Peters Contemporary Library
BROWN
Sounder
for Orchestra Score
Rounds
EARLE BROWN Score Sounder Rounds for Orchestra
Earle Brown
SOUNDER ROUNDS for Orchestra (1982-83)
Commissioned by the Saarländischer Rundfunk.
SOUNDER ROUNDS premiered in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1983, with Earle Brown conducting.
Program Note
Directions for Performance
Score (transposed)
Instrumentation
1 Flute
1 Alto Flute
2 Oboes
1 English Horn
2 Clarinets in B b
1 Bass Clarinet
1 Bassoon
1 Contrabassoon
4 Horns
3 Trumpets in C
2 Trombones
1 Tuba
1 Glockenspiel
1 Vibraphone
1 Xylophone
1 Marimba
1 Harp
1 Piano
12 First Violins, divisi a 2
10 Second Violins, divisi a 2
8 Violas, divisi a 2
6 Cellos, divisi a 2
4 Contrabasses, divisi a 2
Duration: approximately 20-25 minutes
SOUNDER ROUNDS seems to me to be the third in a related series of works for large orchestra, the other two being TIME SPANS (1972) and NEW PIECE: LOOPS (1972), the latter also utilizing a large chorus. The three works are each based on a relatively simple sonic condition which is compositionally explored by fragmentation, juxtaposition, collage techniques and variations which can be made in the actual conducting of the works.
As in many of my works, this piece is basically “closed form” but has areas* in which the basic composed material can be sequenced and juxtaposed spontaneously by the conductor. This potential for a work I originally (in 1952 ) called “mobile score,” as influenced first by Alexander Calder, but this is now generally referred to in music as “open form” . . . the actual final form of each performance being different and unique but always recognizable as this particular work due to the unchanging basic composed material content. In concept it is similar to viewing many aspects and details of a sculpture as one walks around it at different speeds and in different directions, or (as in my original influence from Calder) as the elements of a mobile constantly change in relation to each other.
The relatively simple elements of SOUNDER ROUNDS are rather dense “streams” of sound which expand, contract, separate, change shape and color, and “fields” of vertical aggregates (chords), which a German critic has referred to as “sound columns” in writing of other of my works.
Earle Brown
*Editor’s note: these “open form” areas are indicated in the score by large superimposed numbers.
Earle Brown formulated general instructions for “open form” sections and proportional notation for earlier compositions, such as NOVARA ( 1962 ; published by Editions Peters), excerpted below:
P RELIMINARy N OTES
Spontaneous decisions in the performance of a work and the possibility of the composed elements being “mobile” have been of primary interest to me for some time; the former to an extreme degree in FOLIO ( 1952 ), and the latter, most explicitly, in TWENT y-FIVE PAGES ( 1953 ). For me, the concept of the elements being mobile was inspired by the mobiles of Alexander Calder, in which, similar to this work, there are basic units subject to innumerable different relationships or forms. The concept of the work being conducted and formed spontaneously in performance was originally inspired by the “action-painting” techniques and works of Jackson Pollock in the late 1940 s, in which the immediacy and directness of “contact” with the material is of great importance and produces such an intensity in the working and in the result. The performance conditions of these works are similar to a painter working spontaneously with a given palette.
The conductor may conduct the events in any sequence or juxtaposition, in changing tempi, loudness, and in general mold and form the piece. The inherent flexibility of the materials allows the work to constantly transform itself and re-express its potential, while the sound materials and
characteristics which I have composed contain the essential “identity” which makes this work different from any other.
I have felt that the conditions of spontaneity and mobility of elements which I have been working with create a more urgent and intense “communication” throughout the entire process, from composing to the final realization of a work.
I prefer that each “final form,” which each performance necessarily produces, be a collaborative adventure, and that the work and its conditions of human involvement remain a “living” potential of engagement.
T IME N OTATION
There is a built-in factor of flexibility in the notation and scoring of this piece because the availability of forms is based on letting go of the idea of metric accuracy. This is achieved through the notational system used in this work. This system, which I have called a “time-notation,” is a development of the work in FOLIO (1952 and 1953) and most clearly represents sound-relationships in the score as I wish them to exist in performance, independent of a strict pulse or metric system.
C ONDUCTING
The conducting technique is basically one of cueing ; the notation precludes the necessity and function of “beat” in the usual sense (although the conductor does indicate the relative tempo). The number of the event to be performed is indicated by the left hand of the conductor — one to five
fingers. A conventional (right-hand) down-beat initiates the activity. The relative speed and dynamic intensity with which an event is to be performed is implied by the speed and largeness of the down-beat as given with the right hand.
The conception of the work is that the score presents specific material having different characteristics, and that this material is subject to many inherent modifications, such as modifications of combinations (event plus event), sequences, dynamics, and tempos, spontaneously created during the performance. All events are always prepared by a left-hand signal and initiated by a down-beat from the conductor; the size and rapidity of the down-beat implies the loudness and speed with which the event is to be performed. The conductor must, as with any notation, insist on accurately articulated relationships from the rhythmic “shape” of phrase and pitch sequences in this work.
G ENERAL M ODIFICATIONS OF E VENTS
conducted fermata : the conductor may introduce a fermata at any time during the performance, in any single event or combination of events. Both hands cupped towards the orchestra and held stationary indicates that all musicians in that group should hold the sound or silence which they are at that moment performing, until the next sign from the conductor tells them either to cut off or to continue from the point of interruption. A cut-off is signaled with both hands and must be followed by another eventsignal from the left hand and a down-beat. To continue, the
conductor moves both hands from the “hold” position back to the body and then outward towards the orchestra, palms up (as if giving the initiative back to the orchestra).
conducted stop : the conductor may stop any event or combination of events at any time during the performance.
The normal, two-hand cut-off signal will silence his entire group. Leaving the hands up will hold that silence until the signal to continue from the point of interruption is given. If the hands do not remain up in “hold” position, the musicians are to expect another event-signal from the left hand, and a down-beat.
modification of single event : any two-hand cut-off signal affects the entire group. The conductor may wish, however, to modify only one event among two or more events being performed simultaneously. To do this he signals the number of the event to be modified with his left hand; then indicates the modification — a hold or cut-off — with only his right hand. (Events not indicated by the fingers of the conductor’s left hand continue to proceed normally.) It is absolutely essential that the orchestra members clearly understand this difference in signaling: a hold or cut-off by both hands affects an entire group; a hold or cut-off by only the right hand affects only the event indicated by the fingers of the left hand. Players whose parts do not contain events signaled by the conductor’s left hand must remain unaffected by his subsequent right-hand indications.
As soon as the conductor initiates (by left-hand eventsignal and right-hand down-beat) a new event that appears on the player’s part, the preceding event is automatically cancelled. No specific stop-signal is required. The player simply discontinues the event he is playing and, without break between events, begins to play the new one.
With these procedures clearly understood by the conductor and the musicians it is possible to achieve smooth transitions and long lines of connected material of extreme complexity and frequent modification. The first impression derived from the score will be one of many sporadic fragments. This wealth of fragments shows the numerous formal possibilities inherent in the work, and it is this realization, not the fragmentations, that must become the dominant characteristic of performance.
Specific Instructions for SOUNDER ROUNDS
Accidentals apply only to the note they precede.
Instruments are not synchronized during passages with black noteheads (streams). However, entire sections are synchronized during passages with white noteheads (fields).
Events: small numbers above staves indicate that those events will be performed in sequence. Large superimposed numbers indicate open-form sections.
Page 2 : conduct events in sequence. Hold event 2 into event 3
Page 3 : cue winds and second violins to begin simultaneously, after the violas have already started; then cue brass and cellos to begin simultaneously.
Pages 4 , 5 (section A): open-form section. See general instructions for conducting open form.
Pages 6, 7 (sections B1, B2): conduct events in sequence. Overlap freely as notated.
Pages 8 9 (section C): open-form section. End with strings event 7 (loop). Indicate move to next section with large page turn.
Page 10 (section D): cue instruments as indicated (fingers 1 - 5 ). Treat streams as in open form (stop, start, hold, etc.).
Page 11 (section E): treat string streams as in open form. Bring in pianos and percussion as desired.
Pages 12 13 (section F): cue winds and brass events in sequence independently, not simultaneously. Cue strings events any time, in any order. Bring in percussion, harp and piano as desired. Indicate move to next section with large page turn.
Pages 14 15 (section G): open-form section.
Where no dynamics given, follow conductor’s suggestions.
Solos (any
Earle Brown was born in 1926 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and in spirit remained a New Englander throughout his life. A major force in contemporary music and a leading composer of the American avantgarde since the 1950s, he was associated with the experimental composers John Cage, Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, who – together with Brown – came to be known as members of the New York School. Brown died in 2002 at his home in Rye, New York.
Earle Brown wurde 1926 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, geboren und blieb im Geist ein Leben lang Neuengländer. Ab den 1950er Jahren war er eine treibende Kraft in der zeitgenössischen Musik und einer der führenden Komponisten der amerikanischen Avantgarde. Enge Verbindung unterhielt er zu den experimentellen Komponisten John Cage, Morton Feldman und Christian Wolff, mit denen gemeinsam er später der sogenannten New York School zugerechnet wurde. Brown starb 2002 in seinem Haus in Rye, New York.
Earle Brown