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Shadow Without Boxes
Shadow Without Boxes
for Female Voice, Cello, Male Voice, Viola, and Singing Pianist
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We weren’t each other’s audience that night, but, just as the evenly spaced halogen suggested, and the polystyrene melting on your big hat,
your hair
getting caught in our mouths when kissing, your
wearing too much makeup, your remaining unaware of how cold it was
outside my car,
under the stars,
with which, from our distance,
whether turning clockwise
or counterclockwise, we made a meaningful axis.
The first piece, which I wrote in 2011, is titled In the corner over there, a shadow is reading and scored for Female Voice, Cello
and Silent Pianist. That work is reproduced in full in this score, and is indicated by the names of the original
performers: Madeline, Chelsea and Matthew.
The second piece is the newly composed (2015) material for (and labeled as) Piano, Viola and Male Voice. The two
pianist roles are played by the same performer, a double-role which is made feasible by the relative inactivity required in
the 2011 part.
The two pieces should be rehearsed separately as much as possible. If the ‘2015’ ensemble is appropriately acquainted
with the notation, very few joint ‘dress rehearsals’ should be needed with both ensembles. The 2011 ensemble need not
ever be aware of any of the new material, and should perform it as such. Because of the considerable rhythmic
looseness of the 2011 work, each performance of this new work will contain considerable indeterminacy.
All of this is to say that a virtuosity of attention and present awareness/engagement with the work is much more crucial
to a successful performance than any technical virtuosity.
This particular score was made for the purposes of digital reproduction, and is a kind of ‘Study Score’ which differs
greatly from the actual score. The actual score involves layered pages in which cut-outs have been made, revealing
material below. Here is a description of how that score is arranged:
The first 4 pages of the actual score are arranged in this way:
etc…
Please note that cut-outs in Male Voice Part can thus reveal any other part, while cut-outs in the Piano Part can only reveal the 2011 score.
In general, the cut-outs are identical in each part at the beginning of the work, and gradually diverge over the first 4 pages. In this ‘Study
Score’, the first 4 pages had to be stretched into 8, labelled 1a/1b, 2a/2b, etc…
Page 12 does not exist in the actual score, nor is there a page 12 in the 2011 score. Page 12 is included in this
‘Study Score’ to show how instructions for ending the work would play out. These instructions will be included in
the performance notes of the actual score.
Because this ‘Study Score’ aims to show the entirety of the activity on stage during this work, it is a bit more cluttered
than the actual score would be. To help clarify things, this study score has been color-coded.
a shadow is reading… is the fourth movement of a larger theatrical work, The Young Son. This larger work, consisting of six
movements, attempts to both exploit the often-ignored theatrical potential within traditional musical performance, as
well as find constructive, positive, expressive solutions to theatrical problems which are often approached with cynicism
or negation.
Framing is problematic for the expressive artist, as it seems to undercut any possibility of intimacy in performance,
distancing the audience from the work of art. It is this detachment which leads art critics like Michael Fried to disparage
theatricality, and suggest (in his classic essay ‘Art and Objecthood’) that “Art degenerates as it approaches the condition
of theatre.”
The artwork I have chosen to frame is an earlier work of mine, In a corner over there… (2011). I chose to focus on this
particular work for two related reasons. The first reason is that the original work came from a (perhaps naive) desire to
encapsulate a romantic relationship, to write a love song in the most traditional sense. Such a desire seems to me to be
crucially related to the impulse to create theatrical artistic objects, to frame our experience of art just as we frame our
experience of life. The second reason is that the 2011 work has become for me an important marker itself, a turning
point in my progression as a composer. As such, there is a kind of compounded nostalgia in this work, a desire for
intimacy in the face of a seemingly unbridgeable divide brought by time passed.
This nostalgia is, I think, a common feeling to have towards an artwork. Or indeed a person, or an emotional state, or a
memory. And because this relationship is so similar to the problematic nature of ‘the frame’, a humanistic, constructive,
and expressive grounding is provided for what is typically approached in a deconstructive, negative way.
With this in mind, I take three approaches towards framing in this work:
The first section of the piece explores framing as scaffolding. That is, as connected but not-yet-structural; a
starting point for the construction of a frame. The music in this first section (p.1-4) exists entirely in relation to the
quoted work, but as the section unfolds, the temporal distance of the scaffolding becomes more clear. The 2015
ensemble begins to anticipate or echo the old.
The increasing autonomy of the 2015 material builds towards the second section of the piece (p. 5-10),
serving as a more traditional frame, fully distinct from the framed object. The temporal disconnect between
the old and new is embraced. This more straightforward framing is highlighted by the gaze of the 2015 ensemble,
which is occasionally directed towards the 2011 ensemble. Again, this is meant as a humanizing gesture,
suggesting to the audience that what the composer is doing, and what the ensemble is doing, is not so different
from what they are doing.
Still searching for a kind of intimacy in framing, the final section of the work explores framing as excavation.
In this part of the work, the 2015 ensemble’s gaze is in constant flux, their eyes opening and closing. This entails a
complete detachment from the score for the performers, encouraging increased attention on the minds of the
performers. A particular pattern, pervasive throughout the work, dominates the performance during this last
section. The two-chord progression performed during this section of the work is a more direct expression of the
source material for the original love song.
When the quoted work has finished, Madeline walks to the Male Vocalist, kisses him on the cheek, and leaves.
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Performance Notes from In the corner… (2011) (unedited)
The pianist never plays the notated pitches, only silently depresses the keys, allowing for resonance.
A star with an accent beneath the pianist’s staff is for a Pedal Stomp.
Depending on the piano, this may mean: 1) creating a percussive ‘boom’ by downward force or,
2) allowing the pedal to quickly knock upwards against the mechanism
before coming back down. In any case, the basic movement will be
quick and loud as possible, with a percussive intent.
Clusters (always black and white keys) are notated by filling in the cluster area with all black.
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Diamond noteheads in the soprano’s part are always sung with an almost closed mouth, the singing equivalent of a
mumble.
X noteheads are always sung with un-pitched breath, the specific kind is always notated (ssss, tuhh, etc).
Arrows beneath the soprano’s staff refer to the direction of air, either Inhale (left-pointing arrow) or Exhale (right-
pointing arrow).
This applies to both singing (inward and outward) and non-pitched breathing, hissing, etc.
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X noteheads in the cellist’s part refer to a completely (or nearly completely) pitchless sound, created by muting the
strings with the left hand.
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Dashed lines connecting one part to another refer to either simultaneity (a simple vertical connection) or reaction (a
vertical line which dodges slightly forward)
Pages 5-9 - On these pages, each member of the 2015 ensemble is playing pre-
memorized material. This material (and the material needed for pages
9-12) is included at the end of these notes. The material for each performer is
organized into short fragments labeled A, B, C, and D. The score indicates
which fragment or series of fragments to play, and that fragment or series is
repeated until disrupted.
(An effort should be made by each member of the ensemble to have a unified
tempo, though some rhythmic messiness is to be expected.)
*** While the performance or expression of these fragments are disrupted, MENTAL CONTINUITY
SHOULD NOT BE DISRUPTED until page 10. That is to say that regardless of any other activity during
pages 5-9, the 2015 Ensemble should be continually IMAGINING the performance of the indicated
fragments, even when this imagined music is not being externalized in any way. Slight rhythmic body-
movements to maintain a consistent ensemble tempo are not necessarily discouraged, so long as they are
not overly distracting. What is encouraged, however, is any subtle sense that the 2015 ensemble is tracking
time in a way that is completely distinct from the 2011 ensemble.***
Pages 10-12 - On these pages, each member of the 2015 ensemble is applying pre-
memorized rules to (very minimal) pre-memorized material. These
rules, and this material, is included at the end of these notes.
While each 2015 performer is applying these rules (and externalizing them),
they are also redirecting their gaze towards and away from the Female
Vocalist (notated as white peaks) and slowly closing and opening their eyes
(notated as black peaks).
All of these physical movements take place at a constant pulse, which should develop naturally from the
previous material (pages 5-9). On pages 5-9, the fragments slow down and simplify to a point where each
repetition should feel like a slow, wave-like inhalation or exhalation. It is in this spirit, and at this rate, that
these physical movements should transpire. This rate also dictates how long each repetition lasts.
Performance Notes for Viola (2015)
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Staging
F. Vox M. Vox
Cello Viola
Piano
Audience
F. Vox M. Vox
Cello Viola
Piano
Audience
Clarinet
Viola
Piano
Audience
Lighting and Dress
Lighting and Dress should serve to highlight the conceptual distinctions of the work.
As such, lighting for the 2011 side of the stage should be somewhat ‘heightened’, perhaps at a more severe angle or
using a soft filter, and more clearly lit than the 2015 side of the stage. The lighting for the 2011 side should not change
during the performance.
The female vocalist and cellist should wear somewhat formal dress, as if performing as a soloist. Simple block colors are
preferred over patterns.
A more ‘realist’ approach should be taken to the lighting on the 2015 side. It should be less clearly lit than the 2011 side,
and without any strong dramatic implication. Color filters should not be used. Changes to the lighting of the 2015 side
during the performance are possible, though not necessary, and should follow the 3-part form of the work. Abrupt
changes in lighting should not ever occur.
A possible lighting plan for the 2015 side of the stage might entail the very gradual movement of an overhead light-
source so that the shadows of the performers gradually rotate from being dissimilar to the 2011 performers’ shadows, to
without shadow (completely overhead), to a point where all performers on stage are casting similar shadows. These
three points (dissimilar, without, similar) should correspond with the three large sections of the piece (p.1-4, 5-9,10-12).
Another possibility for the lighting of this work would be the inclusion of the pattern pictured on the cover of this work
in lights, as if it were a constellation of stars, overhead.
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For Katie
Memorized Fragments for p. 5-9
Memorized Rules/Material for p. 10-12