HELLAWELL
Balcony Scenes
for Solo Violin
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PIERS HELLAWELL
Balcony Scenes
for Solo Violin
ISSUU Version
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Instrumentation
Solo Violin
Duration: 12 mins approx.
Performance Notes
The two fantasia pieces and bicinium i all make use of a free tempo notation that makes only partial use, or no use, of standard metrical divisions and pulses. Much notation employs black note-heads (short), smaller white noteheads (medium) and larger white note-heads (long) as proportional values; the tempo should allow the material (often of a chorale nature) to breathe. While some passages, like Bicinium i, are entirely unmetered, others use free note-heads within a loose metre (Fantasia i, letter G). From letter V of Fantasia ii, some note-heads are also prefaced by grace-note groups.
Bicinium i is entirely unmetered, and presents two levels of experimental notation. The free chorale material occupies the lower stave; the three upper staves carry interpolations of high improvised materials that are, respectively, short, medium and long in duration, according to which of the three staves is used. The interpolations cut into the chorale, but the joins should not be rushed; these are not interruptions: the effect should be as if cutting to a different plane, each layer being entirely unrelated to the other. The content (suggested by diamond-head fragments within the boxes) should vary endlessly, like bird song: it is fast and very high on the designated string, with each box offering a starting-point. NB: the final box is played sul A, this string simultaneously being played ‘open’ as a drone, which should break through between the high fragments.
An appendix on p.16 displays an alternate notation of Bicinium ii, where the performer can see the voice leading more clearly. Please note that the microtones featured from bar 83 onwards in the appendix are not part of the final version.
This work was commissioned by Fenella Humphreys for her Bach to the Future project, and was premiered by her at Aldeburgh on 10th September 2014. It was commissioned with funds generously provided by the RVW Trust, the PRS Foundation For Music, the Nicholas Boas Trust, the Ida Carroll Trust and a large number of private backers through Kickstarter.
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BalconyScenes
e=80
Broad,unhurried(noclearmetricalstructureisintendeduntilb.19)
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Harmonics: freeinterpolation, outsidemetreand withdurationadlib.
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BiciniumI
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Veryfast; stringstouchedonly,ricochet
/Brief,1-2” (SulD)
LeftHandVERYhighonstring
Samplecontent-boxesdo notrepresentexactshapes,lengthetc
*Thechoraledurationsarefree;headsusedareblack(shorter),smalleropen(longer)andlargeropen(longerstill).
*Thesmallstavesshowinterpolationsbetweenchoralephrases.Completeeachthenresumechorale.
*Staveindicatesstringandwhethertheinterpolationisbrief(1-2"),medium(4-5")orlonger(8"+).
*Interpolationjoinsshouldnotberushed;theyarenotinterruptions.Treatasifcuttingtoadifferentplane.Their contentshouldvaryendlessly,likebirdsong:itisfastandveryhighonthedesignatedstring,basedoneachbox.
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On‘A’stringplayfastvariedrhythmsasbefore,but nowslurred,moltopont.andveryhighonstring,pianissimo OpenAstring‘breaksthrough’as5thofD,duringrestsbetweenflourishes.
(moltovicinoalpont.)
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Assai
theupperandlowervoicetobedistinguishedalwaysinattack,assuggestedbyseparatebeamsshownasfarasbar6; differentattacksseparatethesevoices,aswhene.g.onehasslurs/sfwhiletheotherisstaccato(orsimilardistinction).
Atsomepoints(e.g.bar102)rivaldynamiclevelsappearaboveandbelowthescore;theserelatetothetwovoices.Anappendix onp.16displaysanalternatenotationofthismovement,wheretheperformercanseethevoiceleadingmoreclearly.
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[fold out page]
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consord.
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senzasord.
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Grazioso,conmoto(choralematerial–moreprominent–isunderbrackets)
(quavers sottevoce)
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Assaif theupperandlowervoicetobedistinguishedalwaysinattack: onehasslurs/sfwhiletheotherisstaccato(orsimilardistinction)
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Piers Hellawell
Piers Hellawell (b. 1956) has worked with leading artists such as the LSO, Schubert Ensemble, Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Hilliard Ensemble, who toured his Hilliard Songbook pieces worldwide. Orchestral works include Cors de chasse (for Håkan Hardenberger, Jonas Bylund and the Philharmonia Orchestra) and the BBC commission Dogs and Wolves (2006), while Syzygy was premiered in 2013 by the Stockholm Chamber Brass/Swedish Chamber Orchestra. 2016 saw Hellawell’s Wild Flow commissioned for the BBC Proms, and a UK tour of Up by the Roots – a collaboration with poet Sinéad Morrissey – as well as a composer feature at Detroit’s Great Lakes Festival. Hellawell has been Professor of Composition at Queen’s University of Belfast since 2002, and has spoken widely on issues of music and cultural ownership as Gresham Professor of Music in London, 2000–2003.
Piers Hellawell (*1956) hat mit vielen namhaften Künstlern und Ensembles zusammengearbeitet, u.a. mit dem London Symphony Orchestra, dem Schubert Ensemble, Evelyn Glennie und dem Hilliard Ensemble, das seinem Hilliard Songbook zu internationaler Bekanntheit verhalf. Zu Hellawells Orchesterwerken zählen Cors de chasse (für Håkan Hardenberger, Jonas Bylund und das Philharmonia Orchestra), das BBC-Auftragswerk Dogs and Wolves (2006) sowie Syzygy, das 2013 von Stockholm Chamber Brass und dem Swedish Chamber Orchestra uraufgeführt wurde. 2016 entstanden Wild Flow für die BBC Proms sowie Up by the Roots – ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt mit der Dichterin Sinéad Morrissey, das bei Konzerten in ganz Großbritannien und Nordirland zur Aufführung kam. Im gleichen Jahr bildete sein Schaffen einen Schwerpunkt des Great Lakes Festival in Detroit. Hellawell ist seit 2002 Professor an der Queen’s University in Belfast. Von 2000 bis 2003 hatte er die Londoner Gresham-Professur für Musik inne und setzte sich bei seinen Vorträgen mit Fragen des kulturellen Eigentums in der Musik auseinander.
Photo © Brian Morrison