Hellawell SYZYGY

Any necessary markings should be made in soft lead pencil only and must be erased before return. Hire materials marked in coloured pencil, ink or crayon etc. will incur a charge at full replacement cost.

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PIERS HELLAWELL Syzygy

for brass quintet & chamber orchestra

Full Score

PETERS EDITION LTD

A member of the Edition Peters Group FRANKFURT/M. · LEIPZIG · LONDON · NEW YORK

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version

SYZYGY

for brass quintet and chamber orchestra

For perusal only

Score is transposed

Instrumentation

2 ﬂutes

2 oboes

2 clarinets in Bb

2 bassoons (2 d contra)

2 trumpets in C

2 horns in F

1 percussion*

solo brass quintet (2 trumpets, 1 horn, 1 trombone, 1 tuba) strings, min 8-6-4-4-2 (Contrabasses need low extension to Eb)

*Vibraphone, Marimba, Glockenspiel, Mbira or Kalimba, 2 strong Wine Glasses, Rototoms, Crotales (lower octave), Temple blocks, Tam-tam, harsh (‘Chinese’) Gong, Bongos, 3 Tom-toms, Bass Drum

Duration c.18’

SYZYGY is a commission by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra for Stockholm Chamber Brass, ﬁ rst performance in Örebro, Sweden by those artists and conductor Paul Watkins in February 2013. This score reflects the state of editorial work and correction as at January 2013

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Special Techniques movement i

For perusal only

*Orchestral forces are asked to sing, quietly; pitches are free but duration is speciﬁed.

*From ‘G’, clarinet 1 plays solo into tuba bell while valves are oscillated; clarinet should sit near soli.

*Solo trumpets use hand-stopped distortions (written with diamond heads) between ‘C’ and ‘D’.

*Solo trumpets use tin-foil distortions (written with diamond heads) between ‘F’ and ‘G’.

*Solo horn removes slide 3 for timbre distortion (written with diamond heads) between ‘B’ and ‘C’.

movement ii

*Orchestral horns sit either side of orchestral trumpets to enable ‘balophone’ effect until ‘D’.

*Orchestral trumpets con sord. play into horn bells to enable ‘balophone’ effect until ‘D’.

*Vci pluck ad lib. beyond the bridge during bars speciﬁed by brackets, until ‘D’ and from ‘U’.

*Wind instruments use alternative ﬁngerings to distort intonation, between ‘A’ and ‘D’.

*Contrabasses knock resonant wooden body of instrument from ‘U’.

movement iii

*Solo trumpets begin at stage left and right, facing inward to stage.

Orchestral trumpets are similarly positioned but at the back of the stage (left and right corners), if possible hidden from view. All return to seats at ‘B’.

*Strings bounce pencil across strings (I-II-III-IV-III-II-I motion) as marked. Strings are firmly stopped down with left hand fl at on fingerboard. Upper strings also play arco gliss. that oscillates upward.

*Violins 1 and 2 play short, sforzando sounds (as high as possible) beyond bridge on E string from ‘K’ onward, as well as ‘left-hand pizzicato’ open E.

*Violin 1 plays E beyond the bridge pizzicato with a ﬁngernail, after ‘T’.

*Horn removes slide for timbre change after ‘U’.

*Orchestral trumpets return to rear corners of stage after ‘T’, if possible hidden from view. From letter U trumpet 2 plucks violin E string, in alternation with trumpet 1 E (+plunger mute).

Seating Changes

Movement i:

Clarinet 1 is seated behind tuba, moving into position for balophone effect from ‘G’.

Movement ii:

Horns 1 & 2 begin seated either side of trumpets 1 & 2 for balophone effect.

Movement iii:

Solo trumpets 1 & 2 begin at opposite wings of stage; orchestral trumpets 1 & 2 begin at rear sides of stage. All four return to normal places at ‘B’. Orchestral trumpets return to stage rear corners after ‘T’.

Programme Note

Syzygy is a set of three highly contrasted pieces for brass quintet and chamber or small orchestra. The project arose from my 2006 collaboration on Sound Carvings from the Bell Foundry with Stockholm Chamber Brass, which led to a request from them for a work combining the quintet with orchestra that could be performed in Sweden and the UK.

The work is part of a series of concertante pieces in which I have, for many years, sought to recalibrate the relationship between solo and massed forces; previous works have sought ways to pursue an interactive, reﬂective mode of discourse. This has in turn evolved my orchestral thinking toward an emphasis on chamber groupings, whose fresh acoustic mixtures have gained prominence over massed orchestral t utti. For this reason Syzygy draws upon the greater individual identities and chamber possibilities of the chamber orchestra: indeed one can chart a progression, in the work’s three pieces, from the treatment of the orchestra as a solid mass (in I) to its role more as a collection of individual soli (in III).

The title refers to an alignment of three or so heavenly bodies in which the middle planet obscures the others’ views of one another. Here, the bodies are the pieces: the second piece, being the largest, separates two very different pieces on either side. Piece I is a stately meditation; Piece II moves from a whispered beginning to an inexorable gathering of power and climax; Piece III is energetic throughout. As in a planetary syzygy, pieces I and III remain disconnected, not only in expressive mood but in treatment of the solo brass quintet – which, like the orchestra, evolves during the work, being in piece I a separate entity, isolated from and ignorant of the orchestra (save for a solitary clarinet) – while in piece III the ﬁve brass soloists have become more concerned with orchestral ensembles than with one another. The central piece mediates between these, the quintet (still a unit) interacting with the orchestra in a manner closer to the traditional concerto. In all three pieces a wide variety of extended sounds is sought from almost every instrumental department; every musician on stage is a soloist.

(Vibraphone)

ISSUU Version

Players (except solo quintet) to take a full breath then, on cue, sing a convenient note for your voice, pianissimo, to ‘Lo - ’ holding it for an entire breath on that note. When the breath is expended, breathe and ‘fade in’ again. When conductor indicates a change of chord, chose any other note. Hold instrument, as if ready to play, up to letter D.

For perusal only

(except solo quintet) to take a full breath then, on cue, sing a convenient note for your voice, pianissimo, to ‘Lo

’ holding it for an entire breath on that note. When the breath is expended, breathe and ‘fade in’ again. When conductor indicates a change of chord, chose any other note. Hold instrument, as if ready to play, up to letter D.

ISSUU Version For perusal only

(pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp) (pp)

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version For perusal only

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version For perusal only

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version For perusal only

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version For perusal only

ISSUU Version

For perusal only

ISSUU Version

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gli altri

arco, ord. 'siren' glissando upward ad lib. by each player ( ) ( ) take pencil: