1 Flute/Piccolo

1 Oboe

1 Clarinet in Bb/Bass Clarinet in Bb

1 Bassoon

1 French Horn in F

2 Trumpets in Bb ^¶

1 Trombone

1 Percussion*

1 Piano/MIDI Controller**

Solo Viola^✺

Solo Cello^✺

Strings✢

Score in C

^¶ Trumpets: 1^st player should feel free to use D, or piccolo, trumpets interchangeably with Bb if it makes performing the high notes easier. Players can also rotate parts.

* 1 Percussion: Chimes (specifically D4 & D5 required), Glockenspiel; Bass Drum, Drum Set (3 Toms, Cowbell also necessary), Lion’s Roar, Tam-tam, Triangle, an additional free-standing Snare Drum and Suspended Cymbal are suggested.

** Piano/MIDI Controller: A full-sized or larger MIDI Controller running a current version of Native Instruments Kontakt and the loaded crafted sample library is required. Kontakt can be used in stand-alone mode or as a plugin in a DAW (use the supplied template) A Mac Laptop, a simple Audio/MIDI Interface, and speaker(s)/amp are required (or it can be run through the soundboard).

^✺ Solo Viola/Solo Cello: Both soloists’ instruments will require Pickups and use Boss ME-80 Guitar Multiple Effects Pedals. They must also have some form of mic to amplify their singing. These will all run through either their individual amps or the soundboard.

^✢ Strings: As the strings are written divisi, more than 1 on a part is required. A larger component is strongly preferred. C Extension for the basses is also preferred.

Additional:

One whirly-tube for the pianist, and kazoos for most orchestra members are required.

Singing: All orchestral members sing simple musical lines notated in their parts. They can be sung at the most comfortable octave for the voice, but the conductor must be sensitive to the overall distribution of the singing, and in which octave, to create a balanced effect. The emphasis is never on “professional” quality singing and tone, only on enthusiasm and the overall group effect.

Skies are blue.
A new day's breaking.
You'll soon rule the world we're making.
As eagles fly --
High in the sky, they fly --
We're eagles, you and I, flying together.

And as we fly so free, you'll clearly see our future.

You're okay.  You're the way it's supposed to be.
You are free.
Who are they to take away all you are and all you could be?
We are gods. The odds are all on our side.
We decide.
Seize the day, and don't betray
Who you are.
Your star is rising.
Rising.

Lyric: Murray Horwitz, © 2020
Used by arrangement with the author

There are a number of free, aleatoric moments in the concerto designed to create an overall ensemble texture, or effect, with the minimum of required preparation within rehearsal.

Movement 1: beginning

The opening of the movement up to Letter B, and the brief passage just before Letter G:

A “white noise/nature” background sonic texture is desired, like the sound of the forest at night. Players should practice different possibilities for the given models before rehearsal to obtain some variation in the result, e.g. bending pitch up, or down. In performance the players should improvise on these models in random order and throughout the section, if they are not otherwise engaged in playing their instrument. In order to create the desired random, “nature-like” sound always perform the models in an uncoordinated way from others in the orchestra. Do so quietly and sparingly, please allow silence between events. Do not create set patterns. Also: beware of inadvertent comedic effects! Also, single player, rear stand parts (e.g. m. 1) that repeat should be in the approximate tempo, but not coordinate.

Movement 2: End of the World

Play the musical fragment in the box, rising in pitch, volume, and speed to create a chaotic effect. Do not play your repetitions literally, in strict tempo, nor synchronized with other players. Make some chaos that sounds like End of the World!

General notes about singing (and kazoo playing):

You are not expected to be professional singers! What is needed is an overall group, or crowd effect, not a recital, whether the material is in unison or staggered. Enthusiasm counts! In these sections, players should choose the octave that best suits their voice. Where there are multiple parts (e.g. Letter F, m. 45 in movement 2) the conductor must make sure there is a good distribution between the “call and response” parts, and the octaves in which they are sung so the result sounds full and natural. This holds for allsinging and kazoo playing. The kazoo playing is meant to be sarcastic and strange, so while the line’s contours needs to be clear in pitch and rhythm, perfection is not the goal. It’s meant to sound fun and weird. NB: singing parts appear transposed, not in C, in the parts of transposing instruments.

Movement 2:

The soloists’ vocal parts reflect the current soloists’ ranges. The octaves, even the parts themselves, may be switched out as needed.

Movement 3:

M. 97, after Letter E: All sing as can, in whatever octave is comfortable. The effect wanted is of quiet, ritualistic chanting. The singing should not synchronize with other orchestra members. Clear diction is important.

Pronunciation note for the Dante quote used: “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate.”

One common translation is: “Abandon every hope, all ye who enter here.” 

Transliteration: La-SHYAH -teh OH-nyeh sper-RHAN-tsa VOH-ee keen-TRAH-teh. Accented syllables are capitalized.

The transliteration has been provided in each part under the lyric. Generally, for sung Italian: place consonances slightly before the beat, always sing on the vowel, never on the consonant. All vowel sounds are “pure,” meaning no diphthongs typical for English speaking and pop singing (e.g. think of words like “toy,” “ear,” or “crime” where there is more than one vowel sound. 

Trumpets in mm. 167 and 190 (Letters M and 1 before O)

The notation is given as an example of the type of overblown, double tongued-crazed fanfare figures wanted. It is the gestural effect that is wanted, not necessarily the exact notes written.

Drum set: Measures 130-149 (Letter I) and Measures 193 (after Letter O), etc. 

Letter I is the basic pattern from which to play. Some flexibility and filling is expected, especially the fill at mm. 148. Measure 193: This is a basic “skank” or “blast beat” pattern used in metal music. It’s a starting point, it’s expected that the player will do more than just mechanically play the pattern. It is to be enlivened and embellished throughout – provided it is in character with the style and feel of the music, and does not interfere or conflict with the solo parts etc.

A couple of common jazz articulations are used in the movement 3.

Fall (or drop if it’s a note of shorter value): The general rule of thumb is that the pitch is held for half of the note value and the fall begins and continues through the second half of the note value. Establish the pitch, and then force the pitch down (as much as an octave), usually within one beat or less. It’s faster and more “aggressive” than a glissando. For reed instruments this is done chromatically with notes slurred and/or with the lips, while the trombones use the lip and the slide, and the trumpets and horns use the lip and sometimes half-valves, or “flying fingers.” Strings should perform a glissando that imitates and matches the winds’ sound. It is important to maintain volume through the duration of the drop or fall.

Doit: The doit (pronounced “doyt”) is the opposite of the fall/drop: the pitch is established, and then there is a gliss./slide movement upwards to an unspecified much higher pitch (as much as an octave). Similarly, establish the pitch and hold for the first half of the note value, and then begin doit continuing through the second half of the note.

Scoop: is a very short “scooping” up to the note, also the opposite of a fall. For wind players, scoops are usually accomplished by manipulating the embouchure, as well as keys, or the slide.  An element of throat or “glottal” smear can be added to the scoop. It is shorter and messier than a gliss.

Shake: For brass players, the shake is a lip trill between the written pitch and the next highest overtone on the instrument. For reed players, the shake is a trill between the written pitch and a minor third higher unless otherwise marked. Strings can imitate this by using a wide “arm vibrato” (meaning letting go of the thumb and oscillating the arm quickly on the fingered note).

A couple of EDM terms are referred to in Movement 3

EDM: a type of electronic dance music that… was, oh so 2010’s. See Skrillex

The Build: A tension-building part of a song that signals a big change is about to happen, usually with drum rolls and sounds rising in pitch (AKA a “riser”). 

The Drop: The section of a track that usually follows a break and a build. Generally, when the tension of the build is release, and beat and bass is as its strongest.