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O'Regan, Tarik Fragments from a Gradual Process
Score for sale (North America): http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=14023803 Score for sale (UK, Europe and other territories): http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/00410398/details.html?kbid=1296 Information about the work and materials for hire: http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/14721
Score begins on the next page.
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Fragments from a Gradual Process Duration 7 minutes
Programme Notes Fragments from a Gradual Process was commissioned by ensemblebash. The work was premiered by the commissioners, with violinist Madeleine Mitchell, on 21 April 2005 in Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton. When I was asked to compose a piece as a concert-partner for Lou Harrison’s
Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra (or Koncherto por la Violono Kun Perkuta Orkestra, its official title in the Esperanto of which he was such a fervent advocate during his life), I was keen to write the antithesis of a concerto; I sought to create something that would involve all the players equally, performing strictly as one unit. Two very different examples of this attitude came to mind: the brief moment at the end of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale (1918), where the violin blends into the percussion for a few seconds before vanishing and Steve Reich’s early-1970s loopbased compositions, Clapping Music and Six Pianos, written immediately after his trip to Ghana, where he studied drumming. It seemed logical to allow the influence of Reich’s modern-day hocketing and Ghanaian-infused rhythmic ambiguities to permeate the periphery of my own piece as I already knew that the musical culture of Ghana is at the heart of ensemblebash. In addition, I decided to give a ‘nod’ to Stravinsky in the very opening violin chord, forming the basis of the first section which gradually shrinks with each of its three reoccurrences. While the background pulse remains constant (q = 252), the use of accenting and modulated time signatures creates a permanently shifting beat which is itself affixed to a broad sectional arrangement not dissimilar to a classical rondo. It was interesting for me to watch how a completely new composition grew out of such geographically, musically and ideologically disparate stimuli. However, as Steve Reich wrote in his 1968 seminal essay, Music as a Gradual Process, ‘all music turns out to be ethnic music’.
Performance Notes Fragments from a Gradual Process is very much conceived as a quintet, rather than a concerto for violin with percussion accompaniment. For reasons of balance, it may be necessary to place the violinist in front of the four percussionists; however, this must not affect the intrinsic musical equality of the five performers. The instrumentation includes two pentatonic Ghanaian xylophones; their use is optional, and passages written for both instruments can be played on the one marimba required elsewhere in the score. Any ‘sticking’ examples in the percussion parts are suggestions only; no bowing marks are included in the violin part. Tarik O’Regan Cambridge, Massachusetts February, 2005
Instrumentation solo violin percussion I vibraphone glockenspiel large tam-tam three gongs (of different sizes) gong 1
gong 2
gong 3
tam-tam
percussion II marimba Ghanaian xylophone (optional, can use marimba instead) Ghanaian xylophone pitches (optional low ‘G’ needed for percussion IV only)
percussion III triangle (hand-held) suspended cymbal (16” – 18”) hi-hat tambourine three cowbells (of different sizes) wood block two bongos maracas wood block
low bongo
high bongo
triangle
tamb.
hi-hat
sus. Cym
cowbell 2
cowbell 1
maracas
cowbell 3
percussion IV Ghanaian xylophone (optional, can share percussion I marimba instead) triangle (with stand) snare drum four tom-toms (of different sizes) bass drum (with stand, or use pedal bass drum) tom-tom 1
snare drum
tom-tom 2
tom-tom 4
tom-tom 3
triangle
bass drum
FRAGMENTS FROM A GRADUAL PROCESS for Madeleine Mitchell and ensemblebash
TARIK O'REGAN
Fast h = 126 (q = 252)
Violin
f
mallets hard Percussion I f
very dry, no pedal
VIBRAPHONE*
RH
sim.
LH (use four mallets, as above)
GHANAIAN XYLOPHONE**
hard mallets
Percussion II
f
RH
sim.
LH (use four mallets, as above)
TWO BONGOS
sticks
Percussion III
f ***
FOUR TOM-TOMS
snare drum sticks
Percussion IV
f ***
* Vibraphone motor to be switched on and set to a medium speed throughout. ** If the instrument is not readily available, passages for the Ghanaian xylophone can be played on a marimba. *** Players III and IV, while adhering to the dynamics, should always make sure the violin and pitched percussion (predominantly players I and II) are audible. © Copyright 2005 Novello & Company Limited
HI-HAT
43
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
ff
5
ff
l.v.
Perc. IV
ff
ff
ff
C
(q=q) 46 Vln.
[4+3] sffz
Perc. I
[4+3]
pizz.
l.v.
mp
LH
(use four mallets, as above)
sim.
p use pedal as necessary
RH
Perc. II
l.v.
[4+3] sffz
Perc. III
SUS. CYM.
[4+3] sffz
Perc. IV
[4+3] sffz
l.v.
RIM SHOT
turn snares off a.s.a.p. pp subito
F
10
(q=q)
73
Vln.
[4+3] f VIBRAPHONE
four hard mallets, as before Perc. I [4+3] ff use pedal as necessary
Perc. II
[4+3] ff
[hi-hat]
Perc. III
f
Perc. IV
[4+3] f
[s. d.] snares on
76
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
Perc. IV
79
Vln.
11
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
Perc. IV
82
Vln.
Perc. I
(q=q)
mf
Perc. II
f
p
f
GHANAIAN XYLOPHONE
f
subito
l.v. p
molto Perc. IV
subito
subito
molto
Perc. III
mf
mf
molto
f
subito
f turn snares off
subito
18
L
mf
Perc. I
[tam-tam]
Perc. III
Perc. II
[ pp ]
148
mp
Perc. I
Perc. IV
Vln.
[ pp ](sempre l.v.)
mp
[3 gongs]
Perc. II
sim.
Vln.
pizz. quasi chitarra
143
M
[bongos] hands p
Perc. III
[ pp ]
Perc. IV
23 193
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
Perc. IV
198
Vln.
P
f subito
Perc. I
f
VIBRAPHONE
hard mallets
f subito
very dry, no pedal
Perc. II
Perc. III
f subito [bongos] sticks
f subito
[cowbells]
FOUR TOM-TOMS ETC.
Perc. IV
turn snares on
snare drum sticks
f subito
[b. d.]
24 202
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
[hi-hat] [w. b.]
[tamb.]
Perc. IV
[s. d.] snares on
Perc. I
206
Vln.
Perc. II
Perc. III
Perc. IV
T
30
(q=q)
240
Vln.
[4+3] f VIBRAPHONE
four hard mallets, as before Perc. I [4+3] ff use pedal as necessary
Perc. II
[4+3] ff
[hi-hat]
Perc. III
f
Perc. IV
[s. d.] snares on
[4+3] f
243
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
Perc. IV
283
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
pizz.
mf
W arco
35
l.v.
l.v.
[triangle (hand-held)] triangle beater Perc. IV
290
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
arco
pizz.
l.v.
mp
l.v.
Perc. IV
[sus. cym] timpani sticks
Perc. III
arco
pizz.
l.v.
mf
l.v.
364
Vln.
Perc. I
Perc. II
Perc. III
ff subito
ff subito
ff subito 3
[tamb. and bongos] stick handles
ff subito
Perc. IV
Perc. I Perc. II
ff subito
369
Vln.
[s. d.] (snares off)
41
[b. d.]
FOUR TOM-TOMS ETC.
snare drum sticks
(q=q)
sffz
sffz
SUS. CYM. NAT.
Perc. IV
Perc. III
timp. sticks nat.
sffz
sffz
Cambridge, Mass., February, 2005