NIGHT WEARS BLACK
Trio for two sopranos and mezzo soprano/alto Each playing a pitched bell
Music by Juhi Bansal, text adapted from Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī
Text
Night wears black to mourn the dead stars.
This piece should sound ritualistic and prayer-like. Although the vocal style is influenced by Indian folk music, the atmosphere should be more reminiscent of traditional Buddhist chanting. The overall effect should be that of a meditation or a prayer to the night. As such, each part should be sung with minimal vibrato (except where desired for expressive effect). • The ornaments in the vocal line are in the style of Indian folk singing, and should be very subtle, small flips to the primary note rather than clearly articulated pitches. Where indicated, they should be performed with glissandi or portamenti to the primary note. [The opening of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Ae dil e nadaan" (available on Youtube) is a good example of this kind of ornamentation.] • All grace notes fall before the beat. Feel free to elaborate and decorate the given line further in this same style. • The pitched bells needed for each part may be of any type: hand-bells, crotales, prayer bowls, etc that give the correct pitch (in any octave). The bells for each singer do not need to match in timbre, although they should complement each other. • An optional part is included for a percussionist playing crotales. This is not necessary for the performance of the piece and may freely be left out.
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Night Wears Black h. = 50
Always p
The
5
night
Soprano 1 Solo
(D# Bell) Always p
Soprano 2 Solo
Mezzo-soprano/alto solo
(C# Bell)
(G# bell)
6
S1. Solo
(with medium-hard mallets; delicate, ringing, without becoming piercing)
(Optional) Crotales
4
9
Always p
The
night
S2. Solo
M-S.
Crot.
2 11
13
Always p
the
night
4
S1. Solo
Always p
4
4
night
S2. Solo
M-S.
Crot.
16
night
4
17
wears
S1. Solo
Night
4
wears
S2. Solo
M-S.
Crot.
21
3
4
Night
4
wears
Night
25
wears
black
S1. Solo
4
Always p
Night
wears
black
S2. Solo
Night
M-S.
Crot.
Always p
29 26
Night
4
wears
S1. Solo
S2. Solo
wears
M-S.
Crot.
4
33 31
Night
4
wears
black
S1. Solo
p
Night
4
wears
S2. Solo
M-S.
Crot.
37
36
S1. Solo
Night
4
wears
black
S2. Solo
Night
M-S.
Crot.
wears
41 S1. Solo
S2. Solo
Night
4
wears
black
to
black
M-S.
Crot.
5
45
to
49
46
mourn
S1. Solo
to
S2. Solo
mourn
M-S.
Crot.
to
6 51
53
to
S1. Solo
mourn
M-S.
to
to
mourn
mourn
S2. Solo
mourn
Crot.
mourn
57
56
mourn
S1. Solo
mourn
S2. Solo
mourn
mourn
M-S.
Crot.
mourn
61
7
mourn
65
Night
S1. Solo
mourn
S2. Solo
mourn
Night
Always p
mourn
M-S.
Crot.
Night
66
wears
S2. Solo
to
black
mourn
wears
M-S.
Crot.
black
wears
S1. Solo
69
(blend into ensemble sound seamlessly)
n
8 71
to
73
mourn
to
S1. Solo
mourn
black
M-S.
Crot.
to
S2. Solo
pp sempre
76
77
mourn
to
mourn
S1. Solo
S2. Solo
to
mourn
to
M-S.
Crot.
S1. Solo
81
S2. Solo
to
mourn
to
mourn
To
Crot.
mourn
M-S.
To
9
85
mourn
to
mourn
86
89
mourn
S1. Solo
to
to
M-S.
Crot.
mourn
to
mourn
S2. Solo
mourn
the
10 1 ossia) 93 (Soprano
S1. Solo
the
S2. Solo
the
dead
stars
dead
stars
M-S.
(still p)
stars.
Crot.
dead
stars
dead
96
S1. Solo
97
stars
S2. Solo
dead
stars
dead
dead
stars
dead
stars
stars
stars
M-S.
Crot.
11
101
dead
105
stars
S1. Solo
dead
S2. Solo
M-S.
Crot.
stars
dead
dead
stars
dead
stars
dead
dead
stars
106
109
mourn
the
dead
S1. Solo
stars
S2. Solo
Crot.
stars
M-S.
dead
dead
stars
stars
the
dead
mourn
12 111
mourn
S1. Solo
the
3
dead
stars
the
mourn
mourn
stars
M-S.
dead
dead
S2. Solo
Crot.
113
116
mourn
S1. Solo
3
stars
dead
dead
3
M-S.
Crot.
the
S2. Solo
the
13
121 pp
125
stars
S1. Solo
pp
pp
stars
S2. Solo
pp
pp
Crot.
pp
stars
M-S.
126
129
S1. Solo
S2. Solo
pp
mourn
M-S.
Crot.
4
the
dead
n
14
133 131
pp
4
mourn
4
the
dead
the
dead
stars
stars
pp
stars
M-S.
Crot.
mourn
S1. Solo
S2. Solo
pp
4
mourn
the
137
136
p
Night
S1. Solo
Crot.
p
Night
black
to
to
wears
black
p
dead
wears
wears
Night
S2. Solo
M-S.
black
to
15
141
mourn
S1. Solo
mourn
S2. Solo
M-S.
stars,
dead
mourn
the
dead
stars,
to
dead
the
Crot.
the
145
to
stars,
to
146
mourn
S1. Solo
mourn
dead
the
dead
M-S.
mourn
the
dead
stars,
Crot.
the
S2. Solo
149
to
stars,
to
stars,
to
16 151
mourn
S1. Solo
the
mourn
M-S.
dead
mourn
the
to
dead
ppp
stars,
stars,
the
ppp
dead
S2. Solo
Crot.
153
to
ppp
stars,
to
157
156
mourn
S1. Solo
Crot.
the
the
dead
dead
mourn
mourn
S2. Solo
M-S.
the
dead
17
161
stars.
S1. Solo
stars.
S2. Solo
M-S.
stars.
Crot.