Rebecca Saunders: Molly’s Song 3 - Shades of Crimson Hannah Reardon-Smith, 2nd year ManaMa
Rebecca Saunders’ unusual trio for viola, alto flute and guitar with radios and music box was written in 1996 and given its premiere the following year in Brussels by Ensemble Q-o2. Saunders (born 1967) is a British composer who has lived all of her professional life in Germany. She studied with Wolfgang Rihm in Karlsruhe, and while his influence is evident in her music, her style looks somehow beyond postwar German expressionism into the quiet determination and Zen focus of American experimentalists Cage and Feldman. In this piece, her post-Lachenmannian attention to the details of instrumental sound is patiently developed, before being wildly contrasted with an abrupt interruption by loud radio static and the whimsical tinkling of a music box playing Der Kaiserwalzer Kaiserwalzer (Johann Strauss II). In this paper I will examine Saunders choice of material and compositional structure in Molly’s Song 3 - Shades of Crimson Crimson with regards to its literary connection to the soliloquy of Molly Bloom which takes up the final 50 pages of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Ulysses. Molly’s Song 3 3 and Molly Bloom Several of Saunders’ works are named for the character of Molly Bloom. CRIMSON: Molly’s Song 1 1 (1995) is scored for the larger forces of twelve soloists, mechanical metronomes, whistles and three music boxes. From that we jump straight to Molly’s Song 3 3 (no Molly’s Song 2 appears in Saunders’ oeuvre), which has a distinct quality of uncomfortable intimacy indeed reminiscent of Joyce’s frank and explicit attempt to delve into the mind of woman. The last fifty pages of Joyce’s novel are written in Molly’s voice, meandering through her thoughts in eight giant “sentences”. Molly begins by smarting at her husband’s (Leopold Bloom) unusual request for breakfast in bed come morning, and then wanders off into many aspects of her and Bloom’s lives - together and apart - such as their ten years of celibacy together, her only recently commenced infidelity, the other men in her life, the potential of her future encounter with Stephen Dedalus, her sexual desire and preferences, her distaste of certain male behaviours, her childhood in Gibraltar, and finally the moment when she accepted Bloom’s proposal of marriage. During this time she shifts to relieve built up gas, and realises that she has begun menstruating and gets up to use the chamber pot - such vivid descriptions of the bodily functions and the reality of the thoughts that accompany them intensify the reader’s sensation that they are observing something they really shouldn’t. Molly’s sleepless thoughts are musically lyrical, presented without punctuation, and with repetition and emphasis reminiscent of common musical forms. Perhaps this is partly a
1
reference to the fact that she is a musician - a moderately successful classical singer. In Molly’s Song 3, sonic ideas likewise return again and again, as links and interjections. Saunders frequently titles her works are colours, and in particular archaic reds (crimson, vermillion, scarlet, cinnabar, rubricare…). In this instance, the “crimson” in the titles of both Molly’s Song 1 and 3 is plucked directly from Joyce’s text - near to the very end of Molly’s monologue (and the end of Ulysses), where she speaks of the “crimson” of the sunsets over the sea seen from Gibraltar, the British-ruled island off the southernmost point of the Iberian peninsula and Molly’s childhood home: “O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes”. The colour also links back to the rush of blood that accompanies the onset of her period: “have we too much blood up in us or what O patience above its pouring out of me like the sea anyhow he didnt make me pregnant as big as he is”1. The reference to the character of Molly in the title of Molly’s Song 3 clearly indicates a “subjective” dimension to the work. It gives us an expectation of a “song-like” (and thus subjective) element in the work, only emphasised further by the lyricism of the Joycean stream of consciousness, and the fact that Molly is herself a singer. But rather than the obvious choice of a kind of “theme and variations” modelled on the text, Saunders gives us three instruments taking on an absolute minimum expressive subjective role. This is curious, because she then sets this minimal subjectivity off against a “fuller” subjectivity in the music box, that, as music box, is a kind of “lost” fullness. Der Kaiserwalzer The music box melody that emerges out of the radio static is the primary theme of Johann Strauss II’s Der Kaiserwalzer . This work was originally composed as a sign of friendship between the rulers of Austria and Germany. Saunders is a known collector of music boxes, so to specify this tune in particular must mean it has a particular connection for her to this piece and presumably to Molly Bloom. However Molly never mentions Der Kaiserwalzer , Strauss, or anything to do with Viennese waltzes. Neither is there any evident connection to pitch or other musical materials in the work until the guitar takes up a (very) warped version of the melody while the music box is still playing. Saunders has made reference to her use of these strange and kitsch musical objects as “British roots” elaborated by Gordon Kampe as “a special, British kind of melancholy” 2. In fact, Britain seems to be home to some particularly enthusiastic fans of Johann Strauss II, as there is a highly active Johann Strauss II Society of Great Britain! However despite some investigation, I have uncovered nothing further to indicate the meaning of this particular choice of music box melody. 1
Quotations extracted from Joyce’s text at http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/ulysses/18/ From the liner notes to Ensemble musikFabrik’s Saunders disc, on the KAIROS label: http://www.omm.de/cds/klassik/KAI-saunders.html (translation by the student). 2
2
In a way it seems significant because of its non-relation: in whimsical contrast to the composed material, underscoring its heterogeneity. “Yes” In a letter to a friend, Joyce wrote of Molly’s soliloquy that “yes” is “the female word” 3 - Molly’s repeated “yes” both begins and ends (musically, triumphantly, cadentially) her soliloquy. In Saunders’ piece, the opening explosive gesture by the viola (“double attack” - see Material types below), along with similar explosive interjections and attacks by all three instruments throughout the work, have a highly “affirmative” quality, especially when compared to the hollowed out middle section and the nostalgia of the crackling radio static and the music box. In this way, I view these explosive gestures as representing Molly’s “yes” within the piece. They repeat in a similar way in the final section of the piece as in the final lines of Molly’s soliloquy, although do not close the work with the finality and definity with which the novel closes (the work ends with the viola taking a slow upward gliss before falling into a soft and sustained G and Ab, the interval that continually reappears throughout). The explosiveness also suggests episodes of sexual rapture, something that Molly thinks about in frank terms, which also holds connotations of the word “yes”. Form and materials Global observations Molly’s Song 3 consists of a dense and assertive opening, an eerily hollow interlude, and a final section caught somewhere between recapitulation and coda. These three major segments are interspersed with two viola cadenzas, the first of which dissolves into the interlude, the second cut off abruptly by the coordinated entrance of all four radios (controlled by the flutist and guitarist) at full volume static. As such, Saunders sets the listener up to expect something resembling the classical sonata form, but again and again she pulls the rug out from underneath us. When one looks at it in more detail, the form of Molly’s Song 3 becomes defined by its gaps: an interruptive form. It is also worth noting the different textural densities through the piece - the first main section has maximum vertical density (all three instruments) and horizontal density (with frequent attacks and percussive articulations), whereas future sections have much less vertical and/or horizontal density - the viola solos stand alone or with sparse alto flute resonances, the middle part is distinctly hollow in character, with regular and delicate pulses emerging in the viola col legno battuto offsetting the long tones of the other instruments, and while the closing section with the music box has maximum vertical density, it is far from the maximum horizontal density.
3
From a letter quoted in http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1972/03/23/why-molly-bloom-menstruates/
3
Here I have demarcated a formal structure, giving character titles to each of the sections. “Exposition” - Theme 1: Tension (bars 1-34) - Theme 2: Echo (35-56) Cadenza 1: Frustration (57-108) “Development” - Interlude: The Missing Development (109-148) Cadenza 2: Here We Are Again (148-164) “Recapitulation” - Interruption: Static and Nostalgia (165-167) - Coda-Recapitulation: “Yes” and its Resonance (168-200) Material types Despite what might be inferred from the long and complex explanatory notes that greet you upon opening the score, Saunders is working with a minimum of materials, carefully selected and introduced with restraint. 1. Double attacks - vla: eg. bar 1 2. Held tones (single tones, 2nds) - all instruments (guitar played with an E-bow): eg. bar 1 (vla), bar 4 (fl), bar 107 (gu) 3. Percussive effects - all instruments: eg. bar 1 (fl, gu), bar 35 (vla) 4. Strummed articulations - gu: eg. bars 30-33 5. Glissandi - vla, gu: eg. bar 10 (vla, gu) 6. Harmonic sweep attacks - fl: eg. bar 35 7. String-crossing sweep attacks - vla: eg. bar 68 8. Pizz chords or deadened strumming - vla, gu: eg. bar 35 (vla), bar 37 (gu) 9. Scratch drop off - vla: eg. bar 51 10. Metallic accents - gu: eg. bars 119, 128 11. Bottle neck waves - gu: eg. bar 168 These materials may be divided into three categories: audibly pitched material, percussive/unpitched material, and an in-between category of materials that, while pitched, sound more as an effect than as having any influence on the harmonic/melodic field at that moment beyond a brief colouration - I will call this third category “coloured effects”. Harmonic material Pitched material appears as sustained tones and glissandi almost consistently throughout the work, carried by each of the instruments at different points, although predominantly led by the viola. Several explosive attack/“yes” gestures (double attacks, harmonic and string crossing sweeps) also fall into this category, and generally serve the purpose of introducing or 4
emphasising the sustained pitches that follow, however they don’t appear to alter the harmony if they don’t break into longer tones. This sustained pitch material works gradually through almost all twelve chromatic pitches as follows - I have marked G and Ab in red, as they continually return throughout: Theme 1:
G & Ab A, Bb, C Theme 2: Bb & A B Cadenza 1: G & Ab (F#) F# & G, C C# & A Ab, Bb & B, B & G, B & F#, G Ab, G & C Interlude: Bb & C (plus A, Ab) F (appears briefly as a harmonic, 112) B & Bb B, F# C&B C & C# Cadenza 2: G & F#/Ab Eb, G & D (appears briefly as a harmonic, 152) G & Ab/F# Coda/Recap: F (warped E Maj) G & Ab So in order of appearance: G, Ab, A, C, Bb, B, F#, C#, (F as a very brief harmonic hint), Eb, (D), and then F in the final Coda-Recapitulation. E is notably missing as a sustained sound, however it does appear frequently in the repeated open-stringed guitar strums in the first part of the work. It is also the key in which the guitar plays its echo of the music box melody in the final section, warped by bottle neck waves. In addition, many of the viola Fs in this final section dip below by microtones, creating the illusion of a leading-tone E. Likewise D and Eb each appear clearly only the once, in the second viola solo (bars 151-152). Nevertheless, it is particularly strange that the E is withheld in this way, particularly as F dominates the final part of the work. The F is posited as the point of excitement/commitment to the G/Ab tension, and at the same time as a kind of resolution, albeit one that can also resolve back into G/Ab, as it does in the final moment of the piece. The final two bars contain a slow gliss up from B in the viola, resolving onto a very soft G & Ab. It seems to me that the constant return to the G/Ab is the constant return of Molly to her marriage with Bloom. 5
The piece in close detail Theme 1: Tension The opening “theme” (less a motive, more a kind of densely punctuated harmony) establishes the key pitches of G and Ab, which carry through the whole work and keep a kind of tension that also transposes to other intervals - it is clear that this is our primary tension, the tension from which all others here have sprung. The viola is the leading voice throughout, with the alto flute occasionally playing a kind of resonance that might follow or occasionally precede the viola notes. The guitar is always there, underscoring the other instruments with percussive details, initially in a frantic counterpoint with the alto flute’s tongue pizzicatos, but as the flute moves towards more sustained tones the guitar articulates alone. The materials used here are as follows: Viola: double sfortissimo attacks [1], sustained tones [2] sometimes coloured with sul ponticello, and glissandi [5] (all pitched materials). Alto flute: percussive sounds [3] - such as pizzicato, semi-pitched articulations, tongue slaps and sustained tones [2], moving between effects such as aeolian sound, fluttertongue, rapid articulation (unpitched, coloured effects, and pitched materials). Guitar: percussive effects [3] such as striking the bridge, body, or strings, as well as played harmonics, rhythmic strumming, and the use of a metal bottle neck for a glissando [5] (also taking materials from all three categories). Theme 2: Echo In the Echo section, the alto flute takes over the dominant melodic role, announced by several harmonic sweep attacks. The main pitches have transferred upwards to A and Bb. The viola plays a percussive role here, with woody fingerboard strikes and repeated pizzicato chords, although it also plays a resonance/echo (bars 40-42) in a similar fashion to the alto flute in the previous theme - it is a case of role reversal, the echo becoming the leading voice and vice versa. The “exposition” ends with the alto flute finally reaching up to a B natural in bar 51, which the viola works its way up to somewhat reluctantly (bars 54-55). Materials: Alto flute: harmonic sweep attacks [6] and sustained tones [2], including colouration techniques as before (pitched materials). Viola: percussive effects [3] - such as fingerboard strikes and pizzicato chords - as well as sustained tones [2], a scratch drop off [9] in bar 51 as the alto flute reaches B natural, and a kind of articulated glissando [5] (pitched, unpitched, and coloured effects). Guitar: percussive effects [3] - such as deadened strumming - interrupted by pitched strums [4] (E is a noticeable pitch here), and a descending glissando [5] (also all three material types).
6
Cadenza 1: Frustration The first viola solo reestablishes the viola as the dominant subjective figure, and returns with a grit and passion (that the alto flute cannot manage) to the G and Ab. After 20 bars of true solo the alto flute echo-resonance reappears, this time reflecting less the viola’s pitches and instead creating a more open harmony - a C against the viola’s F#/G; a C# against an A; B against F#/G; C against G/Ab. The guitar sits this one out, and there are no percussive effects here, only emphatic pitched accents by the viola. Materials: Viola: sustained tones [2], often with colourations and accented bow changes, string crossing sweep attacks [7], and a scratch drop off [9] (pitched and coloured effects). Alto flute: sustained tones [2], occasionally also coloured (pitched materials). Interlude: The Missing Development The opening two themes represent an “exposition”, complete with repetition of elements, however where the development should appear we are instead greeted with this almost empty space, like a hole at the centre of the work. Here, the guitar is the leading subjective voice, however it is a pale and inhuman one: the sustained tones are played with an E-bow, creating the effect of hollow drones. It is quieter than the accompanying tones of the alto flute, yet is clearly directing the harmony. We start with a Bb/C dyad, and there is a particularly important and arresting moment in bars 112-113 where an F appears as a kind of ghostly harmonic in the guitar a twelfth above its Bb - the only F that sounds before the final Coda-Recapitulation, a kind of “giving it all away”. Following this the viola begins playing the percussive role, but nervously and delicately, with regular col legno battuti that play with harmonics and later involve a second string where the pitch slides up and down. The section has a feeling of sparseness, emptiness, and disappointment consistent with Molly’s feelings about her sexless marriage. Materials: Guitar: sustained tones [2] using E-bow, and metallic accents [10] by hitting strings with the E-bow or metal bottle neck (pitched materials). Alto flute: sustained tones [2] with colourations (pitched). Viola: sustained tones [2], glissandi [5], percussive effects [3] (pitched, unpitched, and coloured effects). Cadenza 2: Here We Are Again The viola’s solo material is very similar to the first cadenza - assertive, vigorous, and returning to the G/Ab. Other pitches (Eb and a brief D over the G one twelfth below) appear in two bars that jump into the treble clef with the marking “wild!” (151-152). Both the alto flute and the guitar stay mum this time. We are waiting for them, as the material leads the listener to expect that we are
7
“back to normal again”, and that the primary thematic material will recommence, led in by this solo. Instead the viola crescendos dramatically into an abrupt cut off by loud radio static. Materials: Viola: double attack [1], sustained tones [2], often with colourations and accented bow changes, and string crossing sweep attacks [7] (pitched and coloured effects). Interruption: Static and Nostalgia In the explanatory notes, Saunders specifies that the radios should be tuned as follows: 1. and 3. : white noise 2. : white noise and indistinct speech 3. : very high and moving frequencies “As diverse as possible. Quality of radios not important. Loud but not painful. Turn on and off together exactly.”4 The radios are turned on by the flutist and guitarist and sound for 21 seconds before they are switched off. In the last second the violist opens the music box, so that when the radio static stops it’s tinkling carries through the sudden silence. This blast of white noise where we “should” be getting a recapitulation is the second “hole” in the piece, following on from the absent development. Afterwards, instead of coming back to “normal” (the acoustic instruments and their original material), we are thrown into yet another “hole” - the music box. This double interruption, this move from gap to gap, highlights the fantasy of our desires (for a narrative, for a song, for something “real”). Each of the three “gaps” in the piece are, interestingly, unified by their technological/mechanical dimension: the E-bow, the radios, the music box. Each is in its own way heterogeneous to the otherwise traditional instrumentation of the work, and therefore somehow 'non-human'. After 13 seconds of unaccompanied music box, the viola enters cautiously on it’s first high F (sustained tone [2], pitched). Coda-Recapitulation: “Yes” and its Resonance Here the alto flute begins its “yes” interjections, with loud harmonic/octave sweep attacks (also on F). The viola’s repeated, sustained Fs become more confident - the colour intensifies, the dynamic increases. After some stand-alone “yesses”, the flute also returns to its echoing role. Both instruments are playing near the top of their range. Meanwhile, the guitar below is doing something completely new and out of its previous characters: playing little up down slides with a metal bottle neck - what I have named “bottle 4
Fourth page of explanatory notes from the full score of Molly’s Song 3 - Shades of Crimson
8
neck waves” above. It’s very subtle, but in fact from bar 171 the pitches being fingered beneath these waves play out the theme from Der Kaiserwalzer , the music box melody. It is very warped to the point of being barely recognisable - sounding like a kind of surrealist Lynchianism however it is indeed the melody, transposed into the key of E (the music box in the recording I have5 is in D; the original score by Strauss is in C). However, it never reaches its final resolution. The penultimate note (F#), instead of cadencing down to the tonic E, slips into a continuous ascending glissando, disappearing into the stratisphere. We never really get our leading-tone E. This gliss effectively ends the sustained Fs in the viola and alto flute - the viola cuts them definitively with a scratch drop off. There are three more “yes” gestures while the music box winds down (it has been tinkling away above everything that has happened in this section). The flutist finally closes the box as the guitar gives one final unpitched bottle neck wave and viola echos the previous glissando over a very slow 15 seconds. It breaks at the top and the work finishes by very softly returning to that original G and Ab, sustained one pitch each by the viola and alto flute, articulated just the once by a guitar harmonic. Materials: Viola: sustained tones [2], scratch drop offs [9], and a glissando [5] (pitched and unpitched. Alto flute: harmonic/octave sweep attacks [6] and sustained tones [2] (pitched). Guitar: bottle neck waves [11], glissando [5], and a harmonic (coloured effects and pitched).
5
Ensemble musikFabrik, KAIROS 0012182
9
