James Black Lullabies (2019) for Vietnamese singer, two percussionists, pianist, and video Dur. 45
For Ly Tran and NEKO3
SCORE
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Composed with support from the Danish Arts Foundation With support from Koda’s Cultural Funds. Projektet er støttet af Kodas kulturelle midler
Edition·S publications are supported by the Danish Arts Foundation / Edition·S udgivelser er støttet af Statens Kunstfond
James Black Lullabies (2019) for Vietnamese singer, two percussionists, pianist, and video Dur. 45
I. II. III. IV.
AROUND ABOVE FROM OUTSIDE DOWNSTAIRS
Lullabies was commissioned by the Danish/Vietnamese soprano Ly Tran as part of her project Lullabies for Lost Children. The piece is based on Vietnamese lullabies recorded by Ly Tran and Anders Haahr Rasmussen from mothers in Vietnam who had children living overseas.
DISPOSITION The piece requires a large open space with room for the percussionists to run around. A separate location is required for the final movement Downstairs, such as a basement or similar. An organ is also required. For this reason, churches are the ideal venue for the performance of this piece. Any of the keyboard instruments apart from the grand piano maybe be replaced with electric pianos or synthesizers. If the organ is replaced, it must be sufficiently amplified. The ideal disposition is below:
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The singer maintains a stationary position in the middle of the setup. The three keyboard instruments form a ring around the singer. Percussion II (tuned instruments) forms a ring around the keyboard instruments, and percussion I (unpitched instruments) forms a ring around percussion II. For explanation of ‘pos. I’ etc - see ‘procedure’. The audience is placed in such a way to ensure full visibility of the entire setup and the movements between the individual positions.
PROCEDURE I – Around The singer, remaining stationary in the middle of the setup, repeatedly sings the Vietnamese lullaby Con co co bay la with gaps between each reiteration at their discretion, at her own tempo. The instrumentalists move between their positions as indicated in the score. For example, in bar 37, percussion I moves from ‘pos. I – wood’ on the disposition above, to ‘pos. II – congas/bongos’. The movement between the positions gets faster and faster throughout the piece, until at the end the performers should be running. When the pianist reaches the point of the score marked ‘to organ’, they should go to the organ loft and sound the low C. At this point, percussion I and II should stop running around and go to the positions marked ‘woodblocks’ on either side of the singer. The singer should finish her iteration of the song, and the second movement should begin. A general note: vertical synchronisation in this movement is not the most important feature. Players may choose to use click track up to bar 144. From this point, each player should follow their own part with the indicated tempi, and wait for the pianist to sound the organ low C as their cue to move on to the second movement. II – Above For the sections where the singer has a single-line stave, rhythm is not exactly notated. The singer should speak the text in free rhythm, starting from the notated point. Where indicated, the pianist should move from the organ to the grand piano. It does not matter if they disturb the situation onstage while doing this. The lid of the grand piano should be closed to avoid accidentally striking the keys. Where indicated, the two percussionists should also move to either side of the grand piano – percussion I by the low strings, percussion II by the high strings. III – From outside Please consult the notation guide for an explanation of the notation. At bar 24 the second video enters (please see ‘notes on video’ below). Where notated, each performer should turn and face the screen. The pianist should keep the pedal down. After approximately 2 minutes, where the saxophone solo in the video file starts, the players should move to the second location to set up the last movement. IV – Downstairs This movement takes place in the second location, which in the original performance was the basement of the venue (hence the title, downstairs). The audience will be instructed where to move by the third video file, which immediately follows on from the second (see ‘notes on video’ below). Tea should be served to the audience in the second location. This should be prepared beforehand and served to the audience by the instrumentalists and the composer (if the composer is present). The singer should not serve tea. The movement takes the form of a communal song led in Vietnamese by the singer. A rough script for the singer is included in the score (‘Procedure for Ly’). Depending on the venue and on who is present for the performance, small details in the script will have to be changed. The instrumentalists should perform on instruments they have some familiarity with, but not fluency. For the original performance, this created an ensemble of violin, guitar, and percussion, with the composer playing saxophone.
NOTES ON VIDEO There are three video files in the piece. The first consists of footage recorded in Vietnam by Ly Tran and Anders Haahr Rasmussen. It should be playing in the background, starting just before the beginning of the first movement. It continues until bar 24 of the third movement. The second video consists of the composer lipsyncing to the Vietnamese song It starts in bar 24 of the third movement.
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The third video consists of instructions in Vietnamese, Danish, and English for the audience to proceed to the second location for the final movement. Depending on the venue, the nature of the second location will change, and so the video will need to be altered by the composer. All videos are available on request from the composer.
INSTRUMENTATION Soprano voice, amplified (must be able to speak and sing in Vietnamese) Two percussionists Player I: 6 unpitched wood (log drum or similiar, NB not woodblocks) 6 bongos/congas 4 guiros 5 gongs 5 tom-toms 6 cymbals 6 tile 2 woodblocks Inside piano Guitar (see below) Player II: Xylophone Marimba Vibraphone Tubular bells Almglocken 2 woodblocks Inside piano Violin (see below) Pianist Grand piano Upright piano Harpsichord Organ Inside piano Percussion (see below) The composer may also perform in the last movement, Downstairs, but this is not strictly necessary.