TSAO
Canon for Clarinet and Violoncello
MING TSAO
Canon
for Clarinet and Violoncello (2001)
The score is transposed.
Both instruments should be amplified slightly with microphones.
Duration: ca. 10 minutes
GENERAL
µ ¼-tone sharp
B ¼-tone flat
Accidentals for natural cello harmonics:
k natural 9th harmonic
K J natural 7th harmonic
CLARINET
toneless breathing through the prescribed fingerings for the indicated pitch
breathy, yet with pitch fully identifiable
mostly breath, with a hint of pitch
pitched key click – provide some breath so that the fingered pitch is clearly heard with some key noise
² inhalation – a sound of sucking in air
³ exhalation – a sound of blowing out air
flutter-tongue
VIOLONCELLO
The instrument is detuned to the following pitches:
The bow should be round (as opposed to some octagonal bows) with a very smooth back – it is best not to use a bow where the varnish on the back is not smooth. Clean both the cello strings and the back of the bow from any rosin stains to reduce friction between the back of the bow and strings during the col legno battuto and the col legno tratto actions.
The cello should have fairly low action and loose tension in the strings for the battuto to come out effectively (i.e. more ‘give’ in the strings allows the bow to bounce longer.)
The cello is notated on two staves:
Upper stave: right hand bow actions
> col legno battuto
This stave is not transposed to normal scordatura.
col legno battuto – the pitches represented are the sounding resultant pitches of the col legno battuto action
action clef – for col legno tratto and arco battuto
the upper line indicates sul pont. (near the bridge) the middle line indicates sul tasto (on the edge of the fingerboard) the lower line indicates molto sul tasto (well over the upper region of the fingerboard)
All of the col legno tratto playing should produce a delicate ‘white noise’ sound, and not the open strings.
Cello right hand:
col legno battuto producing the indicated pitches. The bow should drop naturally in a relaxed and delicate manner.
Rotate the bow slightly so that the sound of the bow hairs can be heard grinding against the strings. The height of the notated ‘wave’ is directly related to the degree and pressure of the bow rotation. The spatial location of the ‘waves’ relative to the beat approximately indicates when the rotation should occur.
Draw the bow on its side across strings with the bow hairs facing toward you. Slowly rotate the bow until the bow hairs are facing against you. As you rotate the bow, the sound of the bow hairs are heard bristling against the string. In fact, some pitch is heard when the bow is fully rotated. The size of the circle is directly related to the duration of the notation and the amount of pressure applied. The larger the circle, the louder and more prolonged the rotation should be. The spatial location of the circle relative to the beat approximately indicates when the rotation should occur.
battuto hard enough so that a percussive sound of the bow against the fingerboard is heard on the initial strike
Let the open string vibrate throughout the battuto. The horizontal line with arrow indicates that the back of the bow is pressed against the strings so that a lower pitch bend is perceptible.
After the initial battuto press back the bow against the indicated string at the notated pitch in the upper stave. The release the bow from the string. Two pitches should be perceptible after the battuto; one upon pressing the bow against the string (i.e. the pitch produced by the bow pressed against the string) and another upon releasing the bow from the string (i.e. the pitch produced by the left hand).
L ower stave: left hand fingering positions
Þmute strings with left hand at first position
harmonic finger pressure
half harmonic finger pressure
This stave is transposed to normal scordatura.
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