piano -...
TRANSCRIPT
PIANO#965 @ 12:33 - 13:33 for Piano & Band of the 3rd Millennium™by Stephen Melillo © IGNA 25 December 2008 - 1 January 2009
2nd & 3rd Millennium
I. NightclubII. A Piano in the Storm
III. Nightclub Swing IV. A Brief History of Life & Time & the Piano
V. A Piano in the Storm...
Music inspired by
Pianoby Patrick Phillips
Touched by your goodness, I am likethat grand piano we found one night on Willoughby
that someone had smashed and somehowheaved through an open window.
And you might think by this I mean I’m brokenor abandoned, or unloved. Truth is, I don’t
know exactly what I am, any morethan the wreckage in the alley knows
it’s a piano, filling with trash and yellow leaves.
Maybe I’m all that’s left of what I was.But touching me, I know, you are the good
breeze blowing across its rusted strings.
What would you call that feeling when the wood,even with its cracked harp, starts to sing?
“Piano” by Patrick Phillips, from Boy. © The University of Georgia Press, 2008. Reprinted with permission.
Please visit this and many other truly inspirational works by Mr. Phillips at his website.www.patrickthemighty.com
and on Keillor’s NPR site.http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/12/03
11 December 2008
Dear Bryan,
Inspired by the Patrick Phillips Poem, PIANO, what began as a Musical Haiku, has now become a staged, dramatic Musical work.
I wanted you to see where I was going with all this in these very early stages.
Attached you’ll find:
1. A FLOW CHART of how I envision the unfolding elements of “PIANO”.
2. Two mp3 demos.
One of the mp3s attached is A PIANO in the STORM.
This work is a “Prerecorded Track” that will overlap the intended live Music. You will not hear it in it’s completed form at all. Just as a Novelist will create a “Back-Story” that you might never see, so too have I written two “Back-Story” pieces. One is prerecorded. The other is played live during the larger, new-form piece. Pieces within a piece that come together to hopefully deliver a lasting message not unlike the poem by Mr. Phillips. Ideas from the prerecorded track will be used in different forms within the completed piece... and excerpts from this prerecorded track will be played over the ensemble as was done in other “storm” works... like UNIVERSE BELOW, GARRISON at GOLIAD, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE and LAST WORLD STANDING.
The second mp3 is A BRIEF HISTORY of LIFE & TIME & the PIANO.
It is accompanied by the actual Piano Part. This is being sent in advance so that your Pianist can begin to work on it while I continue to Compose! The mp3 is simply a reference.
With these two “Back-Story” pieces written... I am ready to begin the actual piece, which I am further describing in the attached PDF Flow Chart.
Godspeed! Steve
TECHNICAL NOTESwhich are elaborated via Quicktime Video
Tempo is designated at mm@232 with the overall Time for the work being 12:33 - 13:33. Here is how to find the Tempo for your ensemble. Discover how fast your Musicians can play the triplet-1/8th note runs during the Swing sections, making it SOUND wild and effective. The key word here is “sound”. This is not an exercise and its purpose is the audience.
Just as Tempo is easy to find, there is another point of liberation. At any time, if notes are too high during the Swing sections, taking things down an octave is always an option that will not detract from the story-telling.
Eighth notes during the Swing sections should be basically straight, not triplet-like. The syllables to imagine are “oo-bah”. Aren’t you glad that we can now do a video demo?!
Synth Station 1 is an Acoustic Bass & PAD Bass. This can also be an actual Acoustic Bass with a switch to PAD Bass.
Synth Station 2 is Harp. The Harp can also be played on an actual Harp.
Synth Station 3 is the Swing Section Piano and is completely optional. This person can come in and out of the playing and control the iTUNES which is delivering the pre-recorded TRACK 1: A Piano in the Storm at Measure 89. This pre-recorded track plays through the STORMSystem™.
The commissioning Percussionists requested a “drum set” that can be split into concert band percussion instruments. I have provided a “drum set” part. The option for splitting the parts in any fashion is a creative option for the percussionists.
All Solos and Section Features can be done while standing. Remember, this is “staged”.
The Clarinet Solo at m17 can also be improvised.
At m89, the band begins a fade and literally goes to Silence at m109 while still enacting a full out “jam session”. Pre-recorded TRACK 1 begins at m89 and has its own fade-out built into the recording.
At m137, the band fades back in as the pre-recorded track fades. Controlling the dynamic as best as possible creates the best result.
At m158, the Trumpets can take it up an octave if they want. Using plunger mutes, they can also deliver the wah-wah effect from the 1940s.
At m196, the actor/pianist plays “A Brief History of Life & Time & the Piano” as described in the FLOW CHART.
Measure 290 overlaps the ring of the Piano. This Music is rubato and in many ways... “pianistic”.
At m347, the winds crescendo and literally place their well-intoned D Major chord into the Piano. The Sustain Pedal is depressed allowing the ensemble sound to ring back to an eternal Silence.
MUSICAL NOTESFlashback: This wee-hours photograph comes from my days at Boston Conservatory. The piano you see on the score-cover sat in a dusty basement that we converted into a mini gung fu training room. We had classes there every Sunday. If you’ve ever heard the story of how Escape from Plato’s Cave was born some 21 years later, well this is “that” Piano. 33 years later, I’m glad I had photographed it! Posterity. Most of that self-imposed personal training, was painstakingly plucked out in the “work-out” room during the wee hours.
When I heard and read PIANO by Patrick Phillips, I was instantly transported back to Dorm 40 on The Fenway in Boston. I could hear the back alley echo and the sounds of the big band coming from Berklee College of Music just a block away. Those were tough times... the stuff of Music. Some of that is here in this piece called... “Piano.”
I would like to dedicate this work to Mr. Patrick Phillips and to Mrs. Tunde Gerloczy Aalders and to all those who feel Life and Love and Wonder.
Enjoy and Godspeed! Steve
PIA
NO
#9
65 in
12:
33 -
13:3
3 fo
r Pia
no &
Ban
d of
the
3rd
Mill
enni
um™
by ©
Ste
phen
Mel
illo
IGN
A 2
5 D
ecem
ber 2
008
to 1
Janu
ary
2009
, 2-3
Mill
enni
um
Pr
e-w
rit
te
n B
ac
k-S
to
ry
” S
OU
RC
E p
iec
es
to
be
ov
er
la
pp
ed
, & u
nd
er
la
pp
ed
wit
h l
ive
pl
ay
ing
an
d p
re
re
co
rd
ed
tr
ac
ks
.
Prer
ecor
ded
Sour
ce
Back
-Sto
ry 1
A P
iano
in th
e St
orm
at 3
:33
& 4
:16
with
Liv
e R
ende
ring
INTR
O
Back
-Sto
ry 2
A B
rief H
isto
ry o
f Life
&
Tim
e &
the
Pian
o at
3:3
3
Full
Live
Ban
d ex
plod
es in
Mid
-Jam
!C
larin
et S
olos
, va
ried
Tutti
sN
ight
club
feel
and
ligh
ting,
and
full
out S
win
g...
Mea
sure
89:
a sp
otlig
ht, s
oft b
lue,
fade
s up
on th
e 12
-foo
t gra
nd P
iano
. Pr
erec
orde
d So
urce
Tra
ck 1
pla
ys in
a w
ashe
d ov
erla
p as
the
Live
Ban
d fa
des,
but s
till e
nact
s the
nig
htcl
ub p
layi
ng...
Cro
ssfa
de:
Flas
hbac
k M
usic
ove
rlaps
Liv
e B
and.
The
Bar
i Sax
Pla
yer (
or M
ain
Cha
ract
er P
iani
st) m
oves
to th
e Pi
ano.
A c
lear
pa
thw
ay h
as b
een
set u
p in
adv
ance
. He/
She
is li
t, th
e Pi
ano
is li
t. H
e/Sh
e po
rtray
s the
qui
et u
rgen
cy o
f bei
ng d
raw
n to
the
Pian
o am
idst
th
e N
ight
club
spec
tacl
e an
d ru
ckus
. Th
e lig
ht fa
des o
n th
e ac
tor a
nd re
mai
ns o
n th
e Pi
ano
as “
A Pi
ano
in th
e St
orm
” pl
ays.
The
Pr
erec
orde
d tra
ck fa
des b
ack
unde
r the
Liv
e B
and.
The
nig
htcl
ub b
and
is b
ack
in fu
ll sw
ing.
Ful
l-out
tutti
pas
sage
s tak
e us
to a
n ab
rupt
do
wnb
eat a
t Mea
sure
196
, whe
re “
A Br
ief H
istor
y of
Life
& T
ime
& th
e Pi
ano”
beg
ins a
nd is
pla
yed
live
by th
e ac
tor/p
iani
st.
Prer
ecor
ded
Sour
ce
Back
-Sto
ry 1
is a
lso
Flas
hbac
k M
usic
in a
ltere
d fo
rms.
On
DA
TA C
D fo
r iT
UN
ES
:
1. P
iano
in th
e STO
RM T
RACK
1 at
4:16
(fo
r Live
Con
cert
rend
erin
gs.)
2. P
IANO
in th
e STO
RM at
3:33
(C
ompl
ete V
ersio
n)
3. A
Brie
f Hist
ory o
f Life
& T
ime &
the P
iano
at 3:
33
4. D
EMO
of co
mpl
ete w
ork a
t 12:
33
5. Co
mpo
ser’s
Sco
re N
otes
in Q
uick
time.
Back
-Sto
ry 2
A B
rief H
isto
ry o
f Life
& T
ime
& th
e Pi
ano
at 3
:33
is p
laye
d liv
e by
the
acto
r/pia
nist
.
At t
he p
oint
of “
colla
pse”
in B
ack-
Stor
y 2,
the
Liv
e O
rche
stra
ove
rlaps
, and
em
erge
s fro
m th
e rin
ging
Pia
no.
The
Them
e of
the
“Pia
no”
is n
ow fu
lly o
rche
stra
ted
and
deliv
ered
, beg
inni
ng w
ith a
n in
noce
nt w
oodw
ind
treat
men
t.
We
hear
the
Them
e as
reco
rded
in B
ack-
Stor
y 1,
but
nev
er h
eard
in it
s ent
irety
dur
ing
the
Live
Con
cert
rend
erin
g. T
he re
cord
ing
was
/is si
mpl
y a
refe
renc
e. T
he p
iece
end
s with
the
Sust
ain
Peda
l ope
ned
on th
e Pi
ano.
... a
nd th
e rin
g of
the
full
ense
mbl
e w
ithin
it, e
ver f
adin
g ba
ck to
Sile
nce.
...
PIA
NO
, pag
e 2
Opt
ion
2Im
ages
of t
he P
iani
st th
roug
hout
his
life
and
at t
he P
iano
, are
pro
ject
ed
insi
de th
e up
lifte
d H
ood
via
a sm
all l
apto
p pr
ojec
tor.
The
logi
stic
s of
this
are
up
to y
ou a
nd m
ust b
e do
ne c
aref
ully
so a
s not
to d
etra
ct fr
om
the
“Mus
ical
” st
ory-
telli
ng.
This
Mus
ic w
as fi
rst i
nspi
red
by,
Pian
oby
Pat
rick
Phi
llips
Touc
hed
by y
our g
oodn
ess,
I am
like
that
gra
nd p
iano
we
foun
d on
e ni
ght o
n W
illou
ghby
that
som
eone
had
sm
ashe
d an
d so
meh
owhe
aved
thro
ugh
an o
pen
win
dow
.
And
you
mig
ht th
ink
by th
is I
mea
n I’m
bro
ken
or a
band
oned
, or u
nlov
ed. T
ruth
is, I
don
’t kn
ow e
xact
ly w
hat I
am
, any
mor
eth
an th
e w
reck
age
in th
e al
ley
know
sit’
s a
pian
o, fi
lling
with
tras
h an
d ye
llow
leav
es.
May
be I’
m a
ll th
at’s
left
of w
hat I
was
.Bu
t tou
chin
g m
e, I
know
, you
are
the
good
bree
ze b
low
ing
acro
ss it
s ru
sted
stri
ngs.
Wha
t wou
ld y
ou c
all t
hat f
eelin
g w
hen
the
woo
d,ev
en w
ith it
s cr
acke
d ha
rp, s
tarts
to s
ing?
“P
iano
” by
Pat
rick
Phill
ips,
from
Boy
. ©
The
Uni
vers
ity o
f Geo
rgia
Pre
ss, 2
008.
Re
prin
ted
with
the
Poet
’s pe
rmis
sion
.
Opt
ion
1A
live
cam
era
is si
tuat
ed a
bove
the
Pian
ist,
and
a sh
ot o
f the
han
ds a
re
sent
to a
smal
l pro
ject
or th
at is
insi
de th
e pi
ano
and
proj
ectin
g to
the
insi
de o
f the
ope
ned
hood
.
In Full Jam... mm@232, Swing!
#965 by © STEPHEN MELILLO, Composer ASCAPIGNA 25 December 2008 - 1 January 2009, 2-3 Millennium
PIANO1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon
Clarinet 1
Clarinet 2
Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinetin Bb
Alto Sax 1
Alto Sax 2
Tenor Sax
Bari Sax
Horn 1
Horn 2
Horn 3
Horn 4
Trumpet 1 (&4)
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
Euphonium
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Bass/PAD Bass
Piano
Harp
Drum Set/Timpani
Conga/Chimes
Orch Bells
WC, FC, Crash, Bass, Gong
Sus Cymbal
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
3 3 3 3
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
3 3 3 3
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
3 3 3 3
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...3
3 3 3
mf & Build
tr... tr...
mf & Build
tr... tr...
f & Swingin'
f & Swingin'
f & Swingin'
f & Swingin'
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
f & Swingin' mf & Build
tr... tr...
f
Acoutsic Bass or Patch
mf & Build
Swing Comp on Piano Synth, not "Character" Grand. See Score Notes
mf & Build
f
Drum Set, optional section split
f
Swing
mf & Build3 3
PIANO by © STEPHEN MELILLO, IGNA 1 January 2009, 2-3M
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon
Clarinet 1
Clarinet 2
Clarinet 3
B. Cl.
Alto Sax 1
Alto Sax 2
Tenor Sax
Bari Sax
Horn 1
Horn 2
Horn 3
Horn 4
Trumpet 1-4
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
Euphonium
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Bass/PAD Bass
Piano
Harp
Drum Set/Timpani
Conga/Chimes
Orch Bells
WC, FC, Crash, Bass, Gong
Sus Cymbal
tr...tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
f
tr... tr...
f
tr... tr...
f
tr...tr...
f
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
tr... tr...
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
mf & Build
f
f
f
PIANO by © STEPHEN MELILLO, IGNA 1 January 2009, 2-3M
2