Zeno Baldi
©CasaRicordi -Milano
CRYSTAL LINE
for Soprano and ensemble (2018)
partitura
©CasaRicordi -Milano
Commissioned by Fondazione Spinola-Banna per l’Arte
Instrumentation
Soprano (+ Microphone connected to mixer & speakers through Ring modulation pedal: Fairfield Factory’s Randy’s Revenge*)
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in Bb (+ Bass Clarinet in Bb)
Mandolin (+ Ebow*, shortbow* and metal brushes*)
Piano
Harp (+ mallets*)
Percussions Vibraphone
Marimba
Tam tam
Gong (pitch: E3)
©CasaRicordi -Milano
Violin
Viola
Double bass
*provided by the composer
General Indications
The score is transposed.
Everything should be played SENZA VIBRATO, MOLTO LEGATO.
LET RING: never mute any intrument, try to obtain a full free resonance, let instruments ring as long as possible, taking a big care to the already ringing strings (or other vibrating bodies): they shouldn’t be touched during preparation of following action.
Accidentals are valid for the entire bar.
j k l J K L = approximately 8th of tones. B µ = respectively ¼ tone lowered and ¼ tone sharpened.
Dynamics with “ ” indicate the energy of the relative action, which doesn’t necessarly correspond to the effective dynamic.
= crescendo that doesn’t lead to a higher dynamic level, but rather stops and is followed by a sudden p.
= measured tremolo (iq , jjjq )
= unmeasured tremolo.
= harmonics notation (except of harp). Roman numerals indicate the strings, Arabic numerals indicate the partial (NB: 1 = fundamental)
= gradual transition.
Winds
= Microtonal notation: diamond note-heads indicate fingerings to play over a certain basic position (standard note-head). The sound results are microtonal segments contained inside a small intervall, generally a major 2nd.
“with a very dull sound” = this indication asks for a dark, mellow sound. The player is encouraged to find alternative positions for certain pitches, with an increase in dullness (loss of overtones) and diffusity (heightened noise level).
= respectively strong and weak lip pressure [Oboe].
= additional key for E quarter tone sharp, present in Tosca or Divine models [Clarinet].
Piano
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Prepare the strings of following notes (standard note-head) with thick rubber slices - or other effective solutions - in order to obtain the indicated harmonics (diamond note-heads). The resulting sounds should contain as much partials and as less fundamentals as possible.
-Milano
= Sostenuto pedal (Pedale tonale).
= hit the string(s) of the notated pitches with a rubber (a common pencil eraser rubber).
= cluster notation: hit the neibourgh strings of the main standard note-headed pitch.
= damp the string of the notated pitch with finger (while the other hand hit the same string with rubber), moving it along the string, finding several harmonic-nodes.
= play a soft horizontal tremolo on the strings of the notated pitches, with small glass marbles.
Harp
Harmonics pizzicati (notated with diamond-head notes) don’t have indications on right/left hand. The choice is up to the player. Those with only diamond-head note are octave harmonics, the others (3rd partials = octave and a half) have also their fundamental notated in brackets.
b. 88 – b. 145 = hit the notated strings - unmeasured tremolo - with superball mallets or other soft mallets ( ).
b. 149 – b. 179 = play the strings with plastic sticks ( ) at the very top of the instruments, right below the tuning pegs, in order to obtain some rhythmic glissandos, unpitched. This section is notated on a 3 lines system, indicating three approximate ranges of the instrument (highest line = lowest strings). these lines are used to indicate the action’s change of speed (black square = fast, white square = slow).
Mandolin
The instrument has to be (de)tuned as follows, in order to obtain beatings (psychoacoustic phenomenon):
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Besides traditional finger “pizzicati”, the player is asked to play the instrument using following devices (all provided by the composer): –EBow (www.ebow.com), set on harmonic switch. = string buzz: set the Ebow on the I.strings of the instrument; the external resonates, the internal buzz.
–Short bow (https://short-bow.com/) –1 metal jazz brush
Percussions
= soft mallets (the choice is up to the player).
= two notched sticks (Reibestäbe): always play very slowly and carefully, alternating right and left hand, in order to obtain long continuous sounds.
Tamtam is notated on a 3 lines system: top line = high frequency middle line = middle frequency bottom line = low frequency
The player is encouraged to use multiple mallets to obtain this variety of sounds with only one tamtam.
Soprano
The phonetic sound of the piece is English. Everything has to be sung as clean and pure as possible, always senza vibrato. = mute / open the mouth with your hand. Try to balance the dynamic of the ordinario sounds with the weaker ones of covered mouth.
Between bar 114 and bar 171, the voice is amplified with a microphone, and processed through a Ring modulation pedal (https://fairfieldcircuitry.com/products/randys-revenge). The Singer will have to turn the main knob of this pedal (set on a table or other surface) while singing, as indicated in the score.
Strings
Everything has to be played as densely legato as possible, always senza vibrato (for the few fingered notes).
Harmonics notation: Roman numerals indicate the strings, Arabic numerals indicate the partial (NB: 1 = fundamental). For each harmonic, find the right pressure of finger and bow, as their demands differ. Lot of rosin.
Triple stops: always outside strings are open or natural harmonics. This creates that all 3 strings are leveled at some point (usually sul tasto).
Bowing of triple stops: rather fast, rapidly accelerando in the end. crescendo, thown off release both the bow and the left hand finger at the same time with end of the tone, to let the strings ring freely.
TEXT (…) Properties of the crystalline are proper ties for the crystal line.
(…)
A Fractal is a fatal arc (an act as artful as a fall): a snowflake knows a leaf.
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from “Crystallography” by Christian Bök (Coach House Press, 1994, rev 2003).
