anwhil e IInciidentall musiic to iimagiinary puppet pllays for Flute Clarinet Viola Cello Percussion & Piano Stephen Hartke (00) KEISER CLASSICAL Lauren Keiser Music Publishing Dorsett Rd., # Maryland Heights, MO 0-00
Instrumentation Flute doubling Piccolo and Alto Flute (also plays large Flexatone, beaters removed) Clarinet in B-flat doubling Bass Clarinet in B-flat (also plays large Flexatone, beaters removed) Viola (scordatura: B-F#-C#-G#) Cello Percussion: Vibraphone, Medium Water Gong, Maraca, and a Timbre-Rack (i.e. an array of unpitched percussion laid out in keyboard fashion) consisting in: Accent Cymbals ( & 0 ) Piccolo (Japanese) Wood Blocks Medium Wood Blocks Temple Blocks Muted Cow Bells Bongos Slit Drum ( pitches) [If possible, set Slit Drum on a Tom-tom to enhance lower partials.] Piano (also plays Flexatone Gamelan see note on next page)
The Flexatone Gamelan (played in this work by the pianist) is made up of three Flexatones, with beaters removed, and laid parallel across the player s lap. Flexatone is the smaller, standard model (Latin Percussion Inc. model LP-), pitched roughly at E. Flexatones and are the large model (Latin Percussion Inc. model LP-), manufactured with a fundamental pitch of roughly E. Flexatone should be the higher of the two larger instruments, preferably a quarter-tone or more above Flexatone. Flexatone should be laid out closest to the player, Flexatone in the middle, and Flexatone on the outside. They are to be struck by a rubber mallet held in the right hand. This is notated on a three line staff [see below]. The bending of the flanges themselves is to be done by the left hand, rather like playing on a keyboard. Place the thumb on Flexatone, index finger on Flexatone, and ring finger on Flexatone. This is notated on a large three-line staff below the mallet staff. Numbers are used to indicate the degree to which the flange should be depressed, with 0 indicating the flange at rest, and being close to maximum pressure (i.e.: highest pitch). Since the pitch range of the larger Flexatone is approximately an octave and a fifth, these seven degrees of pressure divide up the overall compass very roughly, and it is understood that much of the pitch content will sound improvisatory. The cue line that offers the approximate resultant pitches is provided intermittently to give a general idea of the shape of gestures where it might prove helpful. Note that the glissando lines connecting the numbers reflect the direction of the movement of the left hand s fingers pressing down on the flanges, which, of course, raises the pitch. The small downward arrows indicate that the flange should be pressed down just as it is struck with the mallet. In a number of these gestures, the important thing to is have a fluid, rolling movement of the hand, pivoting around Flexatone in the middle.
For convenience, a simple press can be made to secure the handles of the three Flexatones, as shown in the picture. The wooden pieces should be padded with felt to prevent undue rattling and buzzing. Flexatone Gamelan Soft piano mutes are required beginning in movement III. These are made by filling a child s cotton sock with about four pounds of BBs, sewing the end of the sock closed, then enclosing it in two more socks, each of them sewn shut as well. The mute is roughly a foot long and when laid across the strings near the tuning pins and gently tamped down, produces an effect similar to that of individually hand-muting the strings, but has the advantage of muting about an octave and a half. A 9-inch silk screen squeegee is used starting at two after Reh. 9 (page ) to help produce 9 th partial harmonics in the lowest register of the piano. The squeegee (available at art supply stores) consists in a finely milled hard rubber blade in a plastic holder. Place the blade across the nodal points for the 9 th partial on the strings C to E. The most reliable location for the 9 th partial lies about three to four inches beyond the row of dampers. Mark this point with chalk. Place the rubber blade so that it is perfectly upright above this point and parallel with the row of dampers. (All harmonics of the same partial number are in a straight line running parallel to the center of the dampers.) The advantage of the rubber blade is that it touches the harmonic node more cleanly than the finger tip can, thus the harmonic rings out very clearly and with a rich overtone spectrum of their own. The blade can be held down with a light pressure without damping the string.
Program note Meanwhile was composed on a commission from eighth blackbird and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University. It is one of several works of mine that has grown from a long-standing fascination I have had for various forms of Asian court and theater music, and from a fantasy in which I imagine myself the master of my own fictional non-western musical tradition. In preparing to write this piece, I studied video clips of quite a number of puppet theater forms, ranging from the elegant and elaborate, nearly-life-sized puppets of Japanese Bunraku, to Vietnamese water puppets, both Indonesian and Turkish shadow puppets, and to classic Burmese court theater that mixes marionettes with dancers who look and act like marionettes. All of these theatrical forms have their own distinct musical styles and structures, and I confess to being especially fascinated by the stark vividness of their instrumental coloration and the often unexpected structural quirks that they have evolved as these traditions have taken shape over the centuries and become stylized. This piece, then, is a set of incidental pieces to no puppet plays in particular, but one in which the imaginary scenes have given rise to an idiosyncratic sequence in which the sound of the ensemble has been reinvented along lines that clearly have roots in these diverse Asian models. The piano, for instance, is prepared for much of the piece with large soft mutes used to transform the color of the middle register into something that rather resembles the Vietnamese hammer dulcimer. The viola is tuned a half-step lower in order to both change its timbre and to open the way for a new set of natural harmonics to interact sometimes even microtonally with those of the cello. The percussion array includes wood sounds, from very high Japanese Kabuki blocks to lower range slit drums, plus cowbells, small cymbals, and a set of bongos. These are set up in keyboard fashion so that the player can play them all as a single instrument. Finally, there is a set of Flexatones, which are rather like small musical saws. Three of these are held together with a wooden clamp and are played by the pianist with a mallet, their pitch being altered by pressing down on their metal flanges. The tone is rather like that of small Javanese gongs, and so I have given this new instrument the name of Flexatone Gamelan. Meanwhile is played as a single movement, with distinct sections: Procession, which features the Flexatone Gamelan; Fanfares, with the Piccolo and Bass Clarinet linked together much as a puppeteer and his marionette; Narrative, in which the Bass Clarinet recites the story of the scene in an extravagant and flamboyant solo reminiscent of the reciter in Japanese Bunraku; Spikefiddlers, which requires a playing technique for the viola and later the cello that stems from Central Asian classical music; Cradle-songs, the outer parts of which feature natural harmonics in the viola and cello combined with belllike 9 th -partial harmonics from the piano; and Celebration, where, in the Coda, the Flutist and Clarinetist take up Flexatones to play the closing melody. Stephen Hartke Glendale, California Summer 00
Duration circa minutes Score, parts, Flexatone Gamelan, soft piano mutes and 9 silk screen squeegee needed for the performance of this work are available from the publisher. KEISER CLASSICAL Lauren Keiser Music Publishing Dorsett Rd., # Maryland Heights, MO 0-00
Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University MEANWHILE Incidental music to imaginary puppet plays for Flute, Clarinet, Viola, Cello, Percussion,and Piano I. Procession Gently moving along = -0 Stephen Hartke (00) Alto Flute [in G] Clarinet [in B ] [tuning:] Viola [scordatura] Violoncello Percussion [Piano] R.H. Flexatone Gamelan L.H. [Flexatone Gamelan approximate resultant pitches] Rubber Mallet (l.v. sempre) 0 [See Preface] 0 0 [actual pitch] [actual pitch] Rubber practice mute [actual pitch] (= " ") [Match dynamic level of winds] [pitch bend] [pitches very approximate] [bend pitch by pressing down on flange] 0 [press flanges with a gentle rocking motion] 00, Keiser Classical (BMI). All rights reserved. International Copyright secured.
0 0 0 etc.
0 TIMBRE-RACK " 0" etc.
Slit Drum SlDm 0 0 0 0 0 SlDm SlDm 0
9 TB
Mute III 0 (= tutta forza) (= tutta forza)
subito subito 0 0 0 subito subito 0 0 0
0 Remove mute
A little faster slow down quite a bit Back in tempo 9 Take Piccolo Take Bass Clarinet Remove mute II. Fanfares Essentially the same tempo, but with much more energy 0 0 0 PWB MWB To Piano
0 Piccolo Bass Clarinet mute off pizz. PWB PWB mute off pizz. PWB PWB PWB
9 TB MWB TB CB
0 harmonics sounding: arco harmonics notated as played arco TB CB
pizz. TB pizz. CB Bg
arco arco Bg pizz. pizz.
arco arco pizz. arco pizz. arco
9 9 9 9 9 9 pizz. pizz. III. Narration (Same tempo) Mute [muted -- see preface]
9 pizz. growl (or flutter-tongue) ben
0 9 timbral alternation
0 (slow gliss.)
(connect notes with as much portamento as possible) dolce
pizz.
(bend pitch as flat as possible) IV. Spike-fiddlers Starting out quite freely ( = 0-) III II Previous tempo col legno battuto Vibraphone (motor on)
Slower again ( = 0-) speeding up ( = -0) (col legno battuto) 9
sounds: play: 9th partial harmonics (stop strings from C to E across nodal points with 9 inch rubber-bladed silk screen squegee) 0 sub.
II sub.
Mute freely Timbre-rack
Mute
9
0 pesante
9 Take Flute (muted:)
0 sub.
Suddenly pulling back Flute Remove mute Slower ( = 0-9)
9
sub. V. Cradle songs Very calm ( = -0) Take Alto Flute mute off with stick of mallet 9th partial harmonics
0 cresc. poco a poco 0 0 0 cresc. poco a poco cresc. poco a poco cresc. poco a poco
(cresc.) (cresc.) (cresc.) (cresc.) 9 Alto Flute Vibraphone (motor on)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 [damp indicated notes with mallets] Suddenly moving ahead ( = -0) expansively expansively ord.
9
0
pull back considerably Gently ( = -) Take Flute Flute
sub. senza cresc. Medium Water Gong (immersed in water, pitch inflected to its lowest point without damping sound) (muted) raise gradually raise entirely out of the water
Earlier tempo ( = -0) pizz. [played:] arco pizz. arco 9
0 9th partial harmonics poco VI. Celebration Lively ( = c.) [Vla.] pizz. arco (muted)
0 pizz. arco Maraca martellato 0 pizz. arco
[actual pitch:] pizz. arco
9 pizz. arco pizz. arco pizz. arco [played:] [actual pitch:] pizz. Timbre-Rack [Bongos] (with fingers)
0 9 [played:] 0 arco
0 Take Large Flexatone NB: If possible, the Flexatone players should take positions on opposite sides of the stage. Take Large Flexatone [actual pitch:] ma martellato Vibraphone (motor on) crescendo poco a poco (senza cresc.) (senza cresc.) (cresc. poco a poco)
Large Flexatone (with rubber mallet) Large Flexatone (with rubber mallet) sim. (cresc.) sim. Remove mutes (normal)
poco
energico energico with stick Timbre-Rack
with mallets
pizz. pizz. (slowing down enormously) circa 0" Glendale, California Summer 00