Chorus Series for Public Spaces

These pieces are meant to be performed by a medium to large group of people spread around a concentrated public space. They can be performed alone, or as a set, and may be superimposed upon each other in various ways, or juxtaposed with the performance of other un-related pieces. The members of the chorus need not have any musical experience.

- Jason Belcher (6/22/2010)

Chorus I - Warren

(for Warren Senders)

1 begins by singing or playing a note (always a held tone).

others come in one by one, each with a new note.

When the entire ensemble is actively singing, move around (in a circle, randomly, and if in a hall, moving about the audience).

The phonetic content to be sung is reflected by the title of this movement, and should be divided up as follows:

1.) Wa… (W attack only once then always on an open "ah" sound)

2.) rr… (closed, but held, and retaining pitch)

3.) e… (as within the word Warren)

4.) n… (closed, but held, and retaining pitch)

The morphing to the next syllable should not happen precisely together, but the performers should listen, and generally follow one another. Soft but frenetic improvised figures can pop out of the texture towards the middle of the piece, but should not happen too often.

This movement should last from 6-10 minutes.

II. She

She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all the time.

- Anselm Hollo

The Hollo poem is broken up into cells (see below). The cells should be repeated - not too long, but long enough for the addition or subtraction of a word to be interesting. Also, the ensemble should move through the cells together.

The overall density of the ensemble should expand and contract with the addition or subtraction of words. When the ensemble reaches the word time, they should fade to nothing, and the movement is over

The words should be spoken and sung. There should be little sense of meter, and all performers should be conscious of the overall ensemble sound.

This movement should be anywhere from 4-6 minutes in length

II. She

1 - She

2 - She had

3 - She had this

4 - She had this incredible

5 - She had this incredible urge

6 - She had this incredible urge to

7 - She had this incredible urge to tell

8 - She had this incredible urge to tell the

9 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole

10 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story

11 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all

12 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all 

13 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all the

14 - She had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all the time

15 - Had this incredible urge to tell the whole story all the time

16 - This incredible urge to tell the whole story all the time

17 - Incredible urge to tell the whole story all the time

18 - Urge to tell the whole story all the time

19 - To tell the whole story all the time

20 - Tell the whole story all the time

21 - The whole story all the time

22 - Whole story all the time

23 - Story all the time

24 - All the time

25 - the time

26  - Time

III. C’mon

Take the title, and speak/sing it using different inflections/durations of sounds.

Performers should also isolate different sounds from within the title (C = hard “K” sound, m = closed M sound of any length etc.).

There may be different sounds happening at the same time, but there can also be coordination between performers and the sounds they are making (for example, the performers could all be making a short, hard K sound for a moment or two). Like the previous chorus, strict rhythm should be avoided).

This piece should not exceed the length of 4 minutes, and could be as short as 15 seconds.

IV. Tubacases

(for Beth)

This movement is similar to movement II in its construction and execution. The ensemble should treat each line like a cell that can be freely repeated until the ensemble is cued to move on (by the conductor or group leader).

Velocity and density should build from a soft dynamic and peak at cell 9, which should be a little longer than other cells.

This movement should be 3-5 minutes in length.

IV. Tubacases

1 - The

2 - To The

3 - The Tuba

4 - The Tubacase

5 - The Tubacase Can

6 - The Tubacase Cannot

7 - The Tubacase Cannot Cross

8 - The Tubacase Cannot Cross The Road

9 - The Road

10 - The Road On

11 - The Road On Its

12 - The Road On Its Own

13 - The Tubacase

14 - The Tubacase Cannot Cross The Road On Its Own

15 - Cross The Road On Its Own

16 – The Road On Its Own

17 – Road On Its Own

18 – On its own

19 – Its Own

20 - Own

P I A N O M U S I C

Piano Music
For Ben Stepner

DIRECTIONS:

This piece should consist of long, freely sustained notes. The duration of the notes should always vary in length, and most notes should be very soft (though there can be variations on exact dynamics, sustain, and timbre). The piece can be anywhere between 4 and 9 minutes in length.

The majority of attacks should consist of only two pitches struck simultaneously (there can be occasional exceptions). Attacks with more than two pitches should be limited, and should follow two-pitch attacks rather quickly.

Most of the two-pitch attacks should have intervals larger than a major seventh. There can be contrary motion, parallelism, and repeated notes (for example: Bb1 and C5 could be struck together, twice in a row). The whole keyboard should be utilized, as should especially wide intervals.

Attacks can occasionally be loud, or contain intervals smaller than a major seventh.

There should be no tonal center, though short tonal sequences are encouraged.



JASON BELCHER – 7/9/2010

Roma Band log 2

This past weekend was a big one for parade bands all across the country, and members of the Roma Band found themselves traversing the South Shore of Massachusetts for much of that time.

I'd arranged for car transport with Ben Miller, and on every trip we had to make, we were always in the company of at least one other person. On Saturday afternoon we met up in Porter Square (Cambridge) near where Ben lives. On the train to Porter, I bumped into my cousins Brian and Sandra, and my Aunt Sharon (Sandra recently moved to Porter). This was a completely random meeting, but it was really nice, and is definitely a building block in what makes this Independence day weekend so memorable.

Josh Mizruchi, a trumpet player who's been involved with a lot of my projects at NEC, played his first gig with us that day. It was fun to have him there, both for the parade, and the necessary driving. I must re-emphasize my joy in seeing the world from a car. North of the Bunker Hill Bridge, I-93 is still elevated, and it was wonderful to see that view again after at least a few years.

Our first parade was in Randolph, MA. Not too far (none of them were) from Boston. The band was the largest it had been since the Cambridge event, and you could feel it. Thankfully, this parade was not too long, and we did a lot of playing. I left my horn in the trunk Ben's car overnight, and was glad not to have to lug it back to Porter Square in the morning.

The next day, I ventured out to Porter again. This is an area that I once lived near, but I seldom stop to think about that time (it wasn't too fun). I recently had a bad dream about it.

With Ben and I on the 4th was his friend Natalie, a therapist/drummer who trains "service monkeys" in Allston. I don't know about you, but Allston is not the first place I think of as having a monkey population - it does make sense, though, when you think of all the parties that happen, and the "hipsters"/"art freaks" that reside there. This was Natalie's first marching gig since high school, and I think she's planning on joining us again.

We also had a bass drummer, and this helped add to the music. Her name was Maggie, and she has to be about 14 or 15 years old. The youngest member of that first group was a ten-year-old trumpet player named Ben, who was playing with his father. I didn't get to hear him in the front line, but I think the age range of this band is incredible.

Our first parade that day took place in Hingham, a well-off seaside town with a huge audience for this particular event. I used to attend a summer music festival there, and it was one of the more important things for my education as a kid. It is called the South Shore Conservatory, and was very much akin to conservatory life - full of music, energy, and great fun.

After that parade, most of the band drove to the manager's house for a cookout. It was more of an eat-in due to the heat. After we ate, we all took naps in their livingroom, guest bedroom, and hallway. They insisted on it, but it definitely helped us get through the rest of the day in good spirits. We had a good amount of time before we had to take off again.

Our third and final parade of the weekend took place in Norwood, up Washington Street, the same Washington street that goes up through Boston. It was the longest parade of the weekend, but it moved fairly quick, and had the biggest crowds.

Afterwards, we drove onto I-95, going around Boston and into Cambridge. I went to the Charles River to see the fireworks, though this was probably a bad idea (I still had my horn). before they were over, I made my way out of the crowd, and got to the train before not too long. This has been the second year in a row that I hadn't camped out on the esplanade all day, heard the concert, and saw the fireworks. I miss it, so I decided I had to see something of it - no matter what.

After a public transportation fiasco (catching an inbound 39 bus to Back Bay station, and getting on the orange line), and seeing an impromptu fireworks display in the basketball court near my house, I got home at about 12:30AM. This is not the latest I've ever gotten home, but I've seldom been more exhausted.