BEGIN
FOR SOPRANO AND PIANO
Text by Neil Aitken, music by Juhi Bansal
Program Note Begin comes from a set of poems called Babbage’s Dream, about the first man to conceptualize the idea of a programmable computer in the 1820s. Poet Neil Aitken charts the course of Charles Babbage’s life, from his initial envisioning of an analytical machine, through his death with the machine only partially built. It is a story that might have been technical and academic, and yet, what caught my eye was the poet's knack for taking complex concepts and pulling a story from them which is classical, beautiful, and universal. To me, the text of Begin is applicable to the beginning of any endeavor: The words feel like a personal reflection from someone enraptured with a vision which no one around them can see, understand, or imagine as yet. This piece was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and 21C Liederabend.
Contact information: Email: juhibansalcomposer@gmail.com Website: www.juhibansal.com
BEGIN Someone dreams of fire in a field In a cold house, in the winter, your head is on the table, your mind, busily constructing a machine Something taps at the door, calls you out from the deep reverie of making and unmaking The wood is dark and full of veins lost in its haze, you glimpse a shape through the thick trees of night And hear, the distant sound of an engine moving its pistons and gears heavy with shudders and sighs How it seems that you've always heard it coming, long before it appears, the embodied will of the earth set to flame, a metaled desire The semblance of an unknown name you've carried home with you, unwittingly— all night, your body singing In the hallway mirror, something stirs in the corner of your eye and you cannot say what it is Only that grows, like a wild fire in a storm that it tastes of steam, That you would lay every number in the world on end and still, it would not be enough— the heavens opening wide their spiraling arms And the dark heart within yearning to pull everything back while you stand on the threshold, believing.
Babbage's Dream 2
3
Notes on Performance: Voice: A few disctinct vocal techniques are used in this piece: 1) An x notehead indicates an audible inhale on a pitch. (The pitch will naturally be imprecise, and may also bend downwards - both these natural effects are desirable.) 2) A diamond notehead represent humming on pitch or gesture. (If needed for balance, these gestures can be sung instead on a neutral syllable.) 3) Glissandi are indicated by a straight line between pitches. These are used for an improvisatory, expressive effect. Feel free to take time to bring these out if needed (particularly where a strict tempo is not needed to coordinate with the pianist.) Piano: 1) Use the una corda and sostenuto pedals liberally to create a variety of colors and timbres. Voice and Piano: 1) This features a number of free, unmetered sections, as well as metered ones in strict time. Where unmetered, notation is proportional, and should be goverened by natural speech rhythms and the indicated sequence of events. (Dashed vertical lines are occasionally used to clarify where the piano and vocal parts fit against each other.) 2) The section between rehearsal marks 1 and 7 is extremely free and improvisatory. Feel free to stretch and contract time, breathe and pause, speed up and slow down for expressive effect.
4
1 Senza mizura, improvisatory
(hum)
Random, disjointed, like chimes in the wind
mmm
As if singing to yourself
pp
(inhale)
pp
2
(hum)
(inhale)
mmm
(inhale)
(hum)
x2
mmm
3
mmm
mp
4
mp
Some - one
dreams
of
a
fire
in
p
in
a
cold
house
in
win
pp
-
ter
6
ppp
pp
5
field
a
(leave ringing)
(leave ringing)
your head on the
ta- ble, your mind
p
pp
dim.
5
con - struc - ting a ma - chine
pppp
7
6
(driving q. = 70 by mm 16)
Become rhythmic, gradually settling in time
p
12
mf
cresc.
15
Some - thing taps at the door,
mf
16
q. = 70
call -ing you out from the deep
re - ve rie
of mak - ing and
un -
mak - ing
p
19
7
f
f (hum or neutral syllable)
mmm
Rhythmic
f
22
ff
The
25 is dark and full of veins
f
wood
pp
ff
pp sub.
4:3
4:3
4:3
4:3
8 28
29 lost
4:3
you glimpse a shape
34
Rhythmic
hear,
through
the thick
night
36
mp
of
32
in its haze,
31
trees
f
And
machine-like
sfz
f
the
dis - tant sound of an en - gine mo - ving its pis - tons and gears
(under the voice)
9 39
f
sffz
(audible sigh) ff
hea - vy with shud ders and sighs
42
sffz
46 f
How it seems you've al - ways
47
heard
mf
ff
it com - ing
long
be - fore
ff
it a- ppears,
ff
10
51
f
Em
-
bo - died will of
mf subito
54
mf subito
earth
f
will of
simile.
57
earth,
set
to
mf mp
58
flame,
a
me - talled
de - sire
61 sem
-
blance of an
mp cresc. simile.
65 62
ff
un - known
66
72
pp
ffp
mf
your bo - dy sing- ing
un - wit - ting
p
69
71
f
car - ried home with
you
name
11
pp
all
night
p
Flowing, with growing tension
Flowing, with growing tension
ppp sffz
75 p
12 74
In
80 on - ly that it
p
some - thing stirs,
the hall - way mir - ror
77
you
can - not
say what it is
f
83
grows,
grows,
mf
p
84
88
mf
cresc. poco a poco
like
a
fire
cresc. poco a poco
93
it
4
in
storm
a
tastes of
4
95
mf
that
wild
p
4
13
86
p
f
ff
steam
f
14 97
4 f
That you would lay
ev
3
ery
num - ber
in the
ff
f
una corda
101
on
end
world
pp
it would
f sub.
105
not
4
be
and still
rit.
e
-
-
-
-
nough
109
15
accel.
A tempo (q. = 70)
f
flowing, lyrical
f tres cordes p
sffz
112 4
hea - vens o - pen
wide
3
3
3
3
3
3
116
Senza mizura
f
their spi - ral - ling
fff
fff (Leave pedal down until mm 125)
p
3
3
3
arms
3
117 rit.
cresc.
The
3
3
16
118
mf
yearn
yearn - ing
-
p
ing
to pull ev- ry - thing
f
pp
pp
back
-
-
ving
be lie
-
while you stand at the thresh - hold,
be lie
wi - thin
heart
p
dark
120
122
And the
f
ving
123 In time q. = 70
pp
127 rit.
124 pp
mp
be
-
-
lie
rit.
128 mp
- lie
-
mp
poco rit.
132 mp
-lie
mp
-
-
ving
pp
pp
-
pp
ving
ving
be
pp
a tempo
be
-
-
-
a tempo
p
-
-
pp
-
-
-
4 4
pp
-
pp
be
134
-
4
-
mp
17
a tempo
4
4
18 136
f
- lie
-
f
-
ving
-
4
p
f
138
p
4
p
4
4
4
140 f
139
be
-
-
-
-
lie
4
142
4
lie
f
mf
-
-
-
-
p
f
mf
be -
be
4
ving
mp
-
ving
4
-
p
lie
ff
145
-
-
-
4
148
p
4
rit.
ving
ving
ff
be - lie
f
-
mf
p
pp (inhale)
mp
4
4
disappearing
-
-
f (inhale)
-
(hum)
19
pp