Cameron Graham

'Coppia'
for two solo violins
'Coppia' for two solo violins

Written for Dorothy Deiss and the National Portrait Gallery.

ca. 2'30

Coppia was written in response to a photographic portrait by Dorothy Deiss. On seeing the image, ideas
around twin relationships, violent couplings, plurality, mirroring and mimicry (both sonically and gesturally)
began to emerge and form musically. I wished ultimately to allude to similarities and emergent differences in
character between identical twins as they grow up.

Each performer ideally should wear a mask, similar to a simple venetian masquerade mask (not erotic but
elegant, simply one black, one white). This is intended as both an intensifying theatrical element (violent
couplings, allusion to dichotomy etc..).

Notes on Performance/Techniques

Many of the techniques in the piece are gestural, and should be exaggerated as much as possible.The
performance should be energetic and fast; it should seem perpetually on the brink of harsh and intense
violence.

Harmonics
– play with one swift movement of the bow, result should be a 'flash' of tone.

Glissandi
– (beginning at bar 13) should always end on the lowest possible position of the string (most played Sul IV).
Commas indicate an immediate stop of the gesture. End by stopping the string with your left hand, not by
halting the movement of the bow.

Trills/vibrato
– (e.g bar 14) The widening trills indicate a 'maddening' trill. Begin to open up the trill until playing a wide
vibrato (you can of course stretch the indicated interval for effect). Resulting sound should be a drunken,
twisting effect.