DAVID LANG UNUSED SWAN
FOR SIX INSTRUMENTS WITH OPTIONAL PRE-RECORDED MEDIA
FULL SCORE
© 2012 by Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. RNY 1171
ISMN 979-0-041-61171-6
Warning : Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited by Federal law, and subject to criminal prosecution.
instrumentation
bass clarinet in Bb
percussion – see note below
electric guitar
piano
cello
double bass
optional pre-recorded media – see note below
note
unused swan was commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars for their project Field Recordings. This project asked composers to write music that would respond to and incorporate some kind of found recorded sound. I remembered that many years ago I had auditioned some knife sharpeners for inclusion in a theater project, and I still had a somewhat scary recording of different kinds of knives being sharpened In unused swan I imagined that I could make a piece out of the tension created when a very calm melody becomes disturbed by a very scary element. And I wrote a percussion part that would be the go-between between these two different emotional states.
note on the percussion – The percussionist should place a large piece of metal on a table or on the floor, like an overturned tam tam or thundersheet or large metal tub, for example, and occasionally and unpredictably drop, scrape, pour and otherwise violently push around pieces of metal, of varying sizes. The result should be heartbreaking and terrifying.
note on the optional pre -recorded media – unused swan can easily be performed either with or without pre-recorded media, it works well both ways. A sound file of my knife experiments is available from the publisher; however, if musicians are interested in adding pre-recorded media I would encourage them to record their own track to accompany themselves. That track would not have to be of knives but it could be of any accompaniment they deem appropriate, and it could start long before the ensemble, end long after the ensemble, or end before the ensemble is finished, etc. ad lib. It is also imagined that the ‘pre-recorded’ contribution could actually be performed live – for example, I can easily see many extra musicians sharpening amplified knives, before, during and after the musicians play the written music.
the duration is approximately 5 minutes