Michael Goodman
Piano
Three songs for Baritone voice and chamber ensemble on poems by Dick Allen, Patrick Phillips, and Floyd Skloot
(2012)
Š 2012 Unanimous Productions
Contact Information Michael Goodman 2300 Oakdale Rd. 17 Modesto, CA 95355 Cell #: (517) 256-3197 Email: michaelgoodman9@gmail.com michaelgoodmanmusic.com
Instrumentation Flute/Piccolo B b Clarinet Violin Cello Baritone Voice Piano
Program notes Piano is a song-cycle that comprises of three poems that involve a musical subject. Although the titles of each song represent a musical element, they each have a much deeper meaning to the poem/song than the titles portray. In the case of Floyd Skloot's work Silent Music, it represents a connection between a pianist and the ambience of her surroundings; for instance the creaking of the bench. Patrick Phillips' Piano, the work is presented with a broken piano that was heaved through an open window. As the work progresses, the piano is no longer represented as a broken, abandoned, or unloved object, but a broken, abandoned, and unloved piano with it's true inner self still intact. The cycle closes with Dick Allen's The Accompanist. This humorous work describes the relationship between the singer and the pianist. In the context of recitals, the singer always receives the most credit for a performance, regardless of the difficulty of both parts, and the pianist is left alone on the black bench. Although the singer receives the most credit, the singer shows concern towards the pianist. At the conclusion of the work, the singer stands back as the pianist finishes the song, allowing the pianist to receive much deserved credit.
This score is in C Duration ca. 12 minutes
Texts Silent Music
Piano
- Floyd Skloot
- Patrick Phillips
My wife wears headphones as she plays
Touched by your goodness, I am like
Chopin etudes in the winter light.
that grand piano we found one night on Willoughby
Singing random notes, she sways
that someone had smashed and somehow
in and out of shadow while night
heaved through an open window.
settles. The keys she presses make a soft clack, the bench creaks when her weight shifts,
And you might think by this I mean I'm broken
golden cotton fabric ripples across
or abandoned, or unloved. Truth is, I don't
her shoulders, and the sustain pedal clicks.
know exactly what I am, any more
This is the hidden melody I know
than the wreckage in the alley knows
so well, her body finding harmony in
it's a piano, filling with trash and yellow leaves.
the give and take of motion, her lyric grace of gesture measured against a slow
Maybe I'm all that's left of what I was.
fall of darkness. Now stillness descends
But touching me, I know, you are the good
to signal the end of her silent music.
breeze blowing across its rusted strings.
Reprinted from “Prairie Schooner,” Volume 80, Number 2 (Summer, 2006) by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright © 2006 by the University of Nebraska Press.
What would you call that feeling when the wood, even with its cracked harp, starts to sing? Poem copyright © 2008 by Patrick Phillips. Reprinted from his most recent book of poetry, Boy, University of Georgia Press, 2008, by permission of Patrick Phillips.
The Accompanist - Dick Allen I've always worried about you-the man or woman at the piano bench, night after night receiving only such applause as the singer allows: a warm hand please, for my accompanist. At concerts, as I watch your fingers on the keys, and how swiftly, how excellently you turn sheet music pages, track the singer's notes, cover the singer's flaws, I worry about whole lifetimes, most lifetimes lived in the shadows of reflected fame; but then the singer's voice dies and there are just your last piano notes, not resentful at all, carrying us to the end, into those heartfelt cheers that spring up in little patches from a thrilled audience like sudden wildflowers bobbing in a rain of steady clapping. And I'm on my feet, also, clapping and cheering for the singer, yes, but, I think, partially likewise for you half-turned toward us, balanced on your black bench, modest, utterly well-rehearsed, still playing the part you've made yours. Poem copyright © 2007 by Dick Allen, whose most recent book of poetry is “Present Vanishing,” Sarabande Books, 2008. Poem reprinted from “North Dakota Quarterly,” Vol. 74, no. 3, Summer 2007, by permission of Dick Allen.
Piano
Score in C
Silent Music
Light, and hollow q = 75
Flute
B b Clarinet
Violin
Violoncello
Baritone
Piano
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Black Keys Etude - Chopin
ª 10
Michael Goodman Floyd Skloot
cresc.
cresc.
rall.
cresc.
loco
9
cresc.
10
11 12 13 © 2006 "Silent Music", University of Nebraska Press. 2012 Unanimous Productions
14
Piano: Silent Music
2
Fl.
freely
17
a tempo
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
molto vib.
IV.
My
Pf.
Fl.
Cl.
Vc.
wears
head - phones
as
she
19
20
in
the
win - ter
-
Sing - ing
18
Etude 23 - Chopin
e - tudes
light
Pf.
Cho - pin
plays
wife
17
16
Vn.
B
20
15
ª
ran
-
dom
21
22
Piano: Silent Music
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
II. I.
notes
loco
loco
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
night
sways
27
in
out
and
of
sha
-
dows
25
28
loco
set - tles
26
while
24
she
23
Fl.
Pf.
ª
B
Pf.
3
The
28
29
30
Piano: Silent Music
4 31 Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
keys
Pf.
she
press - es
makes a
soft
B
clack!
The
bench
creaks
-
weight shifts
gold - en
when her
cot - ton
fa - bric
31
32
33
34
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
cross
her
shoul
side
ders
and the
36 *Unsyncronized key clicks as fast as possible. ** soundboard
body side
-
sus - tain
S.B.** body
37
Knock on specific location
Knock on specific location
pe - dal clicks!
35
body
a -
39 *
Fl.
rip - ples
ª
38
Inside the piano
39
Fl.
Cl.
Piano: Silent Music
5
body side
pizz.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
sul pont. arco
pizz.
Clack!
S.B. body
body side
sul pont. arco
Creak!
Click - i - ty
click - i - ty
43
44
gliss across strings with finger tips inside the piano.
42
47 freely
arco
dim.
Clack!
Click!
arco
clack!
Pf.
41
Cl.
B
excessive bow pressure
Vc.
Fl.
40
ª
Vn.
Creak!
excessive bow pressure
45
This
is
the
hid - den
46
47
Piano: Silent Music
6
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
a tempo
mel
Pf.
-
o
dy
-
that
I
know
so
well
her
bo - dy
find - ing
har
-
mo -
48
49
50
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
ny
Pf.
ª
B
in
the give
52
and
take
of
mo -
rall.
tion
53
her
lyr
51
-
ic
grace
of
54
gest
-
ure
loco 55
Piano: Silent Music
56 Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
a tempo
a - gainst
a
56
Cl.
(dim.)
Vn.
Vc.
(dim.)
B
Pf.
61
62
-
63
ness
60
still -
ness
64
65 a tempo
59
dark
Now
58
of
dim.
57
fall
rall. Fl.
slow
ª
dim. dim. dim.
mea - sured
Pf.
7
de - scends
to
loco
65
66
67
sig - nal
Piano: Silent Music
8
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
sig
-
to
Pf.
rall.
nal
the
68
end
of
her
69
si
-
lent
mu
-
sic
70
71
9
Piano Patrick Phillips B
Pf.
ª
B
Lively, Sinisterly q = 86
1
rit.
5
Touched
by your good - ness
6
I
like
am
4
that
gr - and
7
3
7 a tempo
ª
2
Pf.
pi - ano
that we
8
9
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
found
one night
Pf.
on
10
Will - ough - by
that
11
and loco
some - one
had
12
© 2008 "Piano" University of Georgia Press; 2012 Michael Goodman
smashed!
13
Piano: Piano
10
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
some - how
Pf.
heaved
loco
Fl.
Cl.
Vc.
B
through an
o -
pen
and
Pf.
17
loco
18
19
16
15
18 With Concern q = 65
win - dow
14
ª
Vn.
20
Piano: Piano
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
11
you
might
think
by
mean
I
mean I'm
bro
21
ª
-
ken
or
22
a - ban
-
doned
23
24
27 Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
or
un
-
loved
25
26
to piccolo
27
28
29
30
Piano: Piano
12
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
Truth
35
loco
33
34
is
that
I
36
32
P.
36
31
ª
Pf.
33
Piccolo
don't
know
37
Piano: Piano
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
e - xact - ly what
42 Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
am
any
-
-
39
knows
in
the
al - ley
it's
43
a
pi -ano
the
41
40
than
age
42
more
a tempo
wreck
Pf.
38
ª
I
Pf.
rit.
to flute
13
fill - ing
44
Piano: Piano
14
Fl.
rit.
46 a tempo
poco accel.
Cl.
Vn.
dim.
Vc.
B
with
trash
Pf.
Fl.
45
ª
46
Cl.
Vn.
leaves.
dim.
and yell - ow
47
48
49
54 Lively q = 80
(dim.)
Vc.
B
Pf.
50
(dim.)
51
52
53
pizz.
54
Piano: Piano
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
15
Pf.
Cl.
Vc.
56
Pf.
59
of what
I
58
touch ing
But
I'm all that's left
was
57
55
Vn.
B
ª
Fl.
May - be
me
I
60
know you
are
the
61
Piano: Piano
16
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Fl.
Cl.
Vc.
B
blow
ing
a
cross
arco
it's
rit.
rust - ed
64
67
strings
66
65
69 freely
What
loco
Pf.
63
62
ª
breeze
Vn.
good
Pf.
68
would you
69
Piano: Piano
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
call
Pf.
that feel - ing
feel - ing
70
71
72
Cl.
Vn.
B
73
sing?
Pf.
ev - en with it's cracked
when the wood
freely
Vc.
harp
rit.
gliss inside the piano
starts
to
76
77
74
Ped.
ª
Fl.
17
75
18
The Accompanist
Fl.
Lively q = 80
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
I've
al - ways worr - ied
1
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
night
Pf.
af - ter night
re - cei - ving
5
or
wo - man
-
at
pia - no
bench
the
4
rall. 3
such
6
as the
ap - plause
* Vocalist extend arm towards the pianist while saying "My accompanist."
3
nly
3
o
man
3
the
2
B
Fl.
you
ª
a - bout
Pf.
sing - er
al - lows
*
a
3
3
3
7
© 2007 "The Accompanist", North Dakota Quarterly, Vol. 74, no. 3; 2012 Michael Goodman
8
19
Fl.
freely
*
11
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
warm hand
Pf.
please
for
my
ac - com - pa
-
10
11
12
nist.
9
* Look at the pianist with a blank face, then turn away. Pianist looks at ensemble, then nods head after the ensemble turns away.
Fl.
14
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
13
con - certs
as
loco
I
watch
14
At
ª
Pf.
your
fin - gers
15
on
the
keys
and how
16
Piano: The Accompanist
20
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
how
ex
swift - ly
Pf.
loco
B
turn
sheet mu - sic
18
you
pages
track
the
20
cov - er
22
the
sing - er's
23
sing - er's
19
a tempo
21
notes
Pf.
freely
Vn.
cel - lent - ly
Cl.
-
Fl.
22
17
ª
Vc.
rall.
flaws
Piano: The Accompanist
21
* highest note possible
Fl.
Vc.
B
freely
** the curved lines indicates the direction of the smear. It is suppose to be performed in a laughing manner.
Pf.
26 Leisurely q = 60
rall.
24
25
26
ª *** from measures 27-31, play as solo with rubato; not in strict time. The tempo alterations are suggested markings to follow. The amount of change in tempo is solely based on the pianist.
accel.
a tempo
rall.
Pf.
accel.
3
27
28
29
ª
31 Tempo primo Vc.
B
rall.
jazz pizz.
I
Pf.
30
31
32
Piano: The Accompanist
22
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
wor
Pf.
-
ry
a
-
Cl.
Vn.
33
bout
ª
Fl.
B
Vc.
whole
Pf.
34
Piano: The Accompanist
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
-
times
lived
in
the
35
life
Pf.
most
times
ª
Fl.
-
life
Pf.
23
rit.
3
36
3
3
arco
3
3
sha - dows
of
re
-
flect
37
ed
3
-
Piano: The Accompanist
24
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
then
the
sing
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
er's
voice
and
dies
Pf.
39
38
-
but
ª
Fl.
loco
jazz pizz.
fame.
39
40
Piano: The Accompanist
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
are
Piccolo
just
your
Vc.
B
last
pi
loco
Vn.
-
ano
41
42
Cl.
ª
P.
to piccolo
there
Pf.
25
3
arco
not
re
ful
at
3
notes
Pf.
-
sent
-
all
3
42
Piano: The Accompanist
26
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
car
Pf.
-
ry
-
ing
us
to
the
43
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
end
in
ª
Pf.
-
to
those
heart
44
-
-
-
-
felt
Piano: The Accompanist
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
cheers
Pf.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
that
spring
up
45
lit
in
Pf.
ª
P.
27
-
tle
patch
-
es
from
a
thrilled
46
au - di - ence
47
Piano: The Accompanist
28
P.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
like
rall.
sudden
wild
flow
- ers
bob - bing in
Pf.
48
ª
51 Lively q = 80
Pf.
loco
51
clap - ping.
50
also
Vc.
and
my
Vn.
stea - dy
on
of
rain
I'm
a
Cl.
and
49
Fl.
B
clap - ping
and
52
cheer
-
ing
for
the sing - er
53
54
Piano: The Accompanist
29 rall.
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
and
cheer - ing
for
the
sing
-
er
3
Pf.
3 3 3 3
3
3
3
ª
55
56
the ensemble applaudes towards the singer as the singer bows in response.
c.5" Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
(Speak theatrically) "Thank, thank you! Shall we continue, Maestro?"
Pf.
57
Piano: The Accompanist
30 58 On cue Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
but
Pf.
I
think
par - tial - ly
like - wise
for
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
B
you
half
mod - est
62
ut - ter - ly
- turned
towards
us
bal - anced on your
black
well
re
63
-
61
bench,
60
59
58
Vc.
ª
Pf.
64
hearsed
65
Piano: The Accompanist
Fl.
Cl.
Vn.
Vc.
B
Pf.
31
rall.
*
67 a tempo
still
play - ing
the
part
that
you've
66
67
dim.
made
a tempo
yours.
68
69
ª
molto rall. (dim.)
B
(hum)
Pf.
70
ª
a tempo
Pf.
loco
Ped.
71
accel.
72
73
Loud applause by the conductor, singer, and ensemble towards the pianist!
74