HELLAWELL
Bone Fragments
for Solo Trombone
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PIERS HELLAWELL
Bone Fragments
for Solo Trombone
ISSUU Version
For perusal only
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BONE FRAGMENTS for Solo Trombone
This set of three pieces was commissioned by Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Detroit MI as part of their ‘Birthday Candles’ feature in the 25th Anniversary Festival in 2018. It was premiered by Kenneth Thompkins (trombone) at the festival on 19th and 20th June 2018.
PROGRAMME NOTE
Bone Fragments, a set of three short pieces for trombone, was written in 2018 for Kenneth Thompkins as one of the Birthday Candles celebrations to mark 25 years of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
The three pieces acknowledge the theatrical tradition of the trombone (and, often, of its virtuosic exponents). Each short piece is preceded by a familiar manual gesture from English-speaking discourse – for example the two-fingered ‘quotation marks’ sign that puts the speaker’s words in parenthesis. The behaviour of each piece in some way reflects its gesture, but it doesn’t matter if the link escapes the listener; with or without their gestures, the pieces are hoped to project strong individual characters, along with varied facets of this ancient instrument.
The title Bone Fragments, with its set of gestures, was first conceived for a set of pieces for my colleague Dr Paul Wilson in 2012, but none of the original material survives in this set.
PERFORMANCE NOTES
1. The set of pieces has no fixed order; this is reflected in the lack of published order or ‘1, 2, 3’ designations, which are replaced by +, ^ and *. The pieces may be played in the order of the player’s choice, or indeed played individually.
2. Each piece is characterised by, and preceded by, a physical hand-gesture characteristic of modern discourse. The player should engage the audience in eye-contact before the piece and make this gesture, as if in a conversation; the gesture should be repeated after each piece. Once or twice the gestures recur during the pieces themselves.
3. ‘1-note cadenza’ in Piece +: The player should maximize variety on this sustained note, using varied attacks, singing, using hand or other stopping, dynamics or other timbral variations, for around 10 seconds. Similar ideas can be used in both cadenzas, but the second is likely to be more extended.
Piers Hellawell 2018
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Performerholdsonehandinparalleltothebodywithopenpalm, makingarotating,stirringmotionthatconveysencouragementtopersist withalineofargument.Itshouldincorporatetheraisedbrowand expectantgazeinconjunctionwithwhichitisoftenused.
Veryslowly,thoughtfully
consord.Harmonwithstem (open/closedbylefthand)
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BoneFragments ^
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Performeroscillatestherighthand,extendedforwardhorizontally,toindicate doubtaboutapositedstatement.Itshouldbepartneredbythecrumpledfacial grimaceinconjunctionwithwhichitcommonlyoccurs...
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BoneFragments
Performerholdsupbothhandstomakesimultaneousdouble‘wiggles’with2ndand3rdfingersofeachhand, describingthemanualequivalentofquotationmarkstoindicateaquotationortoqualifyatermorstatement
Tempo1:mormorando
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Photo © Gerry Hellawell
Piers Hellawell
Piers Hellawell (b. 19 56) has worked with the Schubert Ensemble of London, Hilliard Ensemble, RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, for whom he wrote Dogs and Wolves (2006), among others worldwide. Works include: Cors de chasse, a concerto commissioned for Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) and Jonas Bylund (trombone) by the Philharmonia Orchestra; Degrees of Separation, commissioned for the opening of The Sage Gateshead (2004); and Sound Carvings from the Bell Foundry for Stockholm Chamber Brass performing at festivals in Norway and Ireland. The Schubert Ensemble marked his 50th birthday with a performance. Hellawell is currently Professor of Composition at The Queen’s University of Belfast.
Piers Hellawell (*1956) hat mit vielen internationalen Ensembles zusammengearbeitet, darunter das Schubert Ensemble of London, das Hilliard Ensemble, das RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet sowie das BBC Scottish Orchestra, für das er Dogs and Wolves (2006) schrieb. Daneben entstanden Cors de chasse – ein Konzert für Håkan Hardenberger (Trompete) und Jonas Bylund (Posaune) im Auftrag des Philharmonia Orchestra, – Degrees of Separation zur Eröffnung des Kulturzentrums The Sage im englischen Gateshead sowie Sound Carvings from the Bell Foundry für Stockholm Chamber Brass zur Aufführung bei Festivals in Norwegen und Irland. Zu seinem 50. Geburtstag widmete ihm das Schubert Ensemble ein Konzert. Gegenwärtig ist Hellawell Professor für Komposition an der Queen’s University in Belfast.