Beamish A KNOCK ON THE DOOR by ScoresOnDemand

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BEAMISH

A Knock on the Door

for Two Choirs, Keyboard, pre-recorded Soundtrack and optional Percussion

Text by Peter Thomson

Full Score

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SALLY BEAMISH

A Knock on the Door

Rock tracks recorded by Arthur Dick for Two Choirs, Keyboard, pre-recorded Soundtrack and optional Percussion (2021)

Text by Peter Thomson

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A KNOCK ON THE DOOR

Sally Beamish and Peter Thomson

Two choirs

Keyboard

Pre-recorded soundtrack

Optional percussion: bass drum, woodblock

Duration approx. 25’

Commissioned by the Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT)

First performance: 13 November 2022, Birmingham Town Hall Ex Cathedra, conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore

PERFORMANCE NOTES

The two choirs (A and B) may include voices of all types, but a suggested starting point would be that the upper stave in each choir is allocated to women’s voices, and the lower stave to men’s voices. All parts are notated in treble clef. Phrases may be sung by smaller groups, or by individuals.

Choir A and Choir B are two very distinct units, with Choir B taking on the role of the interrogators for much of the piece, and the roles then being reversed for the last section.

There are specific moments highlighted in the score where physical actions are suggested. The performers should feel free to elaborate and create their own visual language for this piece. This applies to the basic staging of the choirs – in other words they might not stand in a traditional choral configuration.

All spoken lines may be allocated either to single voices or groups of voices.

The music should be sung without scores if possible, to free up physical and visual expression, and connection with the audience. The conductor/director, whilst having a central role in preparing the singers, should then be placed discreetly, or at the keyboard, to avoid focus being directed away from the choirs.

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The distribution of lines has not been specified, and solos/ensembles may be assigned as wished. The music has been written in treble clef, but the sung lines are not gender specific and can be sung in any octave. Decisions may be made to allocate certain lines just to low or to high voices, even if that means they sound an octave lower, or are sung in octaves.

All sound effects (knocking, drumming, finger clicking, stamping) may be performed by choir members. Vocal effects can be developed in rehearsal. Actions and expressions may be explored to enhance the impact of the words.

The loud rock music is pre-recorded.

The keyboard sounds may be selected by the performer. Some suggestions are in the score.

A recording of the premiere is available on request from Edition Peters for perusal and/or learning purposes.

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PROGRAMME NOTE

I was invited to write this piece by Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT), to raise awareness, through music, of the profound evil of torture. Torture is illegal and immoral, and the damage it causes is physical, mental and spiritual: it damages the tortured and their families; those inflicting the torture; those who give the orders; those in power who authorise it or collude in its use; and members of society in any country that condones its use.

Information extracted under torture is inadmissible in British courts of law and in some other jurisdictions. It is unreliable. The majority of good intelligence is obtained by building up rapport with a suspect. And yet the use of torture continues.

The commission from Q-CAT was extremely challenging, and approaching the subject profoundly uncomfortable. I asked playwright Peter Thomson to create a text. He uses plain contemporary English, creating a dialogue between the two choirs, and giving voice to the roles of both ‘tortured’ and ‘torturers’.

Opening in nocturnal calm, the music draws on eclectic sources; from dance to music hall; from minimalism to heavy metal. Towards the end of the piece the two choirs swap roles. Victims and torturers are not assigned these roles from birth, and research suggests that personal experience of violence leads to a greater propensity to inflict violence on others. So a victim is capable of becoming an oppressor. Fear for oneself, or for one’s family and friends, can lead to behaviour unthinkable in ordinary circumstances. The potential for cruelty is hardwired into us, and can manifest itself under threat.

We wanted to explore the ’ordinariness’ of the protagonists, and the universality of human weakness and suffering. In the music, I have used simple themes, which draw on the familiar without suggesting any particular culture.

Peter Thomson and I are grateful to the former Beirut hostage John McCarthy for his shared insights, and particularly for his observations on the importance of humour in the darkest of situations. Humour gives relief, but is also an act of defiance.

The first performance of A Knock on the Door was given by Ex Cathedra, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore, on 13th November 2022 (Armistice Day) in Birmingham Town Hall.

A Knock on the Door was commissioned by Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT). Q-CAT carries the concern for British Quakers who stated in 1999: “Torture is a profound evil, causing unimaginable human suffering and corrupting the spiritual and political life of the human family. British Quakers re-commit themselves, and wish to encourage other people of faith, to work for its eradication world-wide.”

Q-CAT thanks the Trusts and all the Quaker individuals, local and area meetings who have so generously supported this commission.

Sally Beamish, 2022

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A Knock on the Door

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Choir A's eyes open, startled

Not too fast; urgently q. = 84

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Slightly faster than before; insistent

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Spoken:

We know who you are

Spoken:

We know what you think

Spoken:

We know who you are

Spoken:

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A little slower: menacing

q. = 88 (e = e throughout)

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choir 'A' turn their heads towards each accuser

A little slower: menacing

q. = 88 (e = e throughout)

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Justtellusthetruth. Andyou'llbe

finger clicks/ wood block A (tutti)

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finger clicks/ wood block

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MUSIC BEGINS ON RECORDING (somewhere within this bar)

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MUSIC BEGINS ON RECORDING (somewhere within this bar)

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MUSIC BEGINS ON RECORDING (somewhere within this bar)

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(WHISPERED, to sound like water)

Free: no beats

All singers sing independently: hold 'drow...' as long as possible, then gasp on '..ning'' while breathing in.

Drown p ing - Drown ing

Drown ing - Drown ing

Free: no beats

CONTINUE TO GASP gradually calming down throughout this section

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whispered:

Spoken: (to be divided among single voices.)

Knock knock Who’s there?

A little old lady

A little old lady who?

I didn’t know you could yodel

Like the beginning

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Interrupting cow. Interrupting cMooooo!

Like the beginning q = 104 q = 104 A (tutti)

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Spoken: (to be divided among single voices.)

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Kermit.

Kermit who?

Kermit a crime and you’ll get locked up!

whispered: Tell us,

tell us, tell us.

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Bruce. Bruce who?

Bruce easily, don’t hit me!

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SPOKEN: Silence!

A (tutti)

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Un poco più mosso

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No, but tell us Doyousing your

B (tutti)

Un poco più mosso

A (tutti)

SPOKEN: I said, we're the ones asking the questions.

SPOKEN: And then they say

B (tutti)

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say thewordsandyou'llbe free We

truth (solo) shallset you free! (improvise if preferred)

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& heads lowered: SPOKEN (interrupting questions from Choir B)

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Yes we did

Yes, yes we were... & heads lowered: SPOKEN (interrupting questions from Choir B)

Did you...

Yes, yes we did

Single voices: SHOUTED

Single voices: SHOUTED Did you... Were you...

Did he...

Now, tomorrow, next week, next year

Yes, yes he did... yesterday,

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Sally Beamish

Sally Beamish (b. 1956) studied viola at the Royal Northern College of Music before focusing on composition and moving to Scotland, where she lived for many years. Her music embraces many influences, particularly jazz and Scottish traditional music, and she has written for numerous soloists including Steven Isserlis, James Crabb, Håkan Hardenberger, Branford Marsalis and Tabea Zimmermann. Her string quartet for the Elias Quartet, Reed Stanzas, received its premiere at the 2011 BBC Proms and won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award. In 2018 Beamish was awarded the British Composer Award for Inspiration in recognition of her long and distinguished career.

Sally Beamish (*1956) studierte zunächst Viola am Royal Northern College of Music, ehe sie sich der Komposition zuwandte und nach Schottland zog, wo sie viele Jahre lang lebte. Ihre Musik vereint vielfältige Einflüsse, insbesondere aus dem Jazz und der schottischen Volksmusik. Sie schuf zahlreiche Werke für Solisten wie Steven Isserlis, James Crabb, Håkan Hardenberger, Branford Marsalis und Tabea Zimmermann. Ihr Streichquartett Reed Stanzas für das Elias Quartet wurde 2011 bei den BBC Proms uraufgeführt und mit einem Royal Philharmonic Society Award ausgezeichnet. In Anerkennung ihrer langen und erfolgreichen Laufbahn wurde Beamish im Jahr 2018 der British Composer Award für Inspiration verliehen.