Thorvaldsdottir RÓ

Anna Thorvaldsdottir

RĂ“ for ensemble (2013)

Chester Music

Instrumentation

Notation

Bass Flute (sounds 8vb) Bass Clarinet in Bb

Abbreviations f.t. fingertips l.b.pr. light bow pressure for an airy effect m.b.pr. much bow pressure for a scratching sound (see notehead below) s.p. sul ponticello m.s.p. molto sul ponticello s.t. sul tasto ord. takes back all special effects/performing techniques applied,

including (but not limited to) sul pont., light bow pressure etc. w with

Piano Percussion 2 Violins Viola Violoncello

Duration: c. 11 minutes

General

The score is in C. Orchestral parts are available on hire from the publisher.

When pitches are sustained/slurred through an extended period of time, breathe/bow as necessary, not synchronised.

Written for CAPUT Ensemble. The first performance was given on 20 May 2013 at Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, China.

“soloistic with calm & ease and subtle sense of brokenness” is an atmospheric indication written at certain moments in the score in connection with a lyrical material for strings and winds.

Accidentals apply to one measure at a time.

Former effect/sound/technique/indication gradually becomes the following one.

Performance Note When you see a long sustained pitch, think of it as a fragile flower that you need to carry in your hands and walk the distance on a thin rope without dropping it or falling. It is a way of measuring time and noticing the tiny changes that happen as you walk further along the same thin rope. Absolute tranquility with the necessary amount of concentration needed to perform the task.

Brokenness refers to subtle vulnerability and fragility but does not indicate a state of being “ruined” or “in pieces” – it indicates a fragile state of wholeness.

As a composer I have a tendency to write music in rather low dynamics – I would kindly ask that the dynamics be subtly dramatized, as appropriate in the progression of the music. The lower levels of dynamics (in the p area) indicate my wish for the pitches and sound materials to be approached with a sense of calm and carefulness rather than merely indicating an audio level. with warmth, Anna

All glissandos should be played/sung throughout the duration of the note value it is written by. For example, w , slow glissando that at the beginning of the note and glissandos throughout the four beats of the note value. Similar with i , faster glissando (depending on the destination of the following pitch). h A small notehead above the stave indicates the note’s duration (applied for quarter note and a half note with stems only).

B I µ ÷

Quarter tone flat Quarter tone flat below b Quarter tone sharp Quarter tone sharp above #

Woodwind

Wind/air sounds, no pitch sounding. Can be fluttertongued.

Performed on air – should mostly contain the air sound, with the subtle colour of the pitches.

Overtones – the lower note head indicates the fundamental pitch, the upper note head indicates the sounding pitch.

When indicated to glissando freely/slowly between overtones, naturally move between overtones of the fundamental pitch (the lowest note). The written harmonics (the diamond noteheads in brackets) serve as indications of harmonics, but do not necessarily indicate exact pitches that should be played; the resulting pitches are up to the choice of the performer. When a harmonic is not written within a bracket (such as the initial tone in the example) it indicates the sounding pitch.

Flute: key clicks and tongue ram for percussive effect. The upper notehead indicates the key click, the lower note is the sounding pitch/colour effect.

Clarinet: key clicks and slap tongue for percussive effect. The upper notehead indicates the key click, the lower note indicates the low percussive slap effect.

Strings Place left hand (not only one finger) lightly on indicated string, around given pitch area, not on harmonic. Fingers are not to be placed on exact pitches. This produces an un-pitched airy sound. The lower small note head indicates the open string to be performed on, the upper note head indicates the approximate position of the hand. When the note head is indicated with a glissando, move hand up or down the string as indicated (this will produce various harmonic colors to the airy sound as hand glissandos over the string/s), for example: When these note heads are indicated with ord., it refers to playing ordinary on the written effect and merely serves to take back indication of otherwise performing such as with sul pont., much bow pressure etc.

Three tremolo lines refer to playing quick tremolo notes but not to rhythmic 32nd notes.

Hit string with bow hairs.

Hit with fingers on the strings for percussive effect without playing with the bow on the strings, and without pizzicato. This is a very subtle effect that needs to be dramatically articulated in order to project. Dynamics associated to this effect are relative to the entire texture, and should be dramatized for projection as needed. This produces a subtle percussive effect of the fingers hitting the fingerboard.

Performed not on a pitch (as indicated by the notehead) but as a subtle percussive attack. Short notes with much bow pressure should ideally be performed close to the frog for a percussive effect.

Notes without noteheads indicate a continuation of the previous technique, e.g. means continue playing on air, with left hand covering strings without pitch (as indicated with the initial notehead of the phrase), moving the hand (and bow) as indicated by the written rhythmic patterns.

Piano Pianist may need to be able to move around the piano during performance.

The pedal should be held pressed throughout mm. 1-93 and according to the indications from m. 93 onwards. It might be suggested that the pedal is kept down through other means than with the performers’ foot if desired from mm. 1-93.

Note that material performed on the inside of the piano does not project as easily as material performed on the keyboard – it would be suggested to dramatize dynamics of materials performed on the inside of the instrument.

Staff systems Multiple staff lines: Material written on the designated multiple line staff should be performed on the inside of the instrument. The multiple lines roughly represent the area of the strings inside the instrument. Top lines indicate highest register, middle lines indicate mid-range and lower lines indicate lowest register. It is, however, clear that the number of staff lines are not equal to the number of strings inside the instrument, so the exact register is somewhat arbitrary.

Open staff lines: Material written on the designated open staff should be performed on the wood area of the instrument – on the lid or frame. Attacks (short notes) are written to be played with a superball mallet and indicates an attack in various spots on the wood area as indicated within the staff area. Exact locations on the lid or frame are up to the performer.

Ordinary staff: Material written on the ordinary staff lines (in treble and bass clef) should be performed on the keyboard. However, at times the keyboard staff is used to indicate resulting pitches that are performed on the inside of the piano.

Material that is to be performed inside the piano is mostly arbitrary with regards to register and refers to subtle nuances, so actual pitches are mostly not set – however, as the performer practices the piece he/she might identify certain pitch areas and refine the practice so that the performance of the nuances remain consistent in sounds and pitches throughout practice and performance.

Tools Superball mallet: when written with an indication to sustain the mallet should be dragged over the indicated area of strings throughout the entire duration of the written note value. This produces a ‘ghostly’ type of sustained sound. When written by a note value of shorter duration (and without indication to sustain) the mallet should be used to hit the string/wood as indicated.

E-bow: used to sustain a resonance from the strings. Gently press the e-bow into the strings until it starts to resonate and hold it in place throughout the written duration of the note value. The best register for the e-bow to resonate on the strings will need to be determined for each instrument. In measures 43-46, the following lyrical passage is written to be performed with the e-bow: Slowly and gently move the e-bow over the strings gradually going from one pitch to the next. There is a natural glissando effect that comes through the movement of the e-bow over the strings, so it is expected that the ‘in-between’ pitches will be heard at some point as well, although it should not be the aim to create the glissando effect between the written pitches.

Notation and graphics Right hand presses the base of the string inside the instrument (on the wire between tuning pins and hammer) and releases right after the attack of the note that is played on the keyboard. This results in a percussive attack and resulting resonance.

Glissando over strings as indicated. Accompanied with indication of fingertip, pizz. or superball. When glissandos are written with ord. note heads, then pluck (pizz.) the string where the note heads are placed, when there are small note heads, simply glissando over the strings without plucking.

Draw fingertips over the strings in back and forth tremolo motion.

Play the lower note on the keyboard and gently press on the harmonic of the octave on the string inside the piano. The resulting pitch is indicated with the note in the bracket.

The following pitches need to be identified inside the piano for performance: to the instrument, for performing with the e-bow.

The upper notehead should be plucked inside the instrument at the pitch indicated on the keyboard staff in a small notehead with a bracket.

Also the pitches E, F, A, B & C in the selected range with respect

Sustain over surface on the inside of the instrument with hand or superball mallet as indicated (various shapes presented).

Percussion Staff system (above top line) A piece of paper for rattling sound A soft-sounding wood object / two-by-four 3 big Almglockens – A, E & C Tam-tam Bass Drum (below bottom line) A soft-sounding pitch-based wooden instrument that has the capability of sustaining sound through bowing and with the following pitches: A, E & C Crotales (to be placed on Tam-tam and Bass Drum)

Crotales on skin of bass drum: gently press crotales into the skin of the drum from the center and move towards the edge and back for a glissandi effect.

Sticks

¦ Drum stick Ú Soft yarn mallet ¥ Wire brush ^ Large bass drum mallet Ð Bow » Hands ¨ Superball

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