In learning the piece, with its specific intervals, it is really helpful to have them available as open strings. For direct comparison while studying, sympathetic vibration and maybe someday for some enhanced arrangement.

Another cool feature is the presence of two open D-strings, one octave apart. It creates the option to play the harmonic series cadenzas (bar 15 and from bar 32 to the end) in octaves which gives a very nice sound.

The edition explains the use of the microtonal intervals in the following way:

the arrows indicate downward microtonal departures from normal intonation: *open arrow* is about a quarter tone lower, as with the 11th harmonic (which is 49 cents lower); *closed arrow* is about a sixth of a tone lower, as in the 7th harmonic (which is 31 cents lower); *arrow* is the very slight deviation (14 cents lower) which is the difference between the major third of the tempered scale and the natural scale.

So what about the intonation of the other intervals? I assume viola players play their 4th’s and 5th’s pure. I might go for some pure seconds and sixths as well!

Something completely different

maybe you can play this one, from Ligeti on your fretless

maybe tune up a half step in order to play the harmonics
and with ebow of course haha

After having spent quite some time in finding my way into microtonalism, and a good place to start my studies, the harmonic series is the topic I’m trying to see through at this moment. No surprise that this piece resonated with me immediately. And I knew it would fit my instrument perfectly! So what’s it about? From a composition description by Seth Brodsky (allmusic.com):

“Hora lunga” (“slow song”), the six-minute opening movement of György Ligeti‘s Sonata for Viola Solo, is perhaps the greatest paean yet written to a single string — in this case, the viola’s lowest string, its “C,” its most sensual asset. A long, limber melody slowly unfurls itself, sounding remarkably like a Romanian peasant song; not once does the violist leave the C string, even when the score asks for some extremely difficult high harmonics. No, the whole song continues to wrap itself around this single thread, pushing and sliding up and down its wound fibers in slow and periodic extensions. Coming from a composer who became famous writing 100-plus-note chromatic chords for full orchestra, this “Hora lunga” at first sounds like an amazing turn-around, a “coming-home” to the tactility, simplicity, and sincerity of folk and folklore.

But, like just about everything ever written by Ligeti, this movement is not what it appears. The folk song is a forgery — it’s a clever, melancholy imposter to melodies of the Maramureș region; its simplicity is also illusory — the mode extends into uncharacteristically uncomfortable regions, and the demands on intonation, especially with the harmonics, are fearsome. And the movement’s “sincerity” is undone by all this trickiness. In a familiar move for Ligeti, the homespun is simply pushed to far, exiled so to speak; and under the pressure of all this artifice, the folksy melody becomes overwrought and angst-ridden, we see it sweat under the lights — it “lies uncomfortably,” on its instrument and to its audience.

And people who know me, know that I’m always in for a challenge. I will try to follow up on this post during the whole process of studying this piece. If you’re interested, stay tuned!

]]> http://melleweijters.com/2011/12/03/hora-lunga-gyorgi-igeti/feed/ 0 horalunga pickmeupandunfretme http://melleweijters.com/2011/11/02/rimrammen-in-de-redoute-revisited/ http://melleweijters.com/2011/11/02/rimrammen-in-de-redoute-revisited/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:31:31 +0000 Mel http://melleweijters.com/?p=363 Continue reading →]]> Rimrammen in de Redoute Revisited

Below you’ll find the official announcement of a poetry festival where I will participate next friday. Together with composer Jesse Passenier (piano), Roderik Povel (piano, vocals) and Patrick Kessels (drums), we will perform his project ‘Nos Peres’. Groove-oriented (fretless) and balladic (harp guitar), a nice combination for such an event. See his youtube channel for the full Broad Music Orchestra!

Een avond vol hedendaagse poëzie in de sfeer van de jaren ’60

Op vrijdag 4 november 2011 vanaf 20.00 uur vindt in de Spiegelzaal (Redoute) van La Bonbonnière in Maastricht een bijzondere poëzieavond plaats. Onder de naam Rimrammen in de Redoute Revisited treden achttien dichters uit zuidelijk Nederland samen op. Vier van hen – Leo Herberghs, Wiel Kusters, Ton van Reen en Hans van de Waarsenburg – traden op 1 november 1967 ook al in deze zaal op bij Rimrammen in de Redoute. In die tijd een nieuw fenomeen, overgewaaid uit Amerika en in 1966 door Simon Vinkenoog met Poëzie in Carré in Nederland geïntroduceerd. Hans van de Waarsenburg en Fred van Leeuwen (Regionale Omroep Zuid) zorgden voor de introductie in Maastricht. Een nieuwe generatie dichters trad tijdens deze drukbezochte en nogal tumultueus verlopen avond op. Rimrammen in de Redoute Revisited is een revival hiervan en brengt de generatie van destijds samen met twee generaties daarna. Bovendien is er, net zoals in 1967, live jazzmuziek. Ditmaal naar aanleiding van een bijzonder muzikaal-literair project van componist en muzikant Jesse Passenier.

De dichters die op 4 november ieder zo’n vijf minuten voornamelijk nieuwe gedichten zullen voordragen, zijn: Yi Fong Au (1989), Maarten van den Berg (1970), Chrétien Breukers (1965), Frans Budé (1945), Emma Crebolder (1942), Danny Danker (1974), Daan Doesborgh (1988), Babeth Fotchind (1993), Quirien van Haelen (1981), Leo Herberghs (1924), Paul Hermans (1953), Rouke van der Hoek (1952), Wiel Kusters (1947), Ton van Reen (1941), Arnoud Rigter (1978), Edwin Smet (1972), ACG Vianen (1972) en Hans van de Waarsenburg (1943). Presentator Bas Belleman, zelf ook dichter, stelt de dichters aan het publiek voor. Bovendien wordt het geheel aangevuld met historische geluidsopnamen van de eerste editie. Tussen de optredens door en na afloop is er live jazzmuziek van Patrick Kessels (drums), Jesse Passenier (toetsen/compositie), Roderik Povel (zang/toetsen) en Melle Weijters (fretloze-/harpgitaar). Deze alumni van Conservatorium Maastricht spelen muziek uit ‘Nos Pères’, het project waarmee Jesse Passenier dit jaar zijn Bachelorstudie compositie aan het Conservatorium Maastricht afrondde met een 9,5 en waarbij hij teksten van onder anderen Jacques Prévert, Gerard Reve en Albert Camus vertaalde naar muzikale composities. Omroep L1 maakt, net zoals de Regionale Omroep Zuid dat in 1967 deed, geluidsopnamen van de hele avond.

Het initiatief voor de revival van Rimrammen in de Redoute bijna precies 44 jaar na dato, kwam van uitgever Hennie Jetzes (Azul Press), die een boek schreef over 40 jaar poëziefestivals in Limburg, en dichter Hans van de Waarsenburg (Maastricht International Poetry Nights). Dit plan werd samen met het Huis voor de Kunsten Limburg, dat in 2010 onder andere een landelijke tournee organiseerde met jonge dichters uit Limburg en Brabant, opgepakt. De avond begint om 20.00 uur (zaal open voor publiek vanaf 19.30 uur). Rond 23.00 uur is de avond afgelopen. Iedereen is van harte welkom. Reserveren is niet mogelijk. De organisatie van Rimrammen in de Redoute Revisited hanteert het principe van entree naar eigen waardering. U bepaalt – achteraf – wat u betaalt. Het adres van La Bonbonnière is Achter de Comédie 1 in Maastricht.

Klik hier voor het programma van de avond.

Unfortunately, I forgot the record our gig. But I do have the recordings from the first time we played together. At my place, two weeks earlier:

Quote from Facebook by the organiser:
Diez cuerdas y sin trastes… hay que estar locos para tocar algo así! Pero toca bien este bato! - Ten strings and fretless … have to be crazy to touch that! But this dude plays well!

I participated in a project of an old associate, Jos Heutmekers, in whose ‘small bigband’ band I played before (2005-2007). He was about to finish his Final Master Exam Composition at the Conservatory of Amsterdam when he asked me if I was available:

‘This time, it will be a full big band with a pianist. Your role will be less harmonic so you can focus on sound and structure. I already have a great band together and I hope that you can join us. I also imagine some possibilities for your harp guitar.’

I called him right away to say yes and suggested I could bring the fretless for the groovy pieces, my 50′s Hofner model 462 jazz guitar for the Freddie Green duties and the harp guitar for the ballads. He agreed and so it came that the first concert with my 10-string fretless guitar took place in an academic environment.

Here’s my solo feature, a piece inspired by ‘guitar music’ – but, as the composer calls it, not like certain sweet voiced acoustic guitar music…

The graduation project also included a recording session at the conservatory’s own Studio -2, by Lex Tanger.

Also interested in the harp guitar? Listen to the intro from a piece called ‘October’:

21st century-cinematic-world-electro-jazz

I’ll bring my jazz-, harp- & fretlessguitar!

The project will also be recorded, fragments to be heard soon!

together with:

woodwinds
Paul van der Feen
Maarten Hogenhuis
Natalio Sued
Joao Driessen
Loes Rusch

trombones
Nick Caris
Jos van den Heuvel
Matthias Konrad
Juliane Gralle

trumpets
Florian Sperzel
Tobias Reisacher
Sebastian Burneci
Dennis Sekretarev

rhythm
Martin Hiltawski [bass]
Felix Schlarmann [drums]
Folkert Oosterbeek [piano]
Melle Weijters [guitar]

The arrangement is from 2005 and appeared on the album ‘Making Choices’ (2006) by the Carlo Nardozza Quintet. The melody is played with the use of harmonics on the open strings of the guitar.

From a CD-review from that time:
The last song of the album is an amazing version of ‘My Romance’, inspired by the guitarist’s collaboration with African kora player Zou Diarra: the acoustic guitar is accompanied only by toms in the distant, and this standard – just recognizable – becomes a meditation reminiscent of My Goal’s Beyond from John McLaughlin.

I will try to explain the Just Intonation ratios from the notes of the melody. The song is in the key of E Major, so this gives a 5/4 third (G#, 5th harmonic on the low E-string) and a 5/3 sixth (C#, 5th harmonic on the A-string). Other natural harmonics include the 4/3 fourth (A, 3rd harmonic on the D-string), the 3/2 fifth (B, 2nd harmonic on the B-string) and the 2/1 octave (E, 2nd harmonic on the high E-string).

For the 2nd (F#), I had two options: for the higher octave I used the 5th harmonic on the D-string which becomes a 10/9 just minor tone in relation to E as 1/1. For the lower octave I used an artificial harmonic (2nd harmonic from the 4th fret D-string) which belongs to 12ET. The last note to complete the scale is the major seventh. I picked this as an artificial 3rd harmonic from the 1st fret G-string) and also belongs to 12ET.

My main interest at that time was Jazz and by the time I got interested in the fretless guitar, I already had a Bachelor of Arts. But I started to listen to Arabic and Indian music and even bought a book or two about the musical practices of these regions. Alas, I never became a real student of this material.

Then I found out about Joe Maneri whose recorded music is informed by his microtonal theories and compositions which use 72 equal temperament, the equal division of the octave in 72 parts, although he doesn’t confine himself to that temperament in performance: “We don’t use theories when we play. We can’t. We are those things. If they took X-rays of us, you would see all of the music inside”. This idea really inspired me, I contacted the Boston Microtonal Society and ordered his book ‘Preliminary Studies in the Virtual Pitch Continuum’, which explores this 72 equal temperament. But alas, I never became a real student of his material.

I wanted to wait for my 10-string to be finished to continue my quest. Since the tuning of the open strings will be based on pure intervals, Just Intonation might be the next step.

Shall I ever become a real student of this material?

to be continued…

But, you couldn’t prevent me for falling in love with this other instrument, the Gibson harp guitar. The music that this guitar brings is also a big part of me. It leads me back to my love for jazz, especially the harmonic duty in accompanying other people. But it goes even further. I can sense the feeling I had when I was a little boy learning the classical guitar when I study for example Bach’s lute works or Robert de Visee’s baroque guitar pieces now on my harp guitar.

Now it’s time to have one place on the web where I can write about them both, so pickmeupandunfretme.com goodbye and welcome (back!) melleweijters.com!