QURAMA for chamber ensemble to Lale khanim and Mezahir bey Avshars
08/2011-‐02/2012 Baku / Cincinnati
Qurama
for chamber ensemble
Performance notes
The piece is open to variety of interpretations of the tempo although the latter is referred to in the score with its exact indication. Performers are free to make their decisions on either acceleration or deceleration of certain transitional bars and passages. The piece has to be performed as precisely as possible in terms of pitches, dynamics and rhythmical structures. Considering that the synchronicity in the piece is likely to be difficult for performers, they should bear in mind the necessity of being lined up with one another at least when connected verticals happen. Connections are visually introduced in the score and contain essential core pitches, which should be musically highlighted in the performance. Each string performer should play one suspended triangle with a beater. Sometimes performer should play the triangle with the bow, as indicated in the score. Dashed slurs indicate phrasing of the musical material. Fingerings for woodwind multiphonics are optional and performers are welcome to replace them with their own. Glissandos with circles on top stand for the harmonic glissandos. Notes without note heads and slurred staccatos in strings indicate the ricochet technique. In those cases the pitch level is undefined and unimportant. The percussionist can also use soft vibraphone mallets on other instruments in order to avoid lots of mallet changes. Flt. – flutter tongue
This piece is dedicated to Lale khanim and Mezahir bey Avshars, painters and sculptors, friends of my family. Both had an impact on me as an artist. Qurama is an ancient handicraft of Azerbaijan, a kind of patchwork made of cloth scraps of various sizes and colors. The etymology of the word qurama also contains a meaning closer to construction in English. Ideas of working with different shapes and colors, adding multiple layers on top of each other or subtracting, separating them, exploring different time concepts and listening experiences are important to the compositional processes of this piece.
Instrumentation Flute Oboe Bass clarinet in B Trumpet in B Piano Percussion – one performer (Vibraphone, crotales, tam-‐tam, triangle, big drum, suspended cymbal) Violin 1 Violin 2 Viola Cello Contrabass Duration: ca. 15’
Note heads
Woodwinds and trumpet (one staff line): blowing into the instrument and creating air sound. Those occur on, above or below the one staff line. Their placements indicate the frequency level. Woodwinds (5 staff lines): multiphonics indicated by these note heads and needed to be built on the top of the base note. Trumpet (5 staff lines): the note should be sung simultaneously with the normal performed note below or above. Piano (one staff line): Performer should play clusters by hitting the strings with hands inside of the piano. There are no exact registral placements of those, but notated places indicate how high or low one should be in the relationship with another. Strings (one staff line): These should be performed as col legno. The pitch level is left to performer’s choices in certain notated registers. In this case the note on the staff line is almost the middle note of the instrument’s range. Slap tone in woodwinds.