Obsponsive ~ Instructions

The piece has two parts of four-voice notation, designated by uppercase or lowercase letters,
vertically aligned in the score and parts.

A stopwatch is encouraged to keep track of your progress through the piece.

Over the course of 8 minutes (8 occurences of the notated material in various forms),
the following deployments of the material occur:

0’-1’: Play through sections A-F, as written. Pianissimo dynamics. There can be some
flexibility/rubato within phrases, except those marked with a down arrow.

In subsequent sections, freely exchange the given number of section of A-F for their lowercase
counterparts, and apply the given number of ‘strategies’ to alter material. One ‘strategy’ should
be applied per section, and can also be applied to substituted lowercase sections.

1’-2’: 1 lowercase substitution, 1 strategy. Piano dynamics.

2’-3’: 1 lowercase substitutions, 2 strategies. Mezzo-piano dynamics.
3’-4’: 2 lowercase substitutions, 2 strategies. Mezzo-forte dynamics.
4’-5’: 2 lowercase substitutions, 3 strategies. Forte dynamics.
5’-6’: 3 lowercase substitutions, 3 strategies. Fortissimo dynamics.
6’-7’: a-f as written. Subito piano dynamics. End of piece.

“Strategies” are transformations of given musical material, meant to refract, reduce, or open up
notated material for development and variation. Strategies include:

-Silence: not playing is always an option, especially if it helps recalibrate your position in the piece.
-Microscoping: choose a single pitch from a section and play it as a long tone for the duration of the
section, with attention to subtle dynamic and timbral transformations.
-Pulsing: long notes become repeated short notes on the given pitches,
gradually speeding up and/or down.
-Celling: loop a two/three note module for the duration of the section, with rhythmic changes ala
“pulsing”.
-Condensing: play through a section’s notes extremely quickly at any point within it.
-Excavating: play a single note of the section, in time.
-Morphing: while keeping the same approximate rhythms, change or transpose notes, or add
a form of timbral distortion.
-Metamorphosing: substite notes for unpitched sound sources, with approximate rhythmic or
pitched contours, including extended techniques or sounds made with the voice or objects.
-Opening: for the insertion of fully improvised or highly disparate material.
-Others strategies of your own are possible!

~Ben Zucker
 Obsponsive Ben Zucker
(concert version) (2022)
q = 60 A / :00 B / :1 0 C / :20
° ™ b˙ ™
:24 :27
3
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