Alex Huddleston 30 measures
String quartet
2013
for ef mb ac jf kk mf jj bf fk sb lb gd mf ch tb tm lanh rsnh EEBH gwfh skt cc mas
Violin 1 Violin 2 Viola Cello Ca. 2:15
Performance notes: A number of notational conventions are employed in the course of this piece, in order to most easily facilitate the decipherment of instructions. In order of appearance: Pizzicato effects: Pizzicato effects are notated on a single staff, which vertically represents the length of the string: the top line shows the nut, the bottom shows the end of the fingerboard, and the middle grey line represents the octave harmonic node. Any event with a specific rhythmic profile (i.e. not grace-notes or spacial notation) is executed by the right hand. Roman numerals indicate the string on which the action is to be performed. Grace-notes with a ‘+’ note-head are ‘pull-offs’ or ‘hammer-ons,’ and occur immediately after the initiating pizzicato attack. Arrow noteheads in the cello are to be struck by the right hand on the fingerboard making a metallic sound. All pizzicato effects are to be as loud as possible. Arco playing: Motions with the bow notate on three staffs. The left hand is notated on the top staff, which functions identically to the pizzicato material, utilizing a crude diagram of the fingerboard and strings of the instrument, with hand position and the level of finger pressure placed graphically. The contour is also delineated graphically. A change in finger pressure is shown by a dotted line. In all cases, the hand position is strictly speaking only a hand position at a certain location, not a set of pitches. There are four levels of left hand finger pressure: fully stopped
mostly depressed
somewhat depressed harmonic fingering non-vibrato unless specified thus: vibrato should be very fast and span slightly less than a quarter step in either direction. Middle staff shows which string is activated: I II III IV
Bottom staff shows placement of the bow Molto sul tasto (roughly 3 inches or further past the end of the fingerboard) Sul tasto (roughly at the end of the fingerboard) Ord. Ponticello (very nearly on the bridge itself, but still sounding the string) There are five levels of bow pressure: Under/flautando -----ord-----overpressure There are five gradations between regular bowing and col legno tratto/battuto 1
2
3
4
5
All hair ----------half/half-----------no hair Battuto playing is abbreviated
batt in the score
The figure above represents ricochet bowing. The rhythm is to be understood as the initial throw, with bounces immediately after. The figure above represents a combination of ricochet and tremolo, together making an extremely volatile gesture, represented by a wavy line on the string and bow placement staffs.
Pitched material: Mm 18 and 19 contain the only explicitly notated pitches in the piece. Intonation is of highest importance at this point. The cello, for the duration of the piece is providing a low d as a drone, which may assist in intonation. Sul d material: Mm 22 is entirely played on the d string of the three instruments (see cello note below) such that there are many cases where two or three fingers are touching at different levels of finger pressure. This is considered a set of circumstances where ephemeral glimpses of pitch in the form of natural or artificial harmonics may arise, but not necessarily. Cello: Scordatura: The C string of the cello is to be retuned to D 1. The drone should always be at the cusp of audibility, and have no perceivable contour or directionality, until explicitly notated. The bow makes initial contact at the octave harmonic node, and moves toward molto sul ponticello over the course of the entire piece. Instances where there appear harmonic note-heads in the top staff indicate that the bow, while maintaining the drone, also activates the third string. In these cases, the third should be given more dynamic weight. At certain places on the string, the performer may need to shift the angle of the bow and move the third out of the way. It is acceptable to bow the side of the body of the instrument; it is not acceptable to bow the third string when not notated. The crescendo beginning mm 16 should not be loud enough to make the fourth string rattle against the fingerboard. The concluding solo utilizes the same conventions outlined above vis. Arco playing.
Program note: Certain phenomena occur on orders of magnitude inconceivable in the daily experience of human life. The violent reaction between calcium and water has completed within a millisecond. The growth of a tree from seed to maturity would require a lifetime of patience and observation. What happens when the temporal resolution of these phenomena are shifted to bring them into the realm of the human? What was once thought immobile can be seen to spring from the ground, and magnify itself; we have seen years compressed into a single event. What was thought to be instantaneous is shown to have its own form, syntax and development; we have seen an instance magni ed into an intricate drama: chaotic bursting in whites, greys and blacks taking on color until an eruption into a ame of piercing luminosity the material so colorless but a moment before. What is the distortion created by magni cation? And that of reduction?
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30 measures e=84
3
3
3
II
pizz
I
IV
I
III
IV
f poss.
I
3 8
4 8
e=84
5 8
3
3
IV
I I
III
pizz
3
I
III
IV
f poss.
II
II
3 8
II
4 8
e=84
IV
5 8
5
5:3
I pizz
IV
3
I
IV
I
IV
3
3
3
3
III
I
I
II V
3 8
IV
II
I
4 8
f poss.
e=84
9:8
9:8
3 8 C
5 8
4 8
5 8 III
I
f poss.
II bow at octave harmonic node. very gradually move to pont. bow changes inaudible.
pppppppp
Š2013
IV
2
3
4
5
3
II
I
I
7 8
IV
IV
I
III
4+ 3 8 16
IV
III
II
II
III II
3
IV
3 32
3
4
3
II
IV II
III III
I
I
II
IV I
7 8
3
4
I
II
3 32
4+ 3 8 16
3
3
5
I
II
IV
IV
arco
I
I
III
IV III II
III
7 8
4+ 3 8 16
II
IV
9:8
4
7 8
3 32
9:8
4+ 3 8 16
3 32
II I
II
III
3
5 3
7
5:3
3
II II
IV
II
4 8
5 8
5
7
IV
III III
I
I
3
6
5:3
3
I
I
II
IV
II I I
III
I
III
4 8
5 8
III
II
7
batt
4 8
1
mf
3
3
5 8
1
pppp
5
batt 5
sffffz
ffff
3
7
4 8
5 8 I
II
1
5
1
fff
mp
fff
3
3
3
4
9 I arco
III
IV II
6 8
3 3 4 16
2
4
3
p
ff
batt 5
1
1
ff
4 3:5
ppp
9 arco
II
IV
II
I
IV I
III
6 8
3 3 4 16
9 I
(
batt
6 8
3
3
pp
1
2
5
mf
fff
9
2
f
1
ppp
4
3 3 4 16
fff
batt 5
1
sffz
mf
7:4
6 8
5
3 3 4 16 III
(
)
(arco)
)
III
3
5
fff
mp
ff
ppp
5
11
batt
5 8
5
2
sffz
ff
1
7 8
1
2
mf
pp ppp
ff
ffff
11
II change hand position as quickly as possible (bow does not stop)
batt
5 8
5
1
fff
ff
6
1
ppp
7 8 ffff
11 II
IV
III
IV III I
batt
5 8
1
7 8
11
7 8
III
( III )
5
2
1 7:6
ff
ffff
5 8
1
sffz
mf
p
ffff p
fff
sffffz
6
13
IV
5 8
1
4
ff
4 8
1
ffff
batt
9 16
5
sffz
fff
4
1
ppp
ff
13
5 8
1
5
4 8
5
pp
batt 1
5
ffff
fff
9 16
batt 1
5
ppp
fff
mf
13
1
5 8
4 8
3
batt 5
9 16
fff
ff
ppp
13
5 8
4 8 III
( III )
1
9 16
fff
7
16
(e=105) (I - IV)
4 10
1
3
1
ff
16
6 8 ffff
(e=105) (I - IV)
4 10
6 8
1
3
ff
16
1
f
ffff
(e=105) (I - IV)
4 10
1
ffff
16
5
6 8
ff
1
fff
(e=105)
4 10
6 8 (ord)
ffff
8
q =60
+!
" $d
18
fffff
9 8
18
q =60
ffffp
J%
+!
fffff
ffffp
!+ fff
"$d ffff
6 4
$d
"$ d
fff
ffff
9 8
ffp fff III
!+
7:4
ffp fff
IV
6 4
18
+!
q =60
fffff
ffffp
9 8
& 'L
fff
ffff
6 4
18
9 8
+
7:4
q =60
dd ff (sul pont)
6 4
dd
J% ffp fff III
7:4
9
20
7 16
10 16
ffff
20
7 16
10 16
ffff
20
7 16
10 16
ffff
20
7 16
10 16
fff at fff, the IV string should rattle harshly against the fingerboard
pppp (molto sul pont)
10
q =42
22
15 4 pppp
q =42
22
15 4 pppp
q =42
22
15 4 pppp
q =42
22
15 4
11
12
e=92
23
C
2 4
3 8
1
5:4
sffffz
fff
sffz
5 8
5
4
ff
1
7 16
1
ffff
mp
f
3
sfz
sffffz
ffff
27
III
IV
5 8
1
ppp
7 8
3:5
ffff
ppp
fffff
batt 1
5
ff
5 8
1
f
4:5
ffff
f
pp
ffff
ffff
30
3 6 16 8
4
ffff
molto accel.
1
fffff
fffffff
Boston MA, 2013