Epistrophy Variations: Performance notes.pdf

8/14/2019 Epistrophy Variations: Performance notes.pdf

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E pistrophy V ariations For Solo Trumpet

by

William L. Benzon

A Suite in Three Movements,

the third is dedicated to Adenola Knowles

March 2002

708 Jersey Avenue, No. 2A Jesrey City, NJ 07302

201.217.1010 [email protected]

w

Copyright 2002 by William L. Benzon. All Rights Reserved


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Performance Notes

for

Epistrophy Suite

by

William L. Benzon

INTRODUCTION

This piece reflects rhythmic interests I developed while playing with Ade Knowles and others in the AfroEurasian Connection/New African Music Collective. Ade is a superb percussionist in Afro-Cuban and West African (esp. Ghana) traditions. The suite takes the form of a set of variations

based on the chord changes to Thelonius Monks Epistrophy . Monks melody is not used the piece. Note that the time feel for this piece is not a jazz time feel, it is to be played (more or less)

straight. The idea of creating a multi-movement suite by providing different rhythmic settings for the

same melodic/harmonic material goes back at least to Chico OFarrills Manteca Suite. This was written for Dizzy Gillespiebased, of course, on his tuneand recorded on Verve in 1954. OFarrill uses standard Latin rhythms as the basis of this four-movement suite, with the first movement being similar to Gil Fullers original chart for Manteca.

FORM

The first movement of the Suite uses multiple meters and is about filling a given stretch of time, the metric period, with various numbers of isochronous pulses. It moves through Monks changes three times. The third movement moves through the changes four times, with an extra eight bars at the end. It is more explicitly percussive and is concerned with imposing a continuous stream of 3-note eighth note cells on the 2-beat harmonic rhythm of Monks tune. In typical fashion, the middle movement provides lyrical relief and separation between the more vigorous outer movements. It moves once through the changes.

I chose Epistrophy because it is an interesting variant on the standard AABA song form. The piece is only weakly tonal, with the A sections consisting of 2-chord vamps while the bridge moves chromatically. The first 8-bars with 4-bars of an Eb7/E7 vamp (Bb transposition), two beats per chord; that is followed by 4-bars of a F7/F#7 vamp. Rather than simply repeat this for the next 8-bars, Monk continues with 4 bars of the F7/F#7 vamp followed by 4-bars of the Eb7/E7. This brings us to the bridge, which moves from Ab-6 to E7. The final 8-bars repeats the pattern of the 2nd 8. The whole structure looks like this:

| Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 |

| F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 |

| Ab-6 | Ab-6 | Ab-6 | Ab-6 | Db7 | Db7 | Eb7 | E7 || F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 |

The harmonic contrast between the bridge and the A sections is, of course, the defining structural feature of the form, a feature Monk certainly exploits here. Since this suite is for solo trumpet, harmonic structure is necessarily weakened by the lack of simultaneously sounded tones. Given


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that, and the fact that this piece is about rhythm, I use various rhythmic devices to differentiate between the bridge and the A sections in each movement.

Note: In bars 88 and 90 Ive indicated some alternative notes. Those are not double-stops. In 88 one can play either B E G# D or B A G# G# for the last four notes. In 90 one plays the upper notes or the lower.

INSTRUMENTS TIM RE

Finally, a note about instruments and timbres. I wrote the suite for the standard B-flat trumpet. The lyrical nature of the middle movement suggests you might perform it on flugelhorn. Any of the movements might also be performed on cornet, though the brilliance of the final movement suggests a brighter tone. If you like muted trumpet, you might try various mutes as well.

TEMPO

While Ive indicated metronome markings, they should not be taken as indicative. They are, at best, approximate.

1st MOVEMENT: MONKS LEFT This movement moves through the chord progression three times (with three additional bars at the end) and, in effect, uses four different meters, though it isnt notated that way. It is notated, however, in 2/2 time, with the melody line written in quarter notes or eight notes as convenient. The basic idea is that all measures should have the same duration , from beginning to end subject, of course, to reasonable tempo drift.

The quarter note phrases (mostly in the first chorus) are, in fact, quarter note triplets and many of the eighth note phrases are, in fact, quintuplets or sextuplets. Rather than make the score busy by explicitly indicating these triplets, etc. (or by changing meters often) Ive simply written quarter notes and eight notes. A note at the beginning of a section indicates how many subdivisions each half note receives.

The bridge is in a contrasting meter in each of the three variations. It is important to make the transitions to and from the bridge absolutely seamless, though one can have a brief pause

between variations. The overall scheme is simple: First Chorus: 16 bars: 3 per half note

8 bars: 4 per half note (bridge) 8 bars: 3 per half note

Second Chorus: 16 bars: 4 per half note 8 bars: 5 per half note (bridge) 8 bars: 4 per half note

Third Chorus: 16 bars: 5 per half note 8 bars: 6 per half note (bridge) 8 bars: 5 per half note

2nd MOVEMENT: MASEKELAS LAMENT

The idea here is simple: Go through Monks progression three times, cutting the duration of each repetition by a half. The first time through is thus the full form, as indicated above. The second time through is like this:

| Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 | F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 || F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 |


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| Ab-6 | Ab-6 | Db7 | Eb7 E7 || F7-F#7 | F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 | Eb7-E7 |

The third time through is like this:

| Eb7-E7 | F7-F#7 |

| F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 || Ab-6 |Db7 Eb7 E7|| F7-F#7 | Eb7-E7 |

Notice that Monks changes are well suited to this treatment as they are very repetitive.

3rd MOVEMENT: CHANOS SKINS

(Dedicated to Adenola Knowles)

This movement is dedicated to Adenola Knowles, a percussionist I worked with for a decade or so. It is named after Chano Pozo, a Cuban conga player Dizzy Gillespie brought to the United States in the late 1940s. The skins are the heads of his congas, but also the skin on his fingers and hands which meets the drum heads in the act of playing.

As I imply at the movements beginning, where I suggest that it be played fluidly, like congas, the underlying idea was inspired by the sound of congas. Imagine two congas one a bit higher than the other. You play a simple pattern of eighth notes, playing a triple pattern where the first note is playing on one drum and the second two notes are played on the other drum. This determines the interval pattern of the eighth-note lines in this movement. However, it is superimposed on Monks chord changes, which move by half-notes (e.g. four eighth notes) in the A sections and whole notes in the bridge. So, for most of the piece what have a three-note triple rhythm being played against a four-note harmonic rhythm. That tension is what gives this movement its propulsive force.

This pattern is most obvious in the eight-bar introduction and the first variation (of four). Pay particular attention to where Ive placed the eighth-note rests. In the second variation I substitute pairs of sixteenth notes for some eighth notes here and there throughout and introduce quarter notes into the bridge, thus beginning to differentiate it rhythmically. In the third variation I use eighth-note triplets to substitute for eighth-note pairs and introduce quarter notes, dotted quarters, and half notes in the second eight. Notice, however, that the bridge is still rhythmically different from the adjacent eights. I combine the sixteenth note and triplet substitutions in the fourth and final variation and maintain the rhythmic distinction between the bridge and its adjacent eights, though the distinction gets pretty blurred with the respect to the final eight.

Notice also that the melodic arc ends in the first beat of measure 136, which is two bars after the end of the fourth 32-bar chorus in measure 134. It would thus seem that the melodic line escaped from the boundaries of the underlying harmonic structure. That climax is followed by a concluding phrase which reinstates the conga motif, thus echoing the eight-bar introduction. Finally, this movement ends on E-flat whereas the previous movements ended on E-natural.

RHYTHM PRACTICE

I recommend

that

you

practice

a

simple

exercise

on

an

agogo

bell

(or

any

percussion

instrument

where you can produce two distinct tones) as a way of getting a feel for the rhythm in this movement. Consider the following pattern of strokes, which are at equa intervals where H is the high bell and L is the low bell:

(1) H L L H L L H L L H L L

Normally we would phrase this in three:

(2) H L L H L L H L L H L L


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1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Instead, I want you to phrase it in four:

(3) H L L H L L H L L H L L1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

If you wish, you can accent the first of each four-note group. But the basic trick is mental. You have to think of these notes as being grouped in four; I do it by mentally counting in four as I play the notes. Eventually you will be able to do it without having to count mentally.

Notice that you now have three different four-note patterns to play, in order:

(3a) H L L H1 2 3 4

(3b) L L H L1 2 3 4

(3c) L H L L1 2 3 4

Documents

Epistrophy Variations: Performance notes.pdf