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for Flute

Clarinet Viola ‘Cello

Percussion & Piano

Stephen Hartke (2007)

KEISER CLASSICAL

Lauren Keiser Music Publishing 12685 Dorsett Rd., #331

Maryland Heights, MO 63043-2100

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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: 2 Accent Cymbals (8” & 10”)

7 Piccolo (Japanese) Wood Blocks 3 Medium Wood Blocks

4 Temple Blocks 4 Muted Cow Bells

2 Bongos Slit Drum (4 pitches)

[If possible, set Slit Drum on a Tom-tom to enhance lower partials.]

Piano (also plays Flexatone Gamelan – see note on next page)

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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 1 is the smaller, standard model (Latin Percussion Inc. model LP-5), pitched roughly at E6. Flexatones 2 and 3 are the large model (Latin Percussion Inc. model LP-8), manufactured with a fundamental pitch of roughly E5. Flexatone 2 should be the higher of the two larger instruments, preferably a quarter-tone or more above Flexatone 3. Flexatone 2 should be laid out closest to the player, Flexatone 1 in the middle, and Flexatone 3 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 2, index finger on Flexatone 1, and ring finger on Flexatone 3. 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 7 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 1 in the middle.

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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. 39 (page 25) to help produce 9th 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 9th partial on the strings C1 to E2. The most reliable location for the 9th 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.

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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 18 wood sounds, from very high Japanese Kabuki blocks to lower range slit drums, plus 4 cowbells, 2 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 6 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 bell-like 9th-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 2007

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Duration

circa 16 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

12685 Dorsett Rd., #331 Maryland Heights, MO 63043-2100

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© 2007, Keiser Classical (BMI). All rights reserved. International Copyright secured.

Rubber practice mute [actual pitch]

0

[bend pitch by pressing down on flange]

1

[press flanges with a gentle rocking motion]2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

[pitch bend]

[pitches very approximate]

[actual pitch]

[actual pitch]1

Violoncello

Viola [scordatura]

[tuning:]

L.H.312 0

0

0 [See Preface]

[Piano]

Flexatone Gamelan

R.H.

Rubber Mallet

(l.v. sempre)

[Flexatone Gamelan approximate resultant pitches]

Percussion

Clarinet [in B ]

Alto Flute [in G]

I. ProcessionGently moving along = 72-80

for Flute, Clarinet, Viola, Cello, Percussion,and Piano

MEANWHILECommissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University

Incidental music to imaginary puppet plays

Stephen Hartke (2007)

2 1

(= " ")[Match dynamiclevel of winds]

312

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1

1

2

2 1

2

1

2 1

2

1

2

2

1

1 2

2

1

1 2

2

1 2

0

0

0

3

1

2

1 2 1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2 1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2 1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2 1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2 1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2 1

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

etc.

22

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4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

4

1

13

5

03

4

3

4

1

13

1

1

4

3

1

1

4

3

41

13

1

1

4

3

TIMBRE-RACK8" 10"

43

etc.

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40

1

1

4

4

2

2

SlDm3 SlDm1

7

0

0

0

0

Slit Drum 4 SlDm2

46

03

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4

5

2

2

5

5

2

2

5

25

TB4

9

6

6

6

6

2

2

1

85

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Mute

25

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

1

11

III

5

2

2

5

5

2

25

5

2

2

5

5

2

2

5

5

2

610

(= tutta forza)

(= tutta forza)

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subito

subito

5

4

4

1

4

14

4

1

14

4

1

14

4

1

14

4

1

14

4

1

14

4

1

14

0

0

0

subito

13

subito

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

15

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

1

1

1

5

5

5

0

0

0

127

14

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7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

7

7

7

6

6

6

0

815

Remove mute

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Remove mute

7

7

70

0

0

Take Bass Clarinet

Take Piccolo

16 A little faster slow down quite a bit Back in tempo9

II. FanfaresEssentially the same tempo, but with much more energy

PWB5 MWB1 2

To Piano

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3

mute off pizz.

3

3

3

pizz.mute off3

3

PWB1 PWB3PWB6

8

18

PWB7 PWB4

108

17

Bass Clarinet

Piccolo

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3

3

TB3

TB1

CB2

MWB3

8

19

3 33

3

33 3 3

8

11

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821

arcoharmonicsnotatedas played

arco

harmonics sounding:

3

TB4

CB4

128

20

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3

pizz.

3

pizz.

5

CB1Bg2

8

23

TB2

822

13

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3

pizz.

3

pizz.

3 4

8 3 4 25

3

arco

3 arco

Bg1

5 6 3 3 3 3

148 5 6

243 3 3 3

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3pizz. arco

3

pizz.arco

3 3

8

26

arco

arco

8

15

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8

3

3

168

27

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[muted -- see preface]

5

8

III. Narration(Same tempo)

3

pizz.

3

3

pizz.3

9 9

9

8

9

28

9

917

Mute

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pizz.

ben

5

4

5

829

188

growl (or flutter-tongue)

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3timbral alternation

8

5

830

19

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(slow gliss.)

3

8

3

4

3

208

31

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3

3

8

832

dolce

(connect notes with as much portamento as possible)3

21

33

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3

3 3

83

pizz.

4

228 3 3

34

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8

8 (bend pitch as flat as possible)35

23

Vibraphone

col legno battuto

III

II

IV. Spike-fiddlersStarting out quite freely ( = 60-66) 36 Previous tempo

(motor on)

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839

(col legno battuto)

248

37 Slower again ( = 60-66) speeding up 38 ( = 116-120)

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sub.

840

play:

sounds:

9th partial harmonics (stop strings from C1 to E2 across nodal points with 9 inch rubber-bladed silk screen squegee)

8

25

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sub.

8

II

268

41

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freely7

8

Timbre-rack

Mute

842

27

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3

844

3

Mute

288

43

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8

845

29

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3

8 3

pesante

308

46

47

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3 3 3

3 3 3

849

3 3

848

3 3

31

(muted:)

Take Flute

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3 6 6 3 3 3 3 6

3 6 6 3 3 3 36

3

sub.

50

3 3 3 3 63 3 3

3 3 3 3 6 3 3 3

32

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3

3 3 3

3

3 3

3

3

6 3 6

3

6 3

6

3

3

Remove mute

3

Suddenly pulling backFlute 33

51 Slower ( = 60-69)

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5

3

5

3

58

9 3

3

34

3

3 3 3

3

35

52

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9th partial harmonics

with stick of mallet

mute off

V. Cradle songsVery calm ( = 56-60)

3

Take Alto Flute

54

8sub.

8

8

6

53 5 5

3

5 56 6

35

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0 0 0

56 57

0

3655

cresc. poco a poco

cresc. poco a poco

cresc. poco a poco

cresc. poco a poco

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Vibraphone (motor on)

5837

Alto Flute59

(cresc.)

(cresc.)

(cresc.)

(cresc.)

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0

61

[damp indicated notes with mallets]

0 0 0 0 0

3860

Suddenly moving ahead ( = 76-80)

ord.

expansively

expansively

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62

39

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63

40

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Flute

pull back considerably

Take Flute

64 Gently ( = 66-76)41

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66

4265

5

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3

3 out of the waterraise entirely

senza cresc.

(muted)

Medium Water Gong (immersed in water, pitch inflected to itslowest point without damping sound) raise gradually

sub.

6743

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3 3 33

69

3

3 pizz. arco

3pizz. arco

3

Earlier tempo ( = 56-60)6844

[played:]

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[Vla.]

9th partial harmonics

poco

3

70 45

pizz.arco

71

VI. CelebrationLively ( = c.88)

(muted)

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pizz.arco

0

73

martellato

Maraca

pizz. arco

0

4672

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7447

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76

pizz. arco

[actual pitch:]

48 75

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Timbre-Rack [Bongos]

pizz.

[played:] [actual pitch:]

pizz. arco pizz. arco

pizz. arco

49

77

(with fingers)

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arco

[played:]

79

5078

0Perusa

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(cresc. poco a poco)

(senza cresc.)

(senza cresc.)

ma martellato crescendo poco a poco

Vibraphone (motor on)

[actual pitch:]

Take Large Flexatone

80

Take Large Flexatone

51

NB: If possible, the Flexatoneplayers should take positionson opposite sides of the stage.

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sim.

sim.

82

(cresc.)

Remove mutes

Large Flexatone (with rubber mallet)

5281

Large Flexatone (with rubber mallet)

(normal)

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3

poco3

83

53

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85

3 3 33

5484

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86

55

with stickTimbre-Rack

energico

energico

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with mallets

88

5687

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pizz.

pizz.

57

circa 10"

Glendale, CaliforniaSummer 2007

(slowing down enormously)

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