For open instrumentation ensemble
Katerina Gimon
Duration ~8’ (or whatever length desired) Commissioned by Redshift Music Society and Ecstatic Waves 2017
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Commissioned by Redshift Music Society and Ecstatic Waves. Premiered at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, BC on October 17th, 2017.
Performance Notes Rain on a Tin Roof is comprised of a collection of cells that are used as source material. Cells are added to the available collection gradually, then taken away. An overall arc is specified for dynamics, texture, and timbre of the piece with approximate timings. Performers should be spatialized/scattered throughout the performance space, if possible. The piece is coordinated by stopwatches (each performer should have their own) or a conductor who cues the beginning, apex, and end.
Instructions 1. Beginning with no. 1, add cells one by one. Repeat the cell as many times as desired before moving onto the next cell in sequential order. 2. Once you have moved onto no. 2 or later, you may repeat that cell or any of the previous cells. Ex: if you have reached no. 5, you may repeat/intersperse material from any of cells no. 1 - 5. 3. Once you have reached the final cell on the page (no. 22) the process is repeated backwards, always removing the highest numbered cell from the pool of possible material. This time however, you may skip over up to 2 cells at a time, if desired. Ex: If I am at cell no. 20, afterwards I may move to cell no. 19, no. 18, or no. 17. 4. Once you have returned to no. 1, repeat this until all players have reached this cell, fading out gradually.
Approximate Piece Timeline/Arc Beginning Time 0:00 Cell No. 1 Dynamics pp Texture Very sparse Timbre Metallic/sharp/percussive
Apex 6:00 No. 22 fff Dense/saturated Full-bodied/intense
© Katerina Gimon, October 2017 www.katerinagimon.com
End 8:00 No. 1 pp Somewhat sparse Metallic/delicate/airy
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Ø Dynamics (overall): begin softly, gradually crescendo to as loud as possible (at the apex), then slowly fade to the end Ø Texture (overall): begin very sparse (max. 30% sound, 70% silence). Gradually become increasingly dense until a full, saturated texture is reached at the apex. Then, slowly sparsen to the end (about 50% sound, 50% silence). o To follow these changes in texture/density allocate very long amounts of time to fermatas on rests/long tones in the opening and closing sections, and shorter amounts of time at the apex o You may also vary the tempi of each cell (though always staying approximately at quarter note = 50+) Ø Timbre: Following the above arc, move from sharp/metallic and percussive sounds to intense and full-bodied timbres, before returning to metallic sounds once again (this time more delicate and airy). o Performers are encouraged to experiment with timbral effects and other techniques. For example: § String players may use snap pizz. or col legno in the opening, an exaggerated vibrato or tremolo on sustained tones towards the apex, and/or experiment with harmonics and bow placement towards the end. § Wind players may use slap tongue or heavy tonguing towards the beginning, wide vibrato or flutter tongue towards the apex, and/or breathier sounds towards the end.
Other • • •
Multiple notes: when multiple notes are notated on one attack (ex. cell 7) any note or combination of the given notes can be played in the specific rhythm Long tones: all long/sustained tones (ex. Cell 8 or 13) as well as continuous rearticulations (ex. cells 14 or 20) should swell and decay relative to the overall dynamic Register/octave: Cells or individual pitches may be played in any octave (though keep in mind the overall dynamic arch and timbral qualities specified above - i.e. don't play a super high octave at the beginning if you can't play high quietly).
© Katerina Gimon, October 2017 www.katerinagimon.com
Score in C Alto Clef
0:00 8:00
Katerina Gimon Varying tempi (q always = 50 +)
>. U B .. y y ‰ Œ ..
1
2
unpitched/minimal pitch
>. U .. œ œ ‰ Œ ..
5
6
U B .. œœœ œœœ œœœ ≈ Œ .. > . . U
16
B ..
19
14
U
œ œ bœ
œ
U
b ˙˙
œ. >œ œœ. ‰ UŒ .
7
10
Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. B .. w ( b œ )
13
>- U .. œ œ . œ ..
>œ œ. U .. œ œ ‰ Œ ..
>. B .. œ œ ‰ Œ ..
9
3
..
..
œ œœ œ
B ..
..
>œ œ- Uœ ..œ œ .. œ
..
8
..
U
> . U ..œœ œœ ‰ Œ
12
..
œ. Œ
..
.. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
..
17
U
.. œ œ b ˙
œœ
bU˙
œ>œ œœ.
alternate octaves if you can quickly/easily
© Katerina Gimon, October 2017 www.katerinagimon.com
U
˙
œœœœœ
..
U (b œ)
U
.. b œœœœ œœœœ ... œœœœ > - .
>œ .. b b œœœœ
œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
œ
18
‰ .. 20
œœœ
Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~ .. w ..
15
alternate octaves if you can quickly/easily
B .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
21
..
U œœœœœ œœœœœ œœœœœ œœœœœ Œ > . > .
11
4
œœœœœ
œœœœœ
œœœœœ
œ>œœœ œ
œœœœœ
randomly add accents, articulate all
.. œœœœ- . œ . 6:00
œ œ .. œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
22