Tracking Pierrot in Heek: An Anecdotal and Practical Performance Guide

Abstract

The following is a practical guide to Tracking Pierrot, a gem of ‘composed spontaneity’, based on collective experiences of musikFabrik with Earle Brown during a seminar in which the author participated in Heek in 2001 and their earlier performance of the piece, also conducted by Brown, in Düsseldorf in 1997.

Keywords:

• Earle Brown
• Form
• Guide
• musikFabrik
• Open
• Performance
• Tracking Pierrot

Notes

[1] I take these terms from Brown's conversation with John Yaffé, elsewhere in this issue: ‘My notebooks from 1951 – 1952 say, “I want to get the time of composing closer to the time of performing.” … It's the immediacy, the improvisation, the spontaneity, the it-ness, the now-ness of the whole thing’.

[2] See Brown (1992): ‘The title comes from the closeness of instrumentation and my admiration for the instrumental writing in Pierrot Lunaire. I do not refer to the angst or moon-madness. The conducting is basically one of cueing entrances, exits, changes of tempi and dynamics, etc. as in many of my previous “open-form” works for ensembles and orchestras. This is basically a “closed-form piece” with “open interior structures”: Example, p. 3: conductor may begin with any of the 5 events (1 to 5 indicated by left hand; entrances and exits and dynamics cued by the right hand). Any one or more instruments may be cued simultaneously—(1 to 6 solos in event 4 or events 1-2-3, etc.). Same for event 1 on p. 4. Event 2, p. 4 is a chord progression—1 2 3 4 5 are alternative starting points, indicated by right hand with downbeat. Rhythm of changes and dynamics controlled by the conductor. When moving out of open-form p. 4, make large LH motion from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock (→) to signal the move to p. 5 (likewise throughout the piece). All solo lines to be considered “loops”—if the musician is interrupted before the end of the line, he-she begins after point of interruption on next entrance cue and continues “loop” until stopped or changed to another event. The chord progression of 2 of p. 2 is an option thru much of the work (it is based on a Schillinger concept). In event 1 of p. 6 it is orchestrated as a kind of “homage” to Messiaen. The very first and very last systems are a kind of “homage” to Feldman’.

[3] We were, after all, rehearsing the week of 11 September 2001, and our minds and hearts were shattered and numb. Brown, though shocked and subdued, retained an absolute sense of professionalism that helped to carry us along.