Blood On The Floor (Turnage)

2/29/24, 8:09 PM Blood on the Floor (Turnage) - Wikipedia
Blood on the Floor (Turnage)
Blood on the Floor is a suite in nine movements composed for

orchestra and jazz trio by Mark-Anthony Turnage. It was Blood on the Floor
composed over a span of three years (1993–1996) after a Orchestral suite by Mark-Anthony
commission from the Ensemble Modern—a German music group Turnage
—to produce a piece for an evening jazz event in 1994. After the
performance, Turnage expanded the piece into the larger nine
movement suite that is now performed. During this period of
composition, Turnage's brother Andrew died of a drug overdose,
shaping the music greatly. As a result, drug culture is one of the
main themes in the suite. Blood on the Floor also draws
influences from the paintings of Francis Bacon and Heather Betts;
the suite's title is an adaptation of Bacon's painting Blood on
Pavement.
Like other compositions by Turnage, Blood on the Floor

incorporates elements of both classical and jazz music. Due to
this, it has been described as being part of the "third stream"
genre, a term coined by Turnage's former teacher Gunther Turnage in 2014 at the Cabrillo
Schuller. The suite is written as a concerto grosso and features a Festival of Contemporary Music
blend of classical, jazz, non-western and electronic instruments. Genre Third stream
As part of this fusion, the suite contains space for soloists to Related Dispelling the
improvise in four of its movements. Blood on the Floor shows
Fears
elements of non-functional harmony and has complex rhythmic
Your Rockaby
changes, often changing metre every bar. Motifs are found
recurring throughout the suite. Commissioned Ensemble Modern
by
Blood on the Floor was premiered by the Ensemble Modern at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in May 1996. The suite received a Composed 1993–1996
mixed reception from music critics. Some enjoyed the suite's Dedication Heather Betts
fusion of classical and jazz music, while others found it to be an Brett Dean
unfulfilling combination. Outside of the Ensemble Modern, Blood Andrew Turnage
on the Floor has been performed by various ensembles, including
Duration 70–80 minutes
the Berlin Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Movements Nine
Premiere
Composition Date May 1996
Location Queen Elizabeth
Blood on the Floor was composed by the British composer Mark-
Hall, London,
Anthony Turnage between 1993 and 1996.[1][2] During his
United Kingdom
compositional process, Turnage used sketches he had produced
Performers Ensemble
Modern, with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_on_the_Floor_(Turnage) 1/13
during a period of collaboration with the saxophonist Martin John Scofield,

Robertson. These sketches were used to create the prologue of the Martin Robertson
suite.[3] and Peter Erskine
The piece was commissioned in 1993 by the Ensemble Modern—a

German group dedicated to contemporary classical music[1][4]—
for an evening jazz event with pieces by George Gershwin,
Leonard Bernstein and George Antheil.[3][5][6] The version
Turnage produced for the event was ten minutes long and was
performed in 1994.[6] After the event, Turnage expanded the piece
into a nine movement suite; the final composition ended up being
a little more than an hour long.[5][6] This was largely due to
persuasion from the Ensemble Modern, who have a history of Blood on the Floor was
working on larger musical projects.[3] During the composition of commissioned by the Ensemble
Blood on the Floor, Turnage consulted Robertson, John Scofield Modern.
and Peter Erskine, who would be playing in the jazz trio with the
Ensemble Modern.[7] Erskine objected to the level of notation in
the drum kit part for the suite, leading Turnage to have a "culture shock" after restricting his score to
its essential elements to allow Erskine more freedom.[8]
Blood on the Floor takes inspiration from the paintings of Francis Bacon as with Turnage's previous
works, like Three Screaming Popes.[9] The suite's name is an adaptation of Bacon's painting, Blood on
Pavement.[1][10] Other works by Bacon, as well a painting by the Australian artist Heather Betts,
influence elements of the suite.[11]Blood on the Floor reflects Turnage's personal feelings on the death
of his brother Andrew,[12] who died of a drug overdose during its composition.[5][13] As a
consequence, drug culture is an overarching theme in the suite.[14] Due to this, the music in Blood on
the Floor is often quite harsh, with Turnage commenting that it was "probably the nastiest thing I
have written".[15]
Instrumentation
Blood on the Floor is written as a concerto grosso, a form of concerto played by a group of soloists.[16]
The concertino consists of a jazz trio of electric guitar, soprano saxophone (doubling alto saxophone
and bass clarinet)[17] and drum kit.[4][18] For the suite's orchestration, Turnage uses a mixture of
orchestral and non-orchestral instruments, including instruments usually associated with jazz, as well
as unusual instruments like synthesisers and scaffolding.[a] The score calls for a large ripieno
consisting of the following instruments:[20]
Woodwinds bonshō (temple bells)

cowbells
2 flutes (doubling alto flute and scaffolding) log drum
2 oboes (doubling cor anglais) marimba
2 clarinets in B♭ (doubling bass clarinet, vibraphone
first doubling scaffolding) glockenspiel
2 soprano saxophones (doubling alto crotales (sometimes played with bow)
saxophone) tubular bells
2 bassoons (doubling contrabassoon) bell plates
maracas
Brass claves
2 horns in F lion's roar

2 trumpets in C djembe
2 trombones saucepan
euphonium piano (doubling celesta and Fender Rhodes
tuba electric piano/Yamaha DX7)
Percussion (two players) Strings
2 bass drums 2 violin Is

2 bongo drums 2 violin IIs
tabla 2 violas
bodhran 2 cellos
splash cymbal double bass
piece of wood (hit with hammer) electric guitar
tambourines bass guitar (doubling fretless bass and double
sleigh bells bass)
tam-tam
4 gongs (assorted sizes, one played with
bow)
Structure and music
Character
Decca Recording of Blood on
Blood on the Floor has been described as a "third stream" piece:
the Floor
a fusion of classical and jazz styles.[b][22] The suite uses jazz
chords as its harmonic basis[23] and displays aspects of non- Recordings via YouTube
functional harmony.[24] Blood on the Floor is neither tonal nor I: Prologue: "Blood on the Floor"
atonal: some passages feature tonal ideas, but there is never a (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
single key that represents a movement. Turnage contrasts PAkUJ1TN_as)
thematic ideas with no transitions in between them, creating
II: "Junior Addict" (https://www.yo
juxtapositions. Driving rhythms are found in many sections of
the suite. Complex metres are used, and metre changes occur in utube.com/watch?v=9eqmQ2ZsoY
E)
almost every bar.[25]
III: "Shout" (https://www.youtube.
In terms of notation, the concertino parts include a mixture of com/watch?v=V5OxFhXL1h4)
notated music and space for improvisation.[17] Improvisation
IV: "Sweet and Decay" (https://w
forms a major part of Blood on the Floor and appears in four
ww.youtube.com/watch?v=0aWC-W
movements (II, V, VI and VIII).[26] Although his works combine
classical and jazz music—of which improvisation is a key part— 7eyLE)
this was the first time that Turnage integrated improvisation into V: "Needles" (https://www.youtub
one of his compositions.[27] e.com/watch?v=zGlmZ9ZSiIY)
VI: "Elegy for Andy" (https://www.
Motifs youtube.com/watch?v=DJ9CvMYvL
Q8)
Turnage employs musical motifs heavily throughout Blood on VII: "Cut Up" (https://www.youtub
the Floor. In his 2008 Doctor of Musical Arts thesis, Matthew e.com/watch?v=j13ptHnVofE)
Styles identifies a total of eight motifs employed that appear in
the prologue and reappear throughout the other eight VIII: "Crackdown" (https://www.y
movements. Styles argues that this use of motifs adds musical outube.com/watch?v=EC3v2fawJ8
unity to the suite and fulfils "the idea of a prologue": to introduce U)
themes found later in the suite. One motif used is a recurring
glissando played by the brass and low woodwind, which appears IX: "Dispelling the Fears" (https://
in the first, fifth and seventh movements. Another motif featured www.youtube.com/watch?v=3doy0
is a chromatic melody similar to the one played by the soprano Wb-Pcw)
saxophone. This melody is played by the bass clarinets and
horns, and features a "spinning" cycle of notes based around D♯
and E. It appears in the prologue and returns multiple times in the ninth movement, "Dispelling the
Fears".[28][29]
Movements
Blood on the Floor consists of nine movements:[30][31]
I. Prologue: "Blood on the Floor" ("Biting", = 108)

II. "Junior Addict" ("Slow and Sensuous", = 60)
III. "Shout" ("Harsh and Hammered", = 160)
IV. "Sweet and Decay" ("Dark and muddy, sweet and tender", = 58)
V. "Needles" ( = 144)
VI. "Elegy for Andy" ("Tender", = 54–56)
VII. "Cut Up" ("Clear cut and incisive", = 132–138)
VIII. "Crackdown" ("Solo freely", = 140)
IX. "Dispelling the Fears" ("Bleak and obsessive (always intense)", = 76)
Each movement features different instrumentation and number of players. A full playing of the suite
takes approximately 70–80 minutes.[5][32]
I. Prologue: "Blood on the Floor"
The suite's prologue is scored for the orchestra[33] and lasts for approximately eight and a half
minutes.[34] The prologue features offbeat rhythms played by the soprano saxophone in a rotation of
five chromatic notes.[35] The movement is based around the note E, which is rooted in bass
instruments at each end of the movement.[31] Chromatic progressions are a major part of the
prologue, which along with irregular shaping and metre changes makes the movement have an
unrelenting feel. For example, in bars 66–69, Turnage uses a progression of metres: 4 7 3
4 → 8 → 4 → 8.
7
The loss of one quaver (eighth note) when changing to a 87 bar gives the music a stumbling feeling. [36]
When paired with an accentuated upbeat, this groove helps to reinforce the melody and move the
movement forward.[37] Reflecting this, the music critic Andrew Clements wrote that the prologue of
Blood on the Floor "is perhaps the most uncompromising and unforgiving music Turnage has written
to date".[19]
II. "Junior Addict"
This movement is scored for soprano saxophone, electric guitar and "It's easier to get
orchestra.[33] "Junior Addict" is a wordless musical setting of the eponymous dope
poem, written by Langston Hughes.[34][14] The movement is in ternary than it is to get a
form[39] and lasts for approximately five and three-quarter minutes.[34] job."
"Junior Addict" opens with a theme played by the soprano saxophone, which
has been described as a "very lyrical and haunting melody". This reflects the Yes, easier to get
dope
influence of Turnage's brother, whom the movement is dedicated to.[14] The
than to get a job-
saxophone melody was later revisited by Turnage and used in the third
daytime or
movement of his 1994 composition, Two Elegies Framing a Shout.[40] "Junior
nighttime job,
Addict" also features an electric guitar solo.[31]
teen-age, pre-
draft,
III. "Shout" pre-lifetime job.
"Shout" is scored for the orchestra[33] and lasts for approximately five and a
Langston
half minutes.[34] "Shout" both starts and ends with passages played by the Hughes, Junior
scaffolding, which is used as an unpitched percussion instrument throughout
Addict, quoted in
the movement, usually paired with the horns. The movements uses a ritornello
The Collected
taken from the prologue, which is found near melodies played by the
Poems of
clarinets.[41] Langston
Hughes[38]
IV. "Sweet and Decay"
"Sweet and Decay" is scored for flutes, soprano saxophone and orchestra.[33]
The movement is approximately nine minutes long.[34] "Sweet and Decay" originated from one of two
sketches Turnage produced for his soprano saxophone concerto, Your Rockaby. The sketch was not
used there, as Turnage thought that having two slow movements would be "overdoing it".[42] In
"Sweet and Decay", Turnage uses melodic cells set against a chordal background. The movement
features solos from the saxophone and flute.[43] At the end of the movement, Turnage instructs that
there should be pause before "Needles" begins. This can be replaced with a full interval if wanted.[32]
V. "Needles"
"Needles" is scored for a jazz sextet and five other performers (trumpet, two horns, trombone and
bass clarinet).[43][33] The movement is a variation of ternary form (AABA)[44][39] and lasts for
approximately four and three-quarter minutes.[34] Out of all the nine movements, "Needles" reflects
conventional jazz performances the most. The movement starts with a soprano saxophone head
melody, which then progresses to sections of soprano saxophone and electric guitar solos.[43] The
brass section continually interrupts the latter solo.[45] These interjections accentuate the offbeats,
giving the section a jazzy, big band feel.[17] This feeling is reinforced by the presence of a big band-
style riff, played by the group of five performers.[46] After the solos, the movement returns to another
playing of the head.[46]
VI. "Elegy for Andy"
"Elegy for Andy" is scored for electric guitar and orchestra.[33] It lasts for approximately eight and a
quarter minutes.[34] The movement has an angular theme played by electric guitar, which creates a
sense of unease.[40] The angular feeling is created by Turnage's use of wide intervals of 7ths and
9ths.[47] This guitar melody progresses into an improvisational

section. "Elegy for Andy" incorporates musical quotations from a
piece played by Turnage at his brother's funeral and Giacomo
Puccini's Madama Butterfly. According to Clements, this
movement is Blood on the Floor's "emotional heart".[14]
VII. "Cut Up"
The movement is scored for alto saxophone, trombone, drum kit

"Elegy for Andy" incorporates
and orchestra.[33] "Cut Up" features a trombone solo that was musical quotations from Madama
described as "fiendish" by Aksel Tollåli of Bachtrack.[6] The Butterfly.
movement lasts for approximately six and a quarter minutes.[34]
"Cut Up" has a complex structure and has been variously labelled
a variation on verse and refrain, rondo and ternary forms. The movement's form can be represented
using letters as ABCDACEAFCA.[48]
VIII. "Crackdown"
"Crackdown" is scored for a jazz trio of guitar, bass clarinet and drum kit. The movement is written in
the jazz fusion style, and features improvised solos from all three members of the trio.[23]
"Crackdown" is the shortest movement in Blood on the Floor and lasts for approximately four and a
quarter minutes.[34] The movement is conventionally not conducted.[6][49] It opens with a long
improvised solo from the drum kit, which lasts for around two minutes. The solo has no metre.[50]
During the solo, the drum kit is asked to start pianissimo, before "gradually moving towards rhythmic
stability". After the solo ends, the drum kit is instructed to support a funk groove.[51] After solos from
the guitar and bass clarinet, the drum kit continues, ending the movement softly.[50]
IX. "Dispelling the Fears"
"Dispelling the Fears" is scored for two trumpets and

orchestra.[33] The movement takes inspiration from Dispelling the
Fears, a painting by the Australian artist Heather Betts, and is
dedicated to her and her husband Brett Dean. "Dispelling the
Fears" is taken from a previous concerto of the same name that
Turnage had composed in 1994.[52][26] It is the longest movement
in Blood on the Floor and lasts for approximately fifteen and
three-quarter minutes.[34]
The movement's style is dissimilar to that of the other movements,

bar "Sweet and Decay": instead of focusing on rhythmic
modulations like the other movements, "Dispelling the Fears" is
centred on slowly moving chords.[50] Like "Sweet and Decay", the
The trumpets in "Dispelling the
movement features use of cells instead of repeating melodic
Fears" have been compared to the
ideas.[53] "Dispelling the Fears" uses previous themes encountered style of Miles Davis.
in Blood on the Floor: the chromatic saxophone melody from the
prologue appears again, now appearing as one of the movement's
main themes. It is joined by the chord progression from "Needles" which takes place during that
movement's solos.[54] The music played by the two solo trumpets has been compared to the style of
Miles Davis.[14]
Performances
Blood on the Floor was premiered in London in May 1996 at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall.[55][56][57] It was again performed by the
Ensemble Modern at the Salzburg Festival in August 1997.[55] The
suite had its American premiere on 28 September 2001 at the
Miller Theatre, New York, performed by the Absolute Ensemble
under the baton of Kristjan Järvi.[58] As the performance was
following the events of the September 11 attacks, the concert
almost did not take place due to the "provocative" nature of the
music. However, the theatre's manager, George Steel, decided to
allow the concert to go ahead, as he did not want to "to infantilize
the audience".[58]
During his first month as principal conductor of the Berlin

Philharmonic, Simon Rattle conducted a performance of Blood on
the Floor in October 2002.[59] The orchestra also held a workshop
event for young musicians to play the suite; according to Franz
The American premiere of Blood on
Xaver Ohnesorg, who ran the event, "the Blood on the Floor
the Floor took place at the Miller
project [gave] a chance to open up a dialogue with young people
Theatre.
about drugs.[60]
Blood on the Floor has become a frequently performed piece,

often performed several times a year.[61] Stefan Asbury conducted a Boston Symphony Orchestra
performance of Blood on the Floor in the Seiji Ozawa Hall to close the 2006 Tanglewood Festival of
Contemporary Music.[62][49] Also in 2006, the suite received its Scottish premiere, conducted by
Martyn Brabbins.[63] Six years later, a performance by the Oslo Philharmonic saw Blood on the Floor
conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, with solo performances from Robertson, Erskine and John
Parricelli.[6] On 9 April 2021, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performed Blood on the Floor at
the Hamer Hall, conducted by Fabian Russel. This was part of their Metropolis concert series, and
featured solo performances from Carl Mackey (saxophone), James Sherlock (guitar) and Dave Beck
(drum kit).[52]
The British choreographer Wayne McGregor chose to use Blood on the Floor as the basis for his debut
full-length ballet, L'Anatomie de la sensation.[64] The ballet was influenced by Francis Bacon and
premiered in July 2011 with the Paris Opera Ballet. During its run at the Opera Bastille, Turnage's
score was performed by the Ensemble intercontemporain.[1]
Reception
Blood on the Floor is commonly seen as Turnage's most extensive fusion of classical and jazz
styles.[65] The suite received a mixed reception from critics. Some critics, like Clements, praised the
suite. In a review for The Guardian, Clements commented that in Blood on the Floor, "Turnage's use
of rock and jazz elements [are] integrated much more thoroughly into the melting pot of his style"
than prior compositions, and are "one of the foreground elements for the first time".[12] In The Times,

Blood On The Floor (Turnage) - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Blood On The Floor (Turnage) - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Blood On The Floor (Turnage) - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

2/29/24, 8:09 PM Blood on the Floor (Turnage) - Wikipedia

Blood on the Floor is a suite in nine movements composed for

Like other compositions by Turnage, Blood on the Floor

during a period of collaboration with the saxophonist Martin John Scofield,

The piece was commissioned in 1993 by the Ensemble Modern—a

Woodwinds bonshō (temple bells)

2 horns in F lion's roar

Percussion (two players) Strings

2 bass drums 2 violin Is

Structure and music

Blood on the Floor consists of nine movements:[30][31]

I. Prologue: "Blood on the Floor" ("Biting", = 108)

I. Prologue: "Blood on the Floor"

II. "Junior Addict"

VI. "Elegy for Andy"

9ths.[47] This guitar melody progresses into an improvisational

VII. "Cut Up"

The movement is scored for alto saxophone, trombone, drum kit

IX. "Dispelling the Fears"

"Dispelling the Fears" is scored for two trumpets and

The movement's style is dissimilar to that of the other movements,

During his first month as principal conductor of the Berlin

Blood on the Floor has become a frequently performed piece,

You might also like