for Valerie Haber
Death Psalm
for solo soprano and solo piano
Aaron Holloway-Nahum 2005/Revised Jan 2006
Very soft, slow, reflective, and free as if being improvised ppp
Soprano
(is she singing?)
w
& œ b˙
œ Œ
mmm...
& œ œbœ œ n˙ ™
,
6
is not
qui
10
& nœ œ bœ bœ
Sop.
-
b˙ ™
˙
et
,
mmm...
14
&
Sop.
20
b˙
œœ
˙ gliss. b˙
3
b˙ ™
3
b˙ p
Œ
you
they
of
[m]a - ny who hear
3
n˙
know
bœ
&
U ˙
œ
some - one
œ bœ
,
else
˙ b~
{&
you
dead
do
slowly morph the vowel
œ
pp
bœ
˙
mmm...............
of some - one
bw
b˙
you
dead
not
know
else dead
˙
œœ
mmm...
j œ‰Œ
ppp
≈ Œ
œ
f
ah
molto espressivo
dissapearing
Π44 bw
mmm...[mm]y mind
this
p
œ
œ
a bit violent
detached and informative again
pp
Œ
- j nwb œ œ œ ‰ b œ n œ b œ œ œ bœ œ nœ bœ œ
œ
completely objective and factual ppp
p
p a sincere revelation pp
do not think
p
3
. gliss*
bœ bœ œ ˙
[mm]I
mmm..
nœ bœ ˙
‰ œj bœ œnœ œbœ mmm...
q = c. 76 broad and sweeping; a landscape ∑
with a sense of empty space...
∑
∑
mmmm...
(silently depress)
Pno.
˙
mmm...
they don't want ei - ther to think
Sop.
bœ œ
j bœ œ ™ œ
, bœ nœ œ nœ œ b˙
pp
, bœ b˙ (, )œ b˙ ™ n˙ n œ b œ b œ b œ n ˙ & nœ bœ b˙ n˙
17 Sop.
bœ œ bœ œ nœ #˙ ™
œ bœ ˙
mmm...
Sop.
a bit angry
ever so slightly more... pp
44
~
~ bœ Œ Ó
~
(did the piano just play?)
pp
°(sempre!)
broad and sweeping; a landscape
q = c. 76 with a sense of empty space... ~ bœ Œ Ó mp
*All glissandi should be performed such that the starting note is left immediately and an even gliding sound is produced for the full duration of that note. Copyright © Aaron Holloway-Nahum 2006
~
~ êco Œ ‰ bœJ œJ ‰ Œ p
2
27 Pno.
&
O™
Œ bœ. œ. œ. œ. œ. Œ Ó *
p
34 Pno.
&
œ mp
5
.j Œ ‰œŒ œ œ w œ Œ Ó
3 4 > j 4 Œ Œ Œ 4 bw n œ. œ. œ. œ mf *Non. Ped! p
use both hands as necessary
Ó
5
mp
°
°
œ œ 5 Œ ‰ nœJ œJ ‰ Œ 43 Œ Œ Œ 44 bœ ‰ œœœœœœ œ ‰ bœ. œ. œ. œ Ó JJ J pp 5 mf p * mp * ° °
Œ Ó
œ. œ.
in the distance
bœ
ppp
Œ ‰
pp
Œ
*
trilling so fast the piano can't keep up
(should result in a random rhythm) pp 7 5. . . . . .6 . . . . . 5. . . > 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ œ œ j (with l.h. only) Ó Œ œ ≈nœ ™ Œ 44 bw w & 43 æ ææ æ mfp mf p mp p sub. f p sub. press down pedal gradually..................................° (° sempre)
40 Pno.
{
44
Pno.
& ?
Ó˙ ææ ™
œ Œ bœ œ œ œ bœ. œ. œ. œ. œ. ‰ œ. Œ J . . . . 5 3
∑
note: do not retake pedal, but let the sound die away enough such that this can be played softly and still be clearly heard.
slowly accel back to tempo
p
mf
œ .œ ™™ œ. bw Œ
*
3
°
pp sub.
Ó
p
(q = c. 42)
bww ? w
mp
∑
w bw w
4:3 w j œ b# œœ™ ˙ œ œ œœ œœ œ˙ # œ œ b w 44 43
3:2
p
*°
f
pp sub.
*°
√ ™ ˙ 34 ˙˙ ™™
(long)
4
&4
34 √ ˙˙ ™™ ˙™
p sub.
∑
˙ #œ b œ œœ œœ œœ ˙˙ 4 &4 J
49 Pno.
rall.
44
q = c. 66 ˙™ “” œ #œ ™
with constant rubato
p
Œ œœœ œœJ 3 J 4 3:2
*°
<“>
b œœ # œœ œœ b œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3 J‰ J Œ 44 &4
55 Pno.
mp
3:2 pp
angry!
œ œ bœ & bœ
62 Sop.
*
as possible pp
U ˙™
f
3
Of
all of the
rain
f
n
U ˙
U Œ
storms
U n˙˙˙ b ˙˙
{& 66
Sop.
∑
∑
b˙
p espressivo
& œ
As if
& nœ
œ
Where
Sop.
once
j b˙ ™ & ™™ œ
69
a
-
œ
there
bœ
live
?
was
a
as slowly as possible, with deep reflection
mmm...
œ œ œ bœ œ
bœ w
for this
nw w w bww
one.
Ó
Œ
˙ gliss.b˙
j œ‰
*° hold until sound is completely gone mp
3
bœ
ppp
more prominent, but do not cover the soprano!
U Œ
68 Sop.
are
truck spilled in sum
paint
*
U n œ œ b œ ˙ œ bœ
3
you
a
U œ b œ 3 ˙ √ J 4 Œ
3 pppp
œ bœ bœ nœ bœ b˙
p
b˙ <n>œ <n>œ bœ œ œ bœ n˙ ™
are
bϪ
hardly there at all BUT must be audible to soprano!
more and more resigned
bœ œj bœ œ nœ œ ˙
with a sort of sad humor
≈ ˙
°
pp
°
42
ppp
we
a distant coloring of the soprano
Pno.
b -˙ -˙ -˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œœ œ 3
5:4
3
-
‰ bœj b˙
mer.
Or
˙™ win
U ˙™ -
-
U Œ
a
paint
-
ing
U Œ
dow
™™ b˙ ™
mmm...
œ œ œ bœ œj √ ‰
stop very suddenly