Alright, traveling more and more remotely to the original discussion, but Crumb is wacky. I think it's interesting that "Ancient Voices..." makes such frequent appearances in music appreciation and history courses in North America just because it is so wacky. I don't know if other "sonorists" serve as more frequent examples off the continent. I've actually performed "Ancient Voices..." several times. It calls for a pianist to play toy piano, boy soprano singing softly off stage or singing directly into the frame of a piano, all performers periodically shouting, etc.
In addition to mandolin (with one string of each course detuned 1/4 step and sometimes played "bottleneck" style with a slide), the mandolinist is called upon to play the musical saw with a cello bow. One mandolinist friend complained about cutting himself in prepping for a performance. Another mandolinist friend retorted "I have a bit of advice. Play the side without the teeth!" Personally, I don't believe I ever got close to the pitches notated for saw. The best I could do is generally follow the "melody" up or down. Bowed saw isn't much like any lutey kin. Eugene ----- Original Message ----- From: Christopher Wilke <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 3:43 pm Subject: [LUTE] Re: tuning fork at 433Hz? To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, EUGENE BRAIG IV <[email protected]> > Eugene, > > --- On Tue, 1/10/12, EUGENE BRAIG IV <[email protected]> wrote: > > > In the song cycle "Ancient > > Voices of Children", George Crumb asks > > the mandolin be played with a > > metal paper clip in stead of a plectrum > > of more typical material: > > plastics, tortoiseshell, etc. His > > intent was to generate as sharply > > metallic a sound as possible. > > Getting off topic here, but it's fun anyway. Crumb is a very > interesting composer with an obsession for timbre and special > effects. In "Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death," he > calls outrageous techniques, like calling for the percussionist > to beat on the strings of both the electric guitar and the > acoustic bass with soft mallets. At various points, all of > the instrumentalists have to whisper, speak, sing, hum and > shout. The electric guitarist also has to double on jaw > harp. At one point, the singer, using a megaphone, must > vocalize into a piano while the pianist depresses the pedal, > creating sympathetic resonance. The pianist also doubles > on amplified harpsichord. I performed this piece a few > times. Quite a lot of fun. > > There is a whole school of mostly Eastern European composers > active after WWII that make much use of similar effects. > The label that has been applied to them is "sonorist". > Zbigniew Granat, my colleague at Nazareth College where I teach, > is an expert in the study of these composers. > > Chris > > > Christopher Wilke D.M.A. > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
