University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Amid the noise, Chrysalis, Impulse ii, and Unwound

Chrysalis

(USC Thesis Other)

Chrysalis

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Content Chrysalis: New Zealand for Chamber Orchestra Aiyana Braun 651 Malvern Rd. Ardmore PA, 19003 610-348-5366 atbraun@usc.edu Aiyana Braun 2020   Program Note: CHRYSALIS is a series of five videos commissioned by the Oxford Alternative Orchestra which explore the idea that a particular kind of metamorphosis, transformation, and hope is only possible in a place of darkness. Each piece is a fusion of the media of dance, film, and classical music, featuring a piece of new choreography set to new compositions recorded by the OAO (Oxford Alternative Orchestra). The project features the musicians of OAO in the UK, and five award-winning choreographers in different locations around the world: Burkina Faso, Sweden, the US, Russia, New Zealand. Each choreographer explores unique interpretations of hope that have been illuminated, and even enhanced, by the darkness of the global pandemic we are all still experiencing. This piece was written in response to the music and philosophy of Elaine Radigue. The timbral language of her work and collaborative approach are not only inspiring, but essential to the identity of the work ultimately achieved. The intent of this piece was to separate the sonic construction of this work from the notational stage, allowing the musicians to perform and expand upon the material given so that they become essential to the compositional process. This score acted as a blueprint for the musicians to perform and improvise off of, in turn creating the timbral identity of this work along with the composer. This piece of fixed media was consequently shaped from the sound world they created.   * Cl. Misc. should record several iterations of each pitch in the dashed boxes. Each iteration should be slightly different in length and character - swelling at different durations each time (one pitch may be held for 2”, for example, and another at 6”, then another at 9”) for the composer to later add to the texture. The pitches in the score appear in the order they will be introduced, giving the musicians a sense of when each pitch will appear in the spectral environment being created. (The goal is for these pitches to sound as if they are resultant tones appearing from the spectral environment being created.) Clarinet Miscellaneous: Box notation indicates that the material within the box should be repeated until the end of the indicated notation (represented by the line extending from the box). If additional instruction is provided, the boxed text above the boxed notation will indicate what instructions the performer should follow, beyond simply repeating the given material. The small one-line staff which periodically appears in-between two Clarinet voices represents the binaural beating which occurs when two of the same frequency slightly detune from one another. This difference in frequency creates the illusion of a third sound, a rhythmic beat. This beat is represented by stems demonstrating (approximately) the rate of this beating, specifically, when the beating speeds up or slows down. The number of stems is not representative of the specific number of “beats” which occur, simply the approximate rate the beating should follow, i.e., when it should speed up or slow down. Time stamps are present when a particular event occurs (as opposed to consistently listing them on an intervalic basis). Larger time stamps indicate major arrival points which should strictly align with the time provided. Smaller time stamps may be more approximate (but not many liberties should be taken). Bracket: Overpressure: Quarter Tones: The Bracket is used to either point to the “percussion” line which outlines the “beating” which occurs between two clarinet lines, or is used indicates more than one voice will begin improvising as described in the boxed text. µ B ˜ Quarter Sharp Quarter Flat Three Quarters Sharp Increase or decrease bow pressure to create a distorted/scratchy sound.   p pp p mp mf mf 1 2   & ° For Cl. 4, 5, and 6: Continue as before - intutively choosing when to gliss between G§ and G# (and the consequent rate of the beatings.) Make all glisses long, at least several seconds in length, as before. (from whatever current & / Cl. 4 5 / < > ¢ & 6 µ 32" 36" 42" 44" 53" 56" ° & < > ¢ & & w # w 1 Cl. 2 3 ° ¢ Vc. n. ? 1 ∑∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ? 1 ∑∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ barely audible, ghost-like ∑ w & ° ¢ Vln. norm. 2 mp mp mf f f f gliss. w Ax   1'00" 1'05" 1'10" 1'18" 1'20" 1'24" 1'26" 1'28" Cl. 5 4 ° ¢ n. & Cl. 7 w ° ¢ n. & Cl. 7 w ° ¢ Vc. B gliss. gliss. B 3 4 gliss. ww B w µ ww B Cl. 2, 3: Continue as before (glissing between G§ and G#) Cl. Misc. * Cl. Misc. should record several iterations of each pitch in the dashed boxes. Each iteration should be slightly different in length and character - swelling at different durations each time (one pitch may be held for 2”, for example, and another at 6”, then another at 9”) for the composer to later add to the texture. The pitches in the score appear in the order they will be introduced, giving the musicians a sense of when each pitch will appear in the spectral environment being created. (The goal is for these pitches to sound as if they are resultant tones appearing from the spectral environment being created). Vln. pp pp p f f p 6 p p p p p p * Cl. Misc. w µ f w µ   1'30" 1'35" 1'40" 1'50" 2' 00" ° ¢ & & & ∑ w w gliss. w µ gliss. w n gliss. gliss. w B gliss. w B w n gliss. w µ w <n> Cl. 1 and 2: Continue as before - intuitively choosing when to gliss. between A to A (for Cl. 1), and D to D (for Cl. 2). Make each gliss. long, at least several seconds in length, as before. The "natural" pitches (either A§ or D§) should be the most commonly used, glissing only to create an occasional out tune effect. B µ B µ Cl. 2 1 3 Cl. 4 and 5: Continue to gliss as described before. However, most of the pitches (around 75% of the time) should be G#. Thus making G# the central pitch. (before the "central" pitches were equal between G§ and G#.) Cl. 7 : ; w Cl. Misc. : ; w Vln. gliss. w w Cl. 8 w B w µ w n µ B Vc. 3 and 4: Continue as before - intuitively choosing when to gliss between D§, D , and D . D§ should always be the "central pitch", meaning that most of the time D§ should be present, occasionally glissing in and out of tune. ° ¢ Contrabass ? w # ° ¢ B B 3 pp pp pp pp mp mf mf p p p mf mp p mp p pp pp 4 w # w # Cl. 5 6 4   ° ¢ & & & ∑ w w 2'01" 2'05" 2'10" 2'20" 2'30" 2'40" Cl. 2 1 3 w n gliss. w B gliss. w n gliss. w B B µ Cl. 3: Continue glissing between A and A as before. Cl. 5 4 Cl. 7 Cl. 8 Cl. Misc. w w ° ¢ B B ° ¢ ? ? w ¢ ? ° w # ¢ ? ° w ¢ ? ° ‘ “ w molto su l pont. norm. molto su l pont. norm. molto su l pont. norm. p p p p p p p p mp pp f f f p mp mp mp pp pp mp w n 2 3 4   ° ¢ & & & ∑ w w Cl. 5 Cl. 7 Cl. 8 Cl. Misc. ¢ ? ° Bn. ° ¢ ? ? ¢ ? ° 2' 45" 3' 00" 3'25" 3'45" ¢ ? ° Cbn. ° ¢ ? ? w w w molto su l pont. molto su l pont. molto su l pont. norm. norm. flutter tongue w # w # growl flutter tongue growl norm. norm. norm. norm. growl growl flutter tongue growl growl flutter tongue growl norm. growl mp mp mp mp 4 6 2 3 4 ff ff ff mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf mf   4'00" 4'07" 4'15" 4'20" 4'24" 4'28" 4'32" p & ° # / 4 (resultant beating tempo approx. q =112) No Beating ∑ :; & ¢ # 5 gliss. gliss. w w w ˜ w # & ° 4 & ¢ 5 ° ¢ ° ¢ Vln. & ? 1 ? Vc. 2 w ~ w 4'15" 4'20" 4'24" 4'28" 4'32" w w norm. norm. norm. Cl. w # w ˜ w w ˜ ° ¢ & & & ∑ w w Cl. 2 p pp pp pp pp pp p p p Cl. 6 s ° ¢ ? ? 4' 34" 4' 37" 4' 40" 4' 50" 5' 00" Vln. ¢ ° & & ° ¢ & & & ∑ w w w # w w # w w w gliss. p p p p p pp Cl. 2 1 3 4 5 Cl. 6 w ˜ p w #

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This composition portfolio includes a selection of the compositions written during my Masters at USC: Amid the noise, Chrysalis, Impulse ii, and Unwound.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Braun, Aiyana (author)

Core Title Chrysalis

School Thornton School of Music

Degree Master of Music

Degree Program Composition

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 05/19/2023

Defense Date 05/18/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Amid the noise,and Unwound,Chrysalis,Impulse ii,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Crockett, Donald (committee chair), Ayewa, Camae (committee member), Hearne, Ted (committee member)

Creator Email aiyana.braun@curtis.edu,atbraun@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113134137

Unique identifier UC113134137

Identifier etd-BraunAiyan-11874-Chrysalis_Score.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-BraunAiyan-11874-Chrysalis_Score

Document Type Portfolio

Format theses (aat)

Rights Braun, Aiyana

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230522-usctheses-batch-1047 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

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