8/10/2019 Benjamin Buchanan - "...Thinking About Little
Researches Into Form and Color While So Many Suffer and Die" for
Clarinet Sextet
5/14
...thinking about little researches into form and color while so
many suffer and die. (Baltimore, MD, 2013) is for six clarinetists,
who are each responsible for playing 23 clarinets throughout the
duration of the piece. The six players are to perform seated in a
semicircle facing the audience, arching from Player 1, stage right,
to Player 6, stage left. ...thinking about little researches into
form and color while so many suffer and die. was written
forRosabine Franciamore's clarinet ensemble which is currently
comprised of 2 females and 4 males. This is the breakdown of the
voice parts for which this work is written. Players 1 & 2 are
ideally to be female while Players 36are to be male. The B b Bass
Clarinets are to be equipped with extensions reaching down to
written B b1.The distribution of clarinets among the six players as
well as each player's vocal range for each version of this piece
are as follows: Preferred Instrumentation Alternate Instrumentation
Player 1 (female, G3 E5): E b Clarinet 1, B b Clarinet 1 Player 1
(female, G3 E5): E b Clarinet 1, B b Clarinet 1 Player 2 (female,
G3C#5)): E b Clarinet 2, B b Clarinet 2, A Clarinet 2 Player 2
(female, G3C#5)): E b Clarinet 2, B b Clarinet 2, A Clarinet 2
Player 3 (male, D3Eb4)): E b Clarinet 3, B b Clarinet 3, A Clarinet
3 Player 3 (male, Eb3Eb4)): E b Clarinet 3, B b Clarinet 3, A
Clarinet 3 Player 4 (male, Eb3Gb5): B b Clarinet 4, A Clarinet 4, B
b Bass Clarinet 1 Player 4 (male, Eb3Gb5): B b Clarinet 4, A
Clarinet 4 Player 5 (male, G2G3): B b Clarinet 5, A Clarinet 5, B b
Bass Clarinet 2 Player 5 (male, G2G3): B b Clarinet 5, A Clarinet
5, B b Bass Clarinet 1 Player 6 (male, n/a): B b Clarinet 6, A
Clarinet 6, B b Contrabass Clarinet Player 6 (male, n/a): B b
Clarinet 6, A Clarinet 6, B b Bass Clarinet 2Accidentals only apply
to the note that they directly precede. The score and parts are
transposing; this includes the voice parts. Each voice part is
notated on the same staff and with the same transposition as the
clarinet part. Forinstance, at rehearsal letter "A," Player 1 is
instructed to play an F (sounding A)and sing the same pitch two
octaves lower.The players may find that using a harder reed makes
it easier to execute the techniques in this piece. Due to the
extremely soft nature of much of the material the performers are
asked to take great care to not inadvertently causedistractions
when switching betweeen the instruments. Do not switch instruments
before it is indicated to do so in the score. The instrument
changes are choreographed so to reduce the risk of disrupting the
work's dramatic flow.
Performances of ...thinking about little researches into form
and color while so many suffer and die. should not be accompanied
by video unless cleared with the composer.
The duration of ...thinking about little researches into form
and color while so many suffer and die. , c. 5'10", should not be
printed on any programs or advertised in any way.
PERFORMANCE NOTES
No vibrato is to be used throughout the work.
Do not rearticulate notes unless indicated. If any note length
exceeds playability the performers should coordinate with one
another to seamlessly divide it between two players.
Accented notes that are tied together should be interpreted as
indications of a sustained pitch with specific pulses within the
sustain. This is to emulate the "wub" characteristic of the
subgenre of electronic pop music known as"dubstep." Performers may
wish to conceptualize this as "metered vibrato." Other than this
exception, no vibrato is to be used throughout the work. Performers
may find it helpful to refer to Jonathan Jones' YouTube video
Contra
Bass DUBSTEP which may be viewed here:
http://youtu.be/Zesi0Hb4nS8
The opening section (until rehearsal letter "A") is to be played
with the greatest possible ensemble intonation.
The following expressive indications are to be executed
throughout the entire duration of the note to which they are
attached: crescendo, diminuendo, portamento, glissando, vocal
glissando, and lip-bend.
When the player is asked to sing and play simultaneously this is
to distort the timbre of the clarinet. The player should base the
intonation of their singing in order to achieve the most distorted
quality of sound possible. In otherwords, the performer is
encouraged to deviate from the score in instances similar to the
following example: If the score indicates to play an E b4 (above
middle C) and sing a D4 but in actuality, singing a D 1/4 instead
of a D n gives the clarinet a more distorted timbre.
The extended vocal glissandi in measures 3637 ought to create
resultant-tone glissandi that move in contrary motion to the vocal
glissandi. For a demonstration of this technique check out John
Mcmurtery's demonstration of iton flute by visiting his website
http://johnmcmurtery.com ! Extended Techniques ! Polyphonic
Techniques ! Singing while playing ex. 2.
A fingering is provided above each multiphonic except for when a
multiphonic is immediately repeated. All of the multiphonics within
this work come from multiphonic charts and databases and will
therefore hopefully work in performance. If any multiphonics do not
work please replace them with multiphonics with similar levels of
intensity (based on volume, level of dissonance, amount of
distortion, etc.). For more information on performingmultiphonics
please refer to one of the following: New Directions for Clarinet ,
revised edition, by Phillip Rehfeldt (University of California
Press, 1994), and Nicolas del Grazia's online multiphonic
database:www.clarinet-multiphonics.org
In measure 72, Bass Clarinets 1 & 2, and the Contrabass
Clarinet (B b Clarinet 4 in the alternate version) all have, what
Phillip Rehfeldt calls, "Category 6" multiphonics, meaning that
these are "produced with increased and oftenforced (in the highest
partials) pressure on the reed". If possible, only the upper
partials are to sound. This should result in an indeterminate high
squealing sound. The fundamental tone should come through as little
as possible.
The final written C in the E b Clarinet 1 part in measure 78 is
to be a final shrill scream. The performer may wish to consider
other options including trying it while singing the highest Eb in
their vocal range. The performer shouldexecute the technique that
produces the highest, shrillest, loudest, and longest sound on the
E b Clarinet. Do not hold the note longer than the amount written
but if it cannot be held the length notated do not rearticulate the
note.
8/10/2019 Benjamin Buchanan - "...Thinking About Little
Researches Into Form and Color While So Many Suffer and Die" for
Clarinet Sextet
6/14
This notation instructs the performer to blow air through their
instrument creating pitchless air noise.
X noteheads are used to represent the "slap tongue" technique.
Phillip Rehfeldt describes that this technique is "executed by
placing a comparatively large portion of tongue on the reed's tip
and suddenlyreleasing, often accompanied by a drop in jaw pressure,
simultaneously with the initiation of the air stream literally
slapping the reed on the mouthpiece." Again, the performers may
find that using a harderreed makes it easier to execute the
techniques in this piece.
Benjamin Buchanan's are for the cover and dedication page are
entitled little research 1 & 2 2013
PROGRAM NOTES
Thie work is written in response to pondering the dilemma of my
square-peg activist desires wishing to be conveyed through a
round-hole passion for contemporary art.On this the remarkable
composer John Luther Adams writes:
Today, as the horrors of war fill the news, I'm wondering again
about the meaning of my life's work. In my current work I'm
searching for musical equivalents of pure color, combining
instrumental music with auras ofcomputer-processed sounds. But how
can I spend my time on such esoteric things? How can I make art
that doesn't speak directly to world events?
Then I remember Claude Monet. In 1914 the fabric of Western
civilization seemed to be disintegrating. With the First World War
raging, Monet was in his garden painting water lilies. His own son
was in the war. The front advanced to within thirty-five
miles of his home. Yet Monet continued to paint the reflections
of clouds and willows in the waters of the pond at Giverny.
To a friend Monet confided that he felt "ashamed of thinking
about little researches into form and color while so many suffer
and die." Though he was old and in failing health, he might have
found more immediate waysto express his concern about the state of
the world. Instead, while young men died in combat within the
borders of his own country, Monet painted water lilies. And the
world is richer for his doing so. Those expansive
panels of water, flowers, and mirrored sky were probably his
greatest and most enduring gift to humanity.
Politics is fast. By definition it is public. Art is slow. And
it often begins in solitude. In order to give our best gifts to the
world artists must sometimes leave the world behind, at least for a
little while.
John Luther Adams, "Global Warming and Art" (2003), from Winter
Music: Composing the North (Wesleyan University Press, 2004)
