Slow motion whenever possible in the following examples: - When you prepare a gesture or a phrase.

- When you raise your arms and instruments.

- When you breathe.

- When switching from one instrument to the other, from one technique to the other, and from one direction to the other.

- When you turn the page.

- When you walk to the stage and sit down.

Cello Bowing [Bow speed] Bow speed is an important element of the cello part in Satto, and in general, colourful variety of different bow speed and velocity should be experimented during the entire work.

During glissando passages, follow the “Speed curves and glissandi” for the bow speed.

[Vertical bowing] Move the bow vertically along the strings without any horizontal movement (Ossia: Add a little horizontal movement if needed for your interpretation). Always brushing like flautando without too much bow pressure and pitches otherwise indicated.

It is not specified which string(s) to brush in order to let the interpreter chooses spontaneously. Keep changing the string(s) according to the gesture, feeling, and situation.

Vertical bowing with extra bow pressure: Over pressured bow with squeaking and scratchy noise with a lot of overtones.

[Bow in all directions] Move the bow in every direction possible (horizontally, vertically, diagonally) but the bow is constantly on the string(s) with extra over-pressure as if the gravitational force of the cello is so strong that the bow is stuck to the strings no matter how hard you try to move away. Try to bow all three indicated strings at the same time.

Move the bow in every direction possible (horizontally, vertically, diagonally) but the bow is constantly on the string(s) with extra over-pressure as if the gravitational force of the cello is so strong that the bow is stuck to the strings no matter how hard you try to move away. Try to bow all three indicated strings at the same time.

!

Whispering and Speaking [Whisper] While constantly pronouncing “h”, change the mouth shape from “o” to “a” exponentially. Clearly articulate the pronunciation in the beginning with a strong accent, and exponentially disappear in the air.

[Growl] Let the vocal cord growl from enthusiastic over-pressured air.

[Speak] Add voice to the whispering phrases from before.

Water Pouring and Sipping Preparation before the performance: • Fill the teapot with tea or water. Preferably a hot tea, but cold water can be used as substitute for less complication. (Listed as “water” in the score).

• Put a little bit of tea or water in the teacup.

Example of teapot and teacup: Teapot (Japanese kyusu)

Teacup (Japanese yunomi)

! !

[Water] - pour Pour some water or tea into the teacup. Relax and do not hurry. Take your time and let the percussionist wait for you (rubato whenever needed).

[Water] - sip Sip some water or tea with a lot of sipping noise. Again, relax, enjoy, and do not hurry. It is important to take a little break in life.

Percussion [Knife on metal plate] Any small sharp knife that can create resonant sound effect when scraped against a metallic object such as metal plate or knife sharpener (whatever that makes a bright and resonant hissing sound).

Scrape the knife against the surface of a metal plate or an equivalent as if an object takes off.

Lower line = Towards the performer with louder dynamics.

Higher line = Away from the performer with quieter dynamics.

Let the knife rapidly leave the surface towards the end to achieve the metallic resonance.

!

[Small drum] Any small drum with stand (ex. snare drum) with very rough textual skin.

Scrape the rough surface of the small drum skin with finger(s). Follow the speed curve for the amount of speed acceleration and decay.

Lower line = towards the performer with louder dynamics.

Higher line = away from the performer with quieter dynamics.

Dotted line = finger(s) on the surface but not moving or barely moving (total silent or almost silent).

Flautando.

Continuous line = scrape. The thickness is a graphic illustration of gradual changes of scraping pressure and dynamics. !

With or without comma: When the speed curves downward with cresc., the end of the phrase is marked with or without a comma. The performer, together with the cellist, decides when to let the finger(s) off the surface or remain.

Retake: When retaking a new speed curve, do not hit the instrument.

[Ocean drum] Small (8 inches) ocean drum placed on the low tom throughout the performance.

Ordinary filled notehead = Tap or strike with finger(s) according to the dynamics.

Cross “x� notehead = Poke the ocean drum from the side and let it rattle a little. It should sound almost unintentional. In a series of poking passage, keep changing the direction of poking in order to control a good position of the ocean drum. !

!

[Low tom] Rather large low floor tom with legs. The ocean drum should be placed on top of the low tom throughout the performance.

[Kick drum] Small drum-set bass drum with kick pedal. Damp the drum heavily until there is no resonance at all.

[Bass drum] Medium size (30 inches) bass drum with very rough textual skin (natural or fiber skin) on stand. Place the bass drum horizontally (drumhead facing up).

Bass drum solo in Satto

!

Scrape the rough surface of the small drum skin with finger(s). Follow the speed curve for the amount of speed acceleration and decay.

Lower line = towards the performer with louder dynamics.

Higher line = away from the performer with quieter dynamics.

Dotted line = finger(s) on the surface but not moving or barely moving (total silent or almost silent). Often flautando.

Continuous line = scrape. The thickness is a graphic illustration of gradual changes of scraping pressure and dynamics.

Small diagonal lines = over pressured. Let different scratchy overtones to come out. Dig in and take time.

[Gravel] in the pot

Small and round gravels of different sizes, approximately between 2 mm to 7 mm. Wash before the performance if dirty.

Rather large flower pot or similar.

Insert a lot of gravels in the pot before the performance.

Avoid pot made of metal material. !

!

! !

The gravel part is notated in a system consisting of 3 lines: Top line = ca. 5 cm above the surface of the gravel.

Middle line = the surface of the gravel.

Bottom line = the bottom of the gravel pot.

The wave line shows the position of the hand and the speed of hand movement. Slowly and gradually grab a small amount of gravel when the hand goes into the gravel, and slowly release one by one when the hand goes up. This movement should be organic and continuous without sudden movement.

[Gravel] to throw on bass drum Put aside enough gravel in a container before the performance.

Grab some gravel and throw on the bass drum surface. The aim is to: 1) achieve the violent hitting noise, 2) let some gravel bounce off and hit the floor, 3) let some gravel to stay on the drum even after the initial bouncing.

!

Let the gravel stay there for the rest of the performance.

Let the gravel jump up and down to rattle when playing the bass drum in the last section.

Experiment with different amount of gravel to throw in order to achieve the best result of rattling effect towards the end.

[7 coins] Any coin with medium weight and size from any currency.

Drop a coin on one of the bongo drums of your choice without being theatrical.

It does not matter whether the coin stays on the surface of the bongo drum or fall off and hit the floor. !

[12 Porcelain plates] Very small, thin, and fragile porcelain plates. Preferably high quality plates that would dismantle clean and crispy when dropped.

Drop a porcelain plate (p. plate) on a floor made of stone, marble, or similar.

!

[Spark shaker] Meinl original spark shaker.

Ossia. In a loud passage, stack together Meinl original spark shaker (on top) and Meinl headed spark shaker (at the bottom, headed surface against the other) to create noisier effect. !

The metallic quality of the spark shaker is very important. Any shaker with the same metallic quality can be used as substitute.

Whispering and Speaking [Whisper] While constantly pronouncing “sh”, change the mouth shape from “i” to “u” exponentially with a sense of strong gravity. Clearly articulate the pronunciation at the end and release.

[Speak] Add voice to the whispering phrases from before.