Tecelagem (2021-22)
Scores
The original score
The digitally engraved score
The handwritten score is the one I first received from Magalhães. The composer only suggested the approx. range where the magnets (and other preparations) should be placed, so some of the pitches you see in the digitally engraved score (and note examples) show what has been the most practical solution for the pianos I have been using until now.
The handwritten score has an A-B form, while the other one, which is Magalhães’ revision (including some of the practical solutions I suggested), and the one used for the recording, has an A-B-A form (where B is very short).
A final published score (with performance notes) does still not exist.
Technical Info
Special requirements for concert programming and instrument:
- A grand piano.
- If performed together with its preceding movement Snow soul (as I do in the recording), the instrument should be detuned and prepared before the concert, or during an intermission. As the piano preparation for Tecelagem is slightly different, approx. 1 minute of preparing will anyway be needed between the movements.
If Tecelagem is perfomed without Snow soul, it may be detuned and prepared in approx. 3-4 minutes, and about the same after the performance.
Use of microtonal techniques
- Unison string course scordatura (fig. 1)
5 C#s and 4 F#s are to be lowered by a quartertone.
It should be mentioned that several of these detuned pitches are not included in the short movement Tecelagem, but are required for Snow soul, where they to a large extent contribute to a certain mode/scale.In Tecelagem, which according to Magalhães also may be performed separately, these quartertone-low C#s and F#s are less important, as there are more preparations for this movement that eventually anyway will “confuse” the intonation, and the composer claims it is possible to realize the piece with less detuning, or even no (!) detuning.
For some of the concerts where Tecelagem was performed separately, I detuned just a few of the most prominent pitches, as shown in 'fig. 2'.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
- Prepared piano
'fig. 3' shows my suggestion to where to place the preparations mentioned in the handwritten performance notes, namely the neodymium magnets and the tack-it.
In the first sketches, Magalhães suggested placing a thin line of tack-it across certain harmonics, such as the 7th harmonic, but this was later left for me to decide.
For the highest prepared sounds, where only 2 of 3 strings were muted, she had however asked for a ‘thin’ sustain starting with an attack.In Tecelagem, the combination of magnets and tack-it makes the piano articulation uneven with its “bubbling” mix of both very dry and resonant sounds, and one could claim that Magalhães almost creates a new instrument. ('Sound example 1')
The piano can also be prepared swiftly, as the tack-it can be placed across many strings at once, together with some standing magnets that stick to the string course just by placing them on top of it.
More about magnets (fig. 4)
Sometimes the fingers trigger the magnets directly to shake or “dance” onto the strings, which results in complex colourful microtonal sounds. In addition to hitting a harmonic node (whether random or not), the magnets split the string into two parts, and the sound has its life of its own where the rhythm from the pendulating magnet creates an upward glissando. The sound very much changes depending on where on the string it is placed, and one needs some time to experiment and to ‘get to know’ them. Magalhães writes that the magnets preferably should be placed at spots enabling longer resonating tremolos.To listen more to the ‘plucked’ magnets, a slightly longer extract can be heard in Snow soul. ('Sound example 2')
Fig. 3
'Sound example 1'
Fig. 4
'Sound example 2'