Rebecca Saunders_Albe_EP14089_Score_ISUU Version - For perusal only

SAUNDERS

Alba for Trumpet solo and Orchestra

Full Score

ISUU Version

For perusal only

ISUU Version

For perusal only

REBECCA SAUNDERS

for Trumpet solo and Orchestra

Full Score

EDITION PETERS

ISUU Version

For perusal only

alba L. fem. of albus “white,” from PIE root *albho- “white”, albe OE.

In painting the most extreme bright and light achromatic colour to the point of absolute luminosity. Devoid of shade and greyness, white is notably ardent, the colour of fury.

Alba is the fnal work in a series of three concertos – Still, Void and Alba Each title defnes a condition, or state, of absence in relation to sound, to space and to colour, respectively, and each refers to a text of Samuel Beckett.

Taken from the collection Echo’s Bones, Alba is an intensely lyrical poem. Beckett weighs each and every word and it’s shadow, it’s echo.

Tis poem ends looking forward to the short and intense prose texts written at the end of his life – his profoundly reduced, almost skeletal, prose, both mercilessly direct and yet exquisitely fragile.

Alba before morning you shall be here and Dante and the Logos and all strata and mysteries and the branded moon beyond the white plane of music that you shall establish here before morning

grave suave singing silk stoop to the black firmament of areca rain on the bamboos flowers of smoke alley of willows

who though you stoop with fingers of compassion to endorse the dust shall not add to your bounty whose beauty shall be a sheet before me a statement of itself drawn across the tempest of emblems so that there is no sun and no unveiling and no host only I and then the sheet and bulk dead

Instrumentation

3 Flutes Flute 1, Flute 2 (doubling Piccolo 2), Piccolo 1

2 Oboes

3 Clarinets in Bb Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2 (doubling Bass Clarinet 2), Bass Clarinet 1

1 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon

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3 Trumpets in C Brass on podium behind winds.

4 Horns

3 Trombones

1 Tuba (Eb-foot)

Percussion (4–8 players) Percussion in a line behind brass from far left to far right. Harp Piano, harp and accordion together behind Violin 1 near edge of stage. Accordion within curve of piano on a podium and harp nearest to edge of stage. Button accordion

Grand piano (e.g. Steinway D)

Solo Trumpet in C

Violin 1 (12 Players)

Violin 2 (12 Players)

Viola (10 Players)

Violoncello (8 Players)

Double bass (8 Players) Players 1–3: 5-string scordatura prepared and de-tuned to G#; Players 4–8: 4-string with extension to C

Tempi given are only guidelines, much depending on the soloist, the acoustic and the size of the concert space. Pauses and resonances can be much longer.

Te slow tempi are always very spacious. Te fastest tempo is indicated as 104, depending on the soloist! Minimal tempo is 92 for the fast sections. Final section from bars 255–302 oscillates between 92 and 104.

Duration 23 minutes.

Te score is in C.

Explanatory Notes on Solo Trumpet

Mutes: Harmon, wawa and cup.

Faster mute changes shown in graph continuum above stave. Use a wawa mute that can be inserted and removed easily and noiselessly while playing. For a smooth transition between harmon and wawa timbres use wawa with stem in (wawa) or ¾ out (harmon). Vary mute changes to achieve notated results, e.g. to enhance al niente efect at end of a split-tone phrase, the harmon may be more efective.

SH Shake. Wide amplitude, wild shake.

tongue Tongue vibrato inside mouth, fast quasi-“popping”. Smaller amplitude than shake.

œ Fluttertongue, front or back, depending on context.

jaw Wide vibrato with jaw, trill-oscillation with lower octave. With fnger trill is more controlled.

HV Ÿ Half-valve trill.

Ÿ ¼ Trill up or down ¼-tone.

Ÿ Ordinary tremolo or trill.

Ÿ o + Trill fngers fast directly in front of wawa mute.

bis Bisbigliando, timbral contrast trill.

Irregular trill with 1 or 2 fngers in front of the wawa mute. Vary distance between bell and fngers and vary also the speed of trill as shown in graphics. Combined with futtertongue for a fragile and fuctuating sound.

œ Glissando up or down the harmonic series, rough, vary fngerings. Lowest tones can be well below 2nd partial of harmonic series (bar 8–9).

HV

œ œ Smooth glissando using HV.

œ Staccato double-tonguing at maximum speed.

flz Continuous and even transition from one timbre to next.

Crescendo and decrescendo as if from, and to, nothing.

Quarter tones are approximate and have an espressive quasi-melodic and timbral function.

[103] Valve glissando. Lengthen tube at given fngering to alter pitch.

vib Use vibrato expressively and as extra efect on top notes. Generally assume without vibrato, unless marked.

split A split-tone is the resultant fast oscillation between two neighbouring overtones of one series, caused by diference in tension between upper- and under-lip. Block upper lip, then lower-lip aims for higher note of interval, and upper-lip aims for lower tone. Other notes may resonate with the interval, giving the impression of a chord. A „dirty“ sound, tuning is unstable, e.g., the ffth may de-tune becoming a tritone. Some intervals can only be located with the valve lengthened, giving an overtone series a semi-tone lower.

electronic birds Block upper lip, fltering out ordinary tone, as if creating a split-tone. Te pitch is too high for a stable split-tone resulting in a complex sound, which goes between the extremes of pulse and glissando.

¿ ¿ Diferentiation of colour and efect through

1. expanding and restricting the size of the cavity of mouth and throat – cavity restrict

2. increasing and reducing lip pressure – pressure

3. adding further techniques: tK, accents, and emphasing air, distortion and electronic quality.

cavity restrict pulse High staccato pulse.

pressure Slow gentle irregular pulse, mixed with air.

max pressure Fast hard-edged quasi-electronic tight pulsing, less air.

air “tube”

min pressure Hear full vertical air spectrum beneath the high quasi-split tone.

tK Add fast double-tongue articulation, timbrally extending pulse palette. tK and pulse not possible simultaneously. Explore extremes.

cavity expand Pure, less air and vertical spectrum, less distortion. gliss Fast short glisses falling down high partials – like seagull calls. Explore higher and lower glisses, with and without accents.

p [ppp – mp] Te dynamic moves between ppp and mp depending on exact combination of technique used at a given time.

electronic birds is a quasi-cadenza, refering to a sound combining a quasi-electronic quality and seagull calls. Very explorative. Seek most organic timbral process with given order of timbral transition steps. Always moving forward. Trace the extremes of the timbral palettes. Enjoy! Take more or less time if and where you need. Very little breath is needed, therefore only one breath is prepared in score at bar 349. Should a further breath be necessary, choose a similar moment where the breath is hidden within the orchestral texture (see score).

General:

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Expressive gestures are direct, dynamic, sexy and furious! Notated efects and mute changes are a guideline. Vary, swop and double the efects and techniques to expand and explore the melodic line, e.g. in addition Jaw can be used, adapt mute changes or add HV to extend the timbral palette. Do not feel restricted by the notation. Quiet pianissimo moments acutely important for diferentiation and strong inner contrast.

Fast “On/Off” sections – the mute changes wawa/senza (occassional harmon/senza) and wawa o + are notated on the graph above the stave. Tese can be varied slightly. Hold tempo back to hear constant timbral play.

Split tones melodic lines. Quiet split tones are best played with wawa or harmon mutes, also possible with HV p/pp fragile and beautiful with many partials, f electronic-sounding stable and direct. Legato as much as possible, except where a tenuto marking is given.

Amplification of Split-tones and Electronic Birds

Depending on the acoustic and size of the concert hall, it may be necessary to have a simple amplifcation turned on and of. A stand microphone before the soloist sufces. Te speaker can be discreetly placed beside the soloist, alternatively two speakers left and right of the orchestra. Tis should be made ver y subtle. Te sound technician can highlight these parts in the score and adjust the amplifcation accordingly, so that the trumpet solo is clearly audible.

Split tones – bars 46–47, 69–71, 118–127, 212–214 (then dim.), 217–218, 223–228, 307–331.

Electronic Birds – bars 338–359 (with dim. at 359)

Explanatory Notes on Orchestra Instruments

3 Flutes: Flute 1, Flute 2 doubling Piccolo 2, and Piccolo 1

œ Fluttertongue

Raise or lower by a ¼-tone. Has an expressive function.

Crescendo from, and diminuendo to, nothing.

air tone From air tone to tone to facilitate crescendo out of silence.

Whistle tones

áâ

o O Gently and slowly explore high overtones.

bis æ æ œ Bisbigliando, same-note trill; choose fngerings where timbral contrast is clear. Fast expressive trill, not in 16th notes.

dark

Choose an alternative dark timbral fngering. sf sff

Always very hard accents

Te following efects use similar technique and have very hard, loud noise-based accents:

> O

œ Overblow on lower fngering, aiming for highest overtones – noise!

> O

œ

Glissando down overtone spectrum from highest partial possible to given fngered note, with and without futtertongue-noise!

O O Glissando up and down the full spectrum, changing fngering midway – air and noise!

O Glissando up overtones to highest partial possible – air and noise!

œ

2 Oboes vib Vibrato only if marked.

m vib Molto vibrato wide and expressive.

œ œ Glissando

Raise or lower by a ¼-tone.

bis

æ æ œ Bisbigliando, same-note trill; choose fngerings where timbral contrast is clear. Fast expressive trill, not in 16th notes.

dark Choose an alternative dark timbral fngering.

3 Clarinets: Clarinet 1 in Bb, Clarinet 2 in Bb doubling Bassclarinet 2 in Bb, Bassclarinet 1 in Bb

œ Fluttertongue

œ œ Glissando underblown Play written tone and „release“, allowing a second tone to be added (about 10th below). Subtle, beautiful and quiet. vib Vibrato only if marked.

m vib Molto vibrato wide and expressive.

Raise or lower by a ¼-tone. Has an expressive function.

æ

bis

æ œ Bisbigliando, same-note trill; choose fngerings where timbral contrast is clear. Fast expressive trill, not in 16th notes. Crescendo from, and diminuendo to silence. Use „air” timbe to facilitate coming out of and going into silence.

œ œ Bassclarinet dyads, 2-note chords. Fingering given in score and part in Boehm system

2 Bassoons: Bassoon, Contrabassoon

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æ æ œ Bisbigliando, same-note trill; choose fngerings where timbral contrast is clear. Fast expressive trill, not in 16th notes.

Horns 1-4

œ Fluttertongue

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+ Stop with hand or stopping mute.

½ + Half-stopped

Raise or lower by a ¼-tone.

3 Trumpets in C

Mutes: wawa, harmon and cup (only Trumpet 1+3).

+ o Gradually from closed to open with hand in front of wawa mute.

œ Fluttertongue

Ÿ o + Very fast open/close trill with 1 or 2 fngers in front of wawa mute bell.

[103] ¼ ¼-tone lower: lengthen the valve at given fngering in score and part.

3 Tenor trombones (valve F and Bb)

Mutes: wawa, cup and metal (metal straight).

+ o Gradually from closed to open with hand in front of wawa mute.

œ Fluttertongue

Ÿ o + Very fast open/close trill with 1 or 2 fngers in front of wawa mute bell.

Raise or lower by a ¼-tone.

Tuba (bass) in Eb Requires mute.

Percussion

4 percussion parts for 4-8 players.

Perc 1

SpDr Small Spring Drum

WB Medium Woodblock

Crot Crotales, single pitches

Tr Large Kolberg Triangle

ChCS Small Chinese Cymbal

ChCM Medium Chinese Cymbal

ChCL Large Chinese Cymbal

SC Large Sizzle Cymbal

Cym L Large Cymbal

MP 3 Metal Plates

BP 2 Bell Plates

FCoil 2 Car Coil Springs (Autofedern), fat

Perc 2

TT Paste Tamtam

WB High + Medium Woodblocks

Crot Crotales, single pitches

Ratchet Medium Ratchet

SC Large Sizzle Cymbal

MP 3 Metal Plates

FCoil 1 Car Coil Spring, fat

Notes on specific instruments

Perc 3

BD Large Bass Drum

Timp Timpani

WB High Woodblock

Crot Crotales, single pitches

ChCS Small Chinese Cymbal Bell

ChCL Large Chinese Cymbal

SC Large Sizzle Cymbal

BP 2 Bell Plates

HCoil 2 Car Coil Springs, hung

TS Tunder Sheet

Perc 4

BD

Very large Bass Drum

TT Paste Tamtam

Crot Single pitches

ChCM Medium Chinese Cymbal

ChCL Large Chinese Cymbal

BD Perc 3: Large bass drum; Perc 4: Very large bass drum. Both natural skin and double-sided; both fat/horizontal.

¡ ¿ Just of-centre for full resonance.

¡ ¿ 1½ cm Trill lightly on skin, at edge next to rim, over wooden ring/frame – high partials.

¡ ¿ ¡ ¿ Gradually move from edge to centre of skin.

¿ Rim Play on wooden rim.

¡ ¿ pp ¡ ¿ ff æ æ œ æ æ œ Continuous trill. Move suddenly to centre of BD at crescendo. Damp as quickly and fully as possible.

a b Contact points on stick: a = tip, b = mid-point; When sf/sff play at b

b a Move from middle of stick to tip during trill.

ON With chain. Place very light sizzle-chain on skin of drum – hear high trilling surface of sound with low resonance of drum. At p/pp played trilling with light rubber beaters (R) or light snare sticks.

TT

S S Superball beaters dragged over skin of drum. Choose superball head that works on the bass drum for a deep dark fuctuating resonance – fuid and dark when p, distorted when f

Beaters:

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R R Rubber handle of Kolberg triangle beaters Large thick fufy beaters

Extra thick snare sticks to avoid damage to skin of bass drum at f/ff Ossia 1: When ff, large round-headed wooden beaters; Ossia 2: When pp, very thin snare sticks

Ordinary bass drum beaters

Perc 2: 125-135cm diameter; Perc 4: 110–125cm diameter. Paste tamtams preferably. Wuhan tamtams are less efective for subtle Arco and Birch sounds!

Contact points: · Centre ‚ Large smooth zone ‰ Outer-ridged zone  Side/edge

arco Bow at · with bass bow. Choose mid-high complex and very resonant overtones.

ON With chain. Place a very light thin chain or wire over the edge of the tamtam when indicated. Chain vibrates on surface of T T when TT is struck, in a clear regular pulse. Timbre combines with metalic and non-metallic shimmering overtones. Hang over ⅓ of length of TT.

 At  around edge of TT with big gesture covering at least half of the circumference.

B ¡ Birch wood single stroke across full diameter of TT. Ossia, if too quiet: 1. Metal stick replaces Birch across diameter of TT and 2. Birch at  very lightly around the edge of TT – a combination sound.

S S Superball beaters dragged over surface of tamtam – choose superball that works on the size of the tamtam for deep dark fuctuating resonance.

Other beaters: W Small round-headed wooden beaters Wirebrush

Timp Timpani, 32 Inch, de-tuned at pegs down a fourth for timbre and efects.

/ œ œ Use pedal to glissando between the highest and lowest sounds. No pitches given.

ON With chain. Place very light sizzle-chain on skin of Timpani – hear high trilling surface of sound with low resonance of drum. At f montrous noise and distortion.

S S Drag 2 superball beaters over the timpani skin for a continous sound. At p/pp beautiful and dark and low resonance, at f/ff distorted.

R R Rubber handle of Kolberg triangle beaters.

Crot 10 single crotales on stand or hung, notated at sounding pitch: Perc. 1: G6, F#7, G7; Perc. 2: C6, Db6; Perc. 3: E7, G7; Perc. 4: G6, B6, F7; arco Bow at edge with bass bow.

P P Hard plastic beaters.

Ratchet Medium Ratchet on stand.

ChCS/M/L Chinese Cymbals, small, medium and large, on stand or hung.

arco Bow at edge with bass bow: mid-high complex resonant overtones.

Hard felt beaters.

Soft beaters.

SC Sizzle cymbal, medium, hung with very thin light sizzle chain, for very long resonance.

Cym L Large Cymbal on stand or hung.

arco Bow at edge with bass bow – mid-high complex resonant overtones.

MP Perc 1+2: Each 3 small resonant metal plates with complex spectrum, no clear tonal centre, laid on small pieces of expanded sponge rubber (Moosgummi!) for maximum resonance. E.g.:

1. Aluminium plate: large, thick and heavy. High timbre. No central tone.

2. Bronze plate e.g. round bell plate with diamter ca 26 cm. Important: rich, complex spectrum.

3. Iron plate: medium eg. 25 x 40 x 0.5 cm.

Beaters: see FCoil.

BP Hung

Perc 1: Large and low C1 and C#1 at lowest octave (if not available C2 and C#2);

Perc 3: Very large D1 and D#1 at lowest octave (if not available D2 and D#2).

Contact points: x Top-¼ for high spectrum splash x Low centre for bass tone x On top edge

foil

Small piece of tin foil folded over top side edge of each bell plates for long resonant trilling buzz.

Beaters: Bell plate beaters large and soft Hard square wooden hammers (Kolberg 843H) or hard metal bell plate beaters

HCoil 2 old car springs hung for long shimmering resonance – complex high spectrum – not plastic coated. Percussion 3.

FCoil 3 old car springs of diferent sizes, and interesting resonant and complex timbres, preferably not plastic coated! Percussion 1 and 2.

Coils laid fat on very small pieces of expanded sponge rubber (Moosgummi!) for maximum resonance and diferentiation of timbre.

Beaters: M M Small-headed metal hammers (or metal stick with round head). P P Hard plastic glockenspiel beaters

Tubular bells leather beaters (with metal centre)

T Tunder Sheet, hung. Tin, narrow, long for delicate shimmering timbre.

Knitting needle insight upright Coil Tremolo back and forwards

ISUU Version

Lowest two strings tuned to Db and Cb. Highest string tuned to Gb. Requires 2 hard plastic plectrums.

œ œ Glissando

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& œ œ Glissando with plectrum.

&& œ œ Glissandi with plectrum, up and down simultaneously.

no rattle Very low tones at ff may rattle, avoid this when “no rattle” is given.

o œ Harmonic sounds an octave higher.

Piano

Grand piano. Open piano-lid fully, but do not remove. Remove music-stand and place further back on the frame, or use the top section of a heavy music stand. Use white stickers on the metal frame to mark the strings inside the piano.

ãã œ œ œ œ Chromatic cluster on the keys (ord.!), outer written tones included.

Tree sounds use the inside of the piano:

¿ Damp string/s very near the bridge with left hand with maximum pressure. Very round, dark and damped sound. Release the fnger damping the string immediately for maximum resonance.

3 In œ œ Light and fast glissando with fngerpad of 3rd fnger over strings inside the piano. If frame of piano is in the way, choose another position nearby.

& In œ

œ Glissando as above but loud and fast with hard plastic plectrum. Brutal if low and ff

Accordion

Button accordion with three manuals MI, MII/III, with the following ranges: MI ? &

MII/III ? & ‹ œ Written at sounding pitch with registers/stops indications.

?

œ Tick low cluster, use heel of hand or palm for thickest very low cluster possible.

ãã œ œ œ œ A chromatic cluster outer tones included.

1 by 1 p o o œ œ œ œ Clusters appear and disappear one-by-one.

Gradually depress for gentle start, as if from nothing. Decrescendo as if to nothing.

æ æ œ Bellows shake (trem.)

vib Vibrato only if marked.

Strings:

Violins 1 (12), Violins 2 (12), Violas (10), Violoncelli (8), Double basses (8 = 1–3: 5-string scordatura prepared and de-tuned to G#; 4–8: 4-string with extension to C)

st faut Sul tasto very light foating bow hollow, foating, like a fute timbre.

sp Sul pont pp and fautando, overtones dominate sound.

½ sp Written tone heard, many overtones heard – white.

Ÿ

½ sp Trill normal tone with harmonic – hear very high overtones.

sp ord Continuous and even transition from one timbre to the next.

IV o 7 O Natural harmonic string and playing position notated.

o O œ Artifcial harmonic

I @@ @@ Bow behind the bridge on given string – delicate and fuid.

¿ Highest pitch on fngerboard (Vc I-string).

« sff Bartok pizzicato, secco (Vc + Db).

Crescendo from, and diminuendo to, nothing.

vib Vibrato only if marked.

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for Marco Blaauw, with my many thanks for the exploratory sessions together over the last eleven years

Commissioned by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and musica viva, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

First performance by Marco Blaauw, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and conductor Peter Eötvös at musica viva at the Herkules Saal Munich 20th February 2015

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Rebecca Saunders

Rebecca Saunders (b. 1967) studied with Wolfgang Rihm at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe, Germany, and for a doctorate in composition with Nigel Osborne at Edinburgh University. She lives in Berlin. Saunders’ numerous composition prizes include three Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, two BASCA British Composer Awards and the 2019 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. Her works have been performed at festivals including the Huddersfeld Festival, the Berlin Biennale and the Darmstadt International Summer Course. In 2009 she became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts. Saunders’ works include chroma, for chamber groups distributed throughout the performance space; void, a concerto for percussion duo and orchestra; and Yes, a spatial performance for soprano, 19 soloists and conductor.

Rebecca Saunders (*1967) studierte Komposition bei Wolfgang Rihm an der Musikhochschule Karlsruhe und promovierte an der Edinburgh University bei Nigel Osborne. Sie lebt in Berlin. Saunders wurde für ihr Schaffen vielfach ausgezeichnet, u. a. mit drei Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, zwei BASCA British Composer Awards sowie mit dem Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis 2019. Ihre Werke erklangen bei zahlreichen Festivals, wie dem Huddersfeld Festival, der Berliner Biennale und den Darmstädter Ferienkursen für Neue Musik. 2009 wurde sie zum Mitglied der Berliner Akademie der Künste ernannt. Zu ihren Werken zählen chroma für räumlich verteilte Kammergruppen, ein Konzert für Schlagzeugduo und Orchester mit dem Titel void sowie die Raumperformance Yes für Sopran, 19 Solisten und Dirigent.

Photo © Astrid Ackermann