William Pearson

Half of My Love/Life
For Violin, Cello, Piano and Percussion

Summer 2016

Performance Notes

Page 1:

The first page is written as four separate instrumental parts (violin, cello, piano, percussion).

These four separate parts are to be played roughly in unison each of these parts are doing the same types of things in the same order.

What they are all doing might be described as repeating the phrase Half of My Love/Life six times

There are three staves and each is repeated once.

Love should be used the first time, while Life should be used on the repeat.

Performers are not speaking or singing here, but interacting with their instruments in a way that relates to the sound of these words

The first stave is to be played as notated. Indications in parentheses are to be played on the repeat.

The second stave is to be read (silently) whilst playing as faithful a repetition of the first stave as possible.

Please do not simply read the top stave again, some level of decay/change is desired between the first and second staves

As the second stave is repeated, all performers are to close their eyes gradually over the course of that stave.

The third stave should be played with closed eyes, and the same material is to be repeated, with (hopefully) further degradation.

Because eyes will be closed, it is expected and desired for the four instrumental parts to not be as in-sync as they have been.

Page 2:

The second page is written as two groups of two performers: Cello/Percussion and Violin/Piano.

The two duos alternate from quarter to quarter, beginning with Violin/Piano.

Violin/Piano play the first quarter of the first stave, Cello/Percussion play the second, Violin/Piano play the third, etc.

As each duo finishes their quarter, they are to close their eyes. The other duo will use this as a cue to begin their next quarter

The halves work the same way, just twice as long. Cello/Percussion play the first half, while Violin/Piano play the second.

The second page consists of two staves.

The first stave is divided into four quarters, while the second stave is divided in half.

On both staves, all performers should inhale slowly through the first half of the stave and exhale through the second half.

When large letters appear in the score on this page, they are to be whispered (either inhaling or exhaling) for the duration suggested.

The sound of the letter in the context of the word it is in is what is whispered (not the name of the letter or the IPA sound)

The volume of the whispering should be such that it is audible only some of the time.

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The final word, Love or Life is to be played by only one performer (first violin, then piano, then percussion, etc.)

That performer can choose to play either word.

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Like the first page, it consists of the repetition of a phrase in unison, and from memory.

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extent to which they are focusing on either sound or action for their reproduction. Probably some of both is best.

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The third page, like the second, is written as two groups of two performers, but this time the groups are Violin/Cello and Piano/Percussion.

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There are two other optional suggestions for this work:

The first is the staging and stand placement shown on the next page.

The second (crazy) suggestion is that the string players and the percussion players swap instruments.

What I like about this staging is that facilitates the particular relationships presented in the score.
I also like having the fourth page in a single location, where each player must strive towards the same point.

This would entail the violinist playing cello, the cellist playing violin, percussionist playing piano, and the pianist playing percussion.
What I like about this idea is that it infuses a child-like sense of unfamiliarity into the work.

Bass Drum - Flat like a table, with Glockenspiel on top of it.

Percussion Setup:

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Small
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Perc.

Back to Back Stands for P. 3

Suggested Staging :
Pianist

Perc.

Piano
Back to Back Stands for P. 2

Back to Back Stands for P. 2

Cello

Violin

Stand for P. 1

Stand for P. 1

Back to Back
Stands for P. 3

Stand for P. 4

Audience

Thanks!

William Pearson
wpearso2@illinois.edu

Dynamics and Tempo :

While there are no written-in dynamics for this piece, there are some dynamics implicit in the physical instructions. I am mostly interested in how the intensity of
this work plays out on its own, but if it seems to flat, here are some dynamics suggestions:

P. 1 :

Simply beginning very quietly, and getting louder and louder as the page progresses. This creates an interesting counterpoint with the increasing
lack of certainty regarding ones performative actions. In other words - the less certain you are, the louder you get.

P. 2 :

I would suggest relatively uniform dynamics within quarters, but clear dynamic changes between quarters (or halves). Loud - Soft - Loud - Soft is a
perfectly good way to go.

P. 3 :

I would only suggest avoiding any clear tiered or sectional dynamics here.

P. 4 :

I think the best dynamic here is the one which most resembles causal speech. Nothing that requires extraordinary effort.

There are also no marks about tempo or timing in this piece. In general, I find most ensembles just settle into a tempo that feels comfortable to them over the
course of their rehearsing. The notation is proportional, but everything should be loose and neednt be too tidy. Some additional thoughts:

P. 1:

Each stave might be about 15-20 long. The entire page would be around 1.5 - 2 minutes.

P. 2:

Each stave should feel a bit more stretched out, perhaps 20-30 per stave and 45-1 for the page.

P. 3:

This page can continue in the same manner, but may very well fluctuate more, and thats fine. I find more continuous passages like this tend to
speed up, which will probably be a good thing. Maybe 45-1 for this page.

P. 4:

Perhaps only 30 for the entire page.

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