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Page 1: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

ghosts of motionfor clarinet d’amore

Chris Dench

Page 2: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

ghosts of motion (2020)

from the iso-études (#3)

for clarinet d’amore

This work has been assisted financially by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

for Richard Haynes & Robert Schuck †

Truth will always be stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense —quoted by Pat Cadigan in the Introduction (2013) to PKD’s Dr Bloodmoney

duration: 8-10 minutes

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ii

In the 70s through a mutual ex-girlfriend I encountered Robert Schuck, a student of the great Alan Hacker, and the proud owner of a B flat basset clarinet, a rare and lovely instrument. I wrote a couple of pieces for Bob, and we remained good friends until I left Britain many years later. After I settled in Australia I was in contact with him less, although we did manage to catch up during my one extended visit to Britain in 1995. I was deeply shocked, then, to hear of his death in 2013 while tending his allotment, from a heart attack.

I wrote the Tombeau in my Piano Sonata as a memorial for my old friend, and dedicated that large work to his memory, but I also really wanted to write a smaller and more personal piece as the kind of music I might have written for him to play on the basset clarinet today. I made efforts to buy his basset clarinet after his death, in order to be able to write for it, but unfortunately the recipient declined to sell, and probably converted that unique instrument back into a common or garden B flat, dammit.

When another clarinetist friend, Richard Haynes, asked me to write a piece for his newly developed modern clarinet d’amore—another kind of basset clarinet—I realised it was the opportunity to fulfill my intention and write a piece as if for Bob. So, in a sense, this piece is written for two clarinetists, one flourishing, the other much missed.

I have accorded Richard Haynes exclusivity in the performance of this work for two years from the date of first performance. Anyone else wishing to perform the work must wait until that period has elapsed—if clarification is required ask me via my website: https://chrisdench.com/contact/.

Once the work is in the public performance domain, it may also be performed on other basset instruments, the basset clarinet in B flat or A, or the basset horn. It may NOT be performed on bass clarinet: the sound of that instrument is not appropriate to the music.

Chris Dench

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iii

Performance advice:

1 Accidentals only apply to the notes they immediately precede.

2 This piece is notated at roughly 3 centimetres = 1 second. That is solely a guide, however; performers should bend the tempo and apply judicious rubato as they see fit.

It is worth pointing out perhaps that this piece has no clear-cut inner structure: it is a single unbroken, albeit occasionally discontinuous, arch, which is why there are interior beatlines, but no barlines.

3 There are eleven dynamics levels in this piece:

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The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are more pronounced at the quiet end. The word POCO next to a dynamic means not to overstate it.

In this score an emphasis mark (-) indicates a flat, slightly detached attack on a single note, but not foregrounded; an attacca mark (<) indicates a sharp attach, foregrounded. These apply irrespective of dynamic or register.

Unmarked attacks are to be performed legato and cantabile.

4 In this piece the tremolo 𝅩𝅩 sign on a stem always means fluttertongue. Rapid repeated notes are notated as such. The extended tremolo sign 𝅬𝅬 between two noteheads means rapid and even alternation of those two pitches as fast as possible; duration will be clear from context.

5 For this piece I have adopted a white downward triangular notehead (𝅎𝅎) to indicate slap tongue. This occurs rarely, at a medium-loud sfz dynamic, and is followed by a quiet sustain, so the slap does not need to be too violent.

6 The double-slash symbol 𝄓𝄓 here just indicates the end of a nuanceless note—it reinforces the notated duration. Breath marks are given by the usual comma: 𝄒𝄒.

7 Pauses: exact durations should be decided by the performer.

Page 5: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 9: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 12: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 13: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 14: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 15: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 16: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 17: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

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Page 18: ghosts of motion · o— ppppp — pppp — ppp — pp — p— mf— f— ff— fff— ffff : The music always tends back towards silence, which is why the dynamic subtleties are

Published by

The Pterosaur PressMelbourne, Australia

2020

Copyright © Chris Dench 2020

Engraved by Andrew Bernard, using lilypond

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