Niels Rønsholdt
Until Nothing Left (2017)
for accordion solo/performing accordionist, objects and audience
Dur. c. 25′
Commissioned by and dedicated to Andreas Borregaard
SCORE
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Edition·S publications are supported by the Danish Arts Foundation / Edition·S udgivelser er støttet af Statens Kunstfond
Niels Rønsholdt
Until Nothing Left (2017)
for accordion solo/performing accordionist, objects and audience
Dur. c. 25′
PERFORMANCE NOTES
This piece is a performance piece for accordionist and audience. The performer instructs the audience who participate in performing Song I and handling objects in Song II
Objects: The number of objects needed is depending on the number of audiences. It is advised that there are at least 5 audience members handling each object in Song II.
Performance notes of more specific character are written into the score.
Audience participation:
• In Song I the accordionist accompanies the song of the audience
• In Song II the audience illustrates the song of the accordionist with objects
OBJECTS
2 Blue balloons with LED light Bowl of water next to the performer
1–2 box(es) of kitchen salt
1–2 bottle(s) of drinking water
Firecrackers
Ordinary Balloons
Sparkler
Lighters
Small bowls or the like with a little water
AMPLIFICATION
Amplification is recommended depending on the hall and general setup.
• Accordion (left/right)
• Voice (portable)
• Bowl of water
A set of slides can be downloaded from the Edition·S website: https://edition-s.dk/music/niels-ronsholdt/until-nothing-left
FORM
Melancholia I
Speech I
Song I
Speech II
Melancholia II
Song II
Melancholia III
MELANCHOLIA I
Fill blue LED balloon with air using a single full breath. Right hand holds the balloon, left hand on the accordieon Balloon 1 (Blue LED)
Keep the balloon by the mouth and let out the air slowly into the slightly open mouth. Kepp the right hand on as much of the surface of the balloon as possible creating a small squirking sound as it dimishes.
Same as before and add a movement of the lips through different vowels in a slow irregular rhythm, simulating sound of wind blowing
Lower the tip of the balloon into a small bowl of water and let out air very slowly creating a rhythm like the engine of an old fishing boat.
"Now is no time for exhibitionism. Now is no time for individualism. You watching me on stage, that’s not right. Music is not something you watch, music is something you do: Watching music is a perversion, actually. The musician on a stage is a kind of pornography, when you think about it: It is someone displaying more or less fake emotions for money. It is disgusting. Why do you look at me? Do you think I am somehow able to evoke your own emotions? That a musician on stage and the music he plays, are anything more than a surrogate to real emotions, real life?"
"We are all in the same boat. We are a community. We all breathe in the same air. And we exhale, we all force that same air through our vocal chords to form the music we call language. And together we shape the world, we leave the shores of uncertainty and despair and sail towards a better future, towards a land of prosperity and hope."
During this last part: Pick up a box of kitchen salt and spread it on the floor in front of the audience. After that, pick up a 0.5 l bottle of water and spread that on the salt on the floor to create the sea.
"No, music is not something we watch, music is something we do together, music has always been that. Take for instance this proud instrument, the accordion. It has been designed so that people can sing and play together without having an orchestra or without having to go to church. The thieves, the illegals, the fishermen. People like us. They would sing their songs together and one among them would be their orchestra. We will honor that history. We will honor this fine instrument; let’s sing together. Let’s sing a song of the sea, from our boat on the salty waters."
"You could say: Melancholia is a fake version of sadness. A kind of meta-sadness. Melancholia is grieving the idea of sadness, and not sadness itself. It is looking back at what was once a threat, but isn’t anymore. Maybe we actually miss that threat? Maybe that threat made us feel alive, that it was somehow necessary to us? Melancholia is grieving that the grief itself is fading. It is the sadness of the privileged, those who have forgotten what it is like to fear anything, to mourn. The melancholia of the fishermen’s songs is the fading fear of those back on land longing for the actual and real fear in the boat. We have forgotten what it is like to fear something, we have been on shore too long to remember the horrors of the sea. But since fear apparently is a necessity, we hang on to fear’s fake sister: Melancholia."
"Since we have no actual pain to sing out, we will invent one. We are all in the same boat, so together we will honor and celebrate that fine lack of pain and grief."
repeat bars if necessary until finished talking. (dim. through repetitions)
SONG II: REHEARSAL
EXPLAIN THE OBJECTS AND HAND THEM OUT TO THE AUDIENCE, The precise number of each object depends on the number of audience members.
Objects:
- Small bowls of water
- Lighters - Balloons
- Firecrackers
- Single audience: Sparkler + lighter
RAIN: Put a bit of water on your fingers and throw it in the air (x3)
HAND OUT, saying "this is the Rain" to each recipient
STARS: Raise the arm with lit lighter.
HAND OUT, saying "this is the Stars" to each recipient
WIND: Let out air from the balloon into the mouth making a wind sound
HAND OUT, saying "this is the wind" to each recipient.
SHOOTING: Throw one firecracker in the floor.
HAND OUT, saying "this is the shooting" to each recipient
SUN: Stand up, light the sparkler and hold it up until burned out.
HAND OUT, saying "this is the sun" to the recipient
The rest of the audience: You are the TEETH CHATTERING
CHATTER THE TEETH forcefully while moving the head slowly side to side to show how.
WHEN DONE - explain the objects and actions. On the words:
- Let's hear the rain
- Let's see the stars
- Let's hear the wind
- Let's hear the shooting (only one!)
- Let's hear the teeth chattering
- We don't need to test the sun