James Whittle. Cornucopian cloud. for as many celli as possible

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1 James Whittle Cornucopian cloud or as many celli as possible

2 Cornucopian cloud or as many celli as possible i Programme Note Q. Why would I want to join an inexplicable mob? A. Tons o other people are doing it. Bill Wasik, My Crowd Behind every cloud is another cloud. Judy Garland What is it? It s complete gibberish. It s insane. When is this idiocy going to stop? Larry Ellison, ounder o IT giant Oracle Corp. Cornu copiae, the horn o plenty o Greek mythology and symbol o abundance; Cornucopian, a uturist believer in the endless resources o our natural planet, that there is enough matter and energy on the Earth to provide or the ever-rising population, that the ultimate resource is not any particular physical object but the capacity or humans to invent and adapt, that humans are ininitely inventive and the more people we have then the more potential there is or human inventiveness. Technology, uelled by human inventiveness, will surely ind a way to eed humanity orever (or at least or the next several million years). Cloud, a visible mass o condensed watery vapour loating in the air, also a seemingly ininite labyrinthine web o online data, the ultimate digital sel storage warehouse. JWW,8 th April01

3 Perormance Notes ii Thedurationothispiece istobedecidedentirelybytheperormers.eachplayerreadsoacopyothisscore. Asanexplorationotimbreandcuing,thecellistsmustworkinpairs.Forthisreason,onlyanevennumberocellistsmayplaythepiece,butasmany cellists as possible may perorm(and absolutely as many as possible is encouraged by the composer). The ensemble is divided into two halves o paired players, 0 and 1, each having a Leader, which are themselves a pair. Each player sits on the opposite sides o a conventional ensemble arc on stage to their partner, so that both can see each other and communicate eectively, simply by looking up rom theirmusic.itherearetoo manycellists toit onstagein anarc,otherdispersalsoplayers around thestageshould beexperimented with, makingsurethatbothleadersarealwaysvisibletoeachplayer.(positionsinthiscasemaybeasreeastheperormerslikeotherwise,thoughitisthe composer s preerence to highlight the duel-like quality o the pairs; or instance, pairs could ace each other head-on across any distance, at any angle.)inanormalarcshape,thetwoleadersshouldbesatattherontsoeitherside,nearesttotheaudience. The piece continues reely as players ollow cues rom either their partners or rom either one o the Leaders, as per the arrows connecting material between staves. Material cued rom a partner should be played as soon ater the cue: the eect should be o near-simultaneous action/reaction. Oten, 1 cellists only play when cued speciically by actions perormed by their 0 partners. Whenplayinganyactionorreactionallplayersshouldmakeclearvisuallywhattheyarecuingsothatthetheatreothepieceisprominentatalltimes. While there are dierent circumstances or when a Leader may begin playing their CUE (seen at the top o the score),each CUE itsel is always the same.the Leader ends their CUE with a staccato accent on the next bar as they signal the ensemble to begin,ater which the cuing Leader should rejoin their part s material.when both Leaders are playing their CUES, only one gives the signal to begin the next material.

4 Symbols iii Materialinabox:tobeplayonce,arepeatedgesturegivenspeciiccues. Materialinaboxwithasolidlinecomingoutoit:toberepeatedmanytimesconsecutively.Anymaterialnotinaboxorbracket istobeplayedonlyonce.anysolidlineonastavesignalsthatthematerialistobeplayed/improvisedoncontinuously. Ithesolid linejoinstwoeventstogether,theplayermaychoosewhentomoveromoneeventtothenext.... Ellipsis in a box alongside material: signal to improvise on the given material. Material in brackets: interruptions to improvised or other material: can be played at any time during that improvised or other material.(used to cue paired partners.) Materialappearingateranopenbracket:newmaterialtobeplayedonce,givenacueorreechoice(iprecededbyasolidline). Bracket/sagainstnotesinachord:eitherthetwonotesindicatedmaybeplayedasadoublestop,ortheplayermustchooseone.

5 CelloTechniques: iv (molto) : bow(very) near the bridge (molto) sul tasto(possibile): bow(high)) on the ingerboard(as high as possible) collegnobatt.: strikingthestring(s)withthewoodothebow jeté: bounce the bow ast(spiccato). For extended passages o this technique, speeds may luctuate reely between ast and slow, dependent on the individual player s stamina and improvisation. allapunta:atthepointothebow : return to a normal position(ater /tasto, or ater tremolo) wide vibrato Bartók(snap) pizzicato General Notation: Noteheads without stems: players may play the material given at any tempo. Solid barlines: co-ordination points cued by either Leader. Dashed barlines: co-ordination points without either Leaders CUE, but signalled by them. Tempi or rhythms are relative and are not ixed, and are open to each player s interpretation and improvisation. Pauses: the three sorts used are: triangular(short), circular(medium length), rectangular(very long, or as long as possible). Forlong,sustained notes,bow changes arepermittedadlib.,thoughwhenorte they can bemoreprominent and aster(making useothewhole bow), less so when piano. Whenplayingextendedpassagesorrepeatingmaterial,players mayrestoranydurationatanytime.theymaydosoorreasonsostamina,orto allow space and variance to enter the texture o the material, especially during improvised passages. However, players should play continuously throughout the two bars marked TUTTI UNISON.

6 Full Score CUES Violoncelli 0 Violoncelli 1 CUES Vc. 0 Leaders' CUES I or, arco sul tasto X X (4 As playul as possible, but menacing. Begin independently, not all at once: allow space. On shoulder ront (alternate LH/RH reely) 1 3) Cue at any point ater the majority o 0 are on the lower body.cue 0 accel. to shoulder sides and ront or as many celli as possible p... sp sempre cresc. cue: subito niente pp p I arco (Always a continuous swell into the next bar: let ring beore rejoining your part.) X pp... sempre cresc. a m or York Cello Ensemble, Cornucopian cloud with thumb on shoulder top (0) TUTTI CELLI: 0 cellist nearest to the let o let starts. Begin only at any time ater the cello immediately right o you starts playing. Pizz. using inger tip (strike string vertically), slow gliss. o close pitches. change to arco alla punta jeté (sempre sim.) to lower body RH string slap I TUTTI CELLI (rest briely at any time) p... p pp pp sub. mp Cue gliss. when all are still. Leader 1 Pause until tutti trem. IV trem. ord. arco alla punta, jeté a shoulders / arco I LH+RH jeté div. Leader 1 / / 0 any pitch on IV slow gliss. to any pitch on IV, col legno batt. mp change once to any pitch you hear s senza vib. (div.) m I/IV James Whittle (b. 1989) April 01 CUE 0, 1 cue: dim. a niente cue: dim. a niente CUE 0, 1 any very high pitch Vc. 1 Repeat ad lib., poco a poco accel. e cresc., when you reach move to: at a regular tempo (tempi ad lib.) I I 4 3 I 4 3 I 3 I 1 I IV 1 IV Pause until tutti trem. arco IV trem. ( pp... cresc.... ) sub. p s mp pp pp sub. mp ord. div. slow gliss. to any pitch on IV, change once to any pitch you hear senza vib. (div.) I/IV any very high pitch CUES Vc. 0 Vc. 1 I IV sp I IV sub. p col legno batt. m I or, Begin cue on hearing the irst D. CUE 0 p p m pp... sp sub. p p p p pp TUTTI CELLI, molto sul tasto, hal-press (mule pitch) I or, I senza vib. I, Gradually increase mule to get noise/scratch tones. trem. back to mule, poco trem. ad lib. molto sul tasto possibile bow the shoulder pp... gradual descent to C or D ppp molto sul tasto, hal-press (mule pitch) Gradually increase mule to get noise/scratch tones. trem. back to mule, poco trem. ad lib. molto sul tasto possibile bow the shoulder pp... gradual descent to C or D ppp Copyright 01 James Whittle