for Sam Ramirez, in friendship

DREAMSONGS (2020) by SEAN X. QUINN

[born 2000]

for prepared harp

PERFORMANCE NOTES

A work exploring a timbral displacement of the harp, DreamSongs is a spatial contemplation of rolling and hovering fractures of sound that entwine to for a web of
intricate filigree. Using an extremely elaborate preparation system, made of blu-tack and honey drippers – a design that took influence from the work Strange
Charisma by Lisa Cheney, for which it can be seen as a partner piece. This array of resonances that refract within the aesthetics of semi-holographic images that are
imagined throughout the work, which provide a scaffold for the work. Dramatic, intense and dark; the interferences between the preparations and the performer’s
intuition bloom to form an organism of iridescence.

DreamSongs was written in close collaboration with colleague and dear friend Sam Ramirez. I thank her for her work on new music and interest in the exploring the
boundaries of the instrument with me.

Strings to be prepared: Notations:

rolling bisbig. – cycle through bracketed pitches freely

pedal buzz – either via traversing between positions,

or by hovering between them
denotes use of blu-tack (varied size)

denotes honey-dripper cluster (placed accessibly)