In contrast to my first post, I thought I would show some of my most recent work, as a contrast to my early works. My newer pieces are mostly graphic scores, hand copied onto very large sheets of vellum, normally 24 x 36 inches (but sometimes larger, as needed).
My newest piece is a graphic score inspired by the cicada invasion of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2016. I had never heard anything like it, it sounded like a giant car engine was constantly running somewhere in the distance. They were “Brood X” cicadas that emerge from the ground once every 17 years. They were EVERYWHERE - crawling all over everything, flying around in large groups, landing in your hair and on your shirt, in your car, you name it…thankfully these cicadas are harmless, they just look really freaky because they’re dark brown or black with bright red eyes. Here’s a fun article about the cicada emergence in Columbus, OH in 2021: https://patch.com/ohio/across-oh/billions-17-year-cicadas-will-emerge-ohio-2021
I found the sound to be rather arresting and fascinating. The sounds of the cicadas and the experiences of hearing them implanted themselves in my creative garden, only to re-emerge as a new piece earlier this year (see what I did there?). Thankfully it didn’t take 17 years to crawl out of the dirt (only five this time). The work highlights the trajectory of the lifecycle of the cicadas, from hatching and emergence from underground, to spreading their wings and taking flight, to buzzing in the trees, feeding, mating, planting eggs, then dying while the nymphs hatch from eggs, fall to the ground, burrow hibernate for another 17 years. The overall arc of the score captures this rise and fall visually, including the emergence from and return to the ground at the end.
I sneak a few extra techniques in the score to augment the sound world inhabited by the music. Composed for string orchestra, the musicians are also required to play ratchets at the climax of the piece. They could be any ratchets - toy ratchets, gregors, anything similar - but the climax is a wall of ratchet noise.
Progress so far on the new score. Performers start at the bottom left, work their way up to the top right hand corner of the page, then fall to the bottom right hand corner at the final gesture.
I use a 3-line staff at points…it looks like two of the lines are missing, and in fact they are. This tells string players the general range of the motives to be played but not exact pitch, giving an undulating effect of “rising up en masse” without having string players perform the exact same ideas. They’re close to each other but not the same pitches, rhythms, etc. I also intend for musicians to read from the score in groups of 4 or 5 people, with multiple copies used on stage during performance.
3 line staves, the second and fourth lines are “missing,” the intent is to write motifs within these larger spaces so that string players perform in the same general registers but not the exact same pitches.
I give players some choice as to when and what to play, hence the need for the graphic score. But I also like the fact that this visually illustrates the meaning of the piece, not only for the performers but for the audience. One of my goals is to show a collection of these graphic scores in an art gallery exhibition someday; the exhibit would feature performances of said works on view as well.
I’m not quite finished with it yet, I’m hoping to complete it by the end of summer and have it performed in the near future. Fingers crossed!