Franck BEDROSSIAN

VAYEHI EREV VAYEHI BOKER

for ensemble

Commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain

 Instrumentation

- 2 Flutes (1 Flute in C, 1 Alto Flute)

- 3 Clarinets (1Bb Soprano Clarinet, 1 Bass Clarinet, 1 Contrabass Clarinet)

- 3 Percussions

- 1 Celesta

- 1 Harp

- 3 Violins

- 2 Violas

- 2 Cellos

- 1 Double-bass

Percussion

Percussion 1 : 1 Vibraphone, 1 Bass Drum (goat skin), Crotales, 2 suspended cymbals, 1 Tam-tam (medium), 1 Thunder sheet, 1 double-bass bow

Percussion 2 : 1 Marimba 5 octaves, 1 Bass drum (goat skin), Crotales, 1 Thunder sheet, 1 Tam-tam (low), 2 suspended cymbals, 1 double-bass bow

Percussion 3 : Tubular bells, 1 Tam-tam (high), 2 suspended cymbals

The score is written in real sounds, except for the crotales, sounding two octaves higher, the celesta, one octave higher, the double-bass and contrabass
clarinet, sounding one octave lower than notated.

All accidentals are valid for an entire measure.

Many thanks to Oren Boneh for his skills in Hebrew.


 Performance notes



Winds

Whistle-tone (Fl.) : Spectral glissando on the fundamental sound.

Overblow (Fl.) : Breathe very heavily into the embouchure to make the fundamental tone disappear and bring the upper harmonic regions.
This technique is often combined with trill.

Breathing tone :

Breathe noise only, slighlty colored by the pitch of the indicated note.

Breathe noise only, obtained by alternating inhalation and exhalation into the embouchure of the instrument.

Pizz. (Fl.), Slap (Cl.)

Added voice : Sing into the instrument, in order to create an hybrid texture between voice and instrumental sound. The addition of the
voice is sometimes associated with multiphonics or crushed tones for a reinforcement of low frequencies (Fl., Cl.)

Crushed tone (Cl.) : complex sound obtained with the fingering of the written tone, being careful of bringing out the
upper harmonic region without making the fundamental sound disappear. The overall texture must always remain rich
and complex, comparable to the one of an electronic sound. The upper staff indicates the harmonic region that should be
brought to the foreground.

Gradual change from a mixed sound (voice and instrument)


to a crushed tone. The overall texture is progressively enriched by the accumulation of upper harmonic
regions.
 Strings

Seagull effect (S.E.)

The spread of the fingers remains the same during the glissando in order to

produce a descending or ascending succession of harmonics. The result produces a repetition of small glissandos
comparable to the scream of seagulls.

Exaggerated oscillation :

Vibrato of amplitude, as wide and fast as possible, like a fast wha-wha pedal effect on an
electric guitar.

Vertical tremolo, played in a parallel movement to the string (in opposite to the normal
tremolo, perpendicular to the string). In this piece, this technique is combined with col legno
in order to produce a smooth noise colored by the glissando of the wood on the string.

Crushed tone (only noise), obtained by an extreme pressure of the bow on the strings.

The crossed notehead indicates that the musician must play in front of the bridge, damping the
strings.

Crushed tone (only noise), obtained by an extreme pressure of the bow on the strings, but
sounding differently from the previous one. The half-circle notehead indicates that one must
play behind the bridge, on the colored zones. The sound is bright, aggressive and squeaky.

Half-trill of double-harmonics :

Play a major third on the string, sliding constantly with the bottom harmonic and trilling only
the one above. This action is often combined with the glissando and tremolo.

Getatto vertical :

Damp the strings, doing the jeté vertically on the strings at the same time, avoiding the pitches
to be heard. The result is noisy, percussive, and the notes barely perceptible.

Pizz. arp., damping at the same time, so that one can only perceive the noise of the fingers
scraping the strings.

Pizz. gliss., where the glissando starts exactly on the accent for it to be clearly audible.

Pizz. repeated as fast as possible, with only one finger.

 Harp

The interpreter must provide himself with a tuning fork at the beginning of the piece.

Place the low C and D strings between the branches of the tuning fork, then slide slowly or
quickly as indicated whilst executing a fast vertical tremolo, parallel to the strings.
The result is a vibrating glissando, varying constantly in its register.

Scrape the low strings very violently and produce a metallic noise

General signs

Random trill : The notes placed in the box must be trilled as fast as possible, in a random
order.

Repeat the indicated sound randomly, imitating the irregularity of morse code rhythm .
This notated random rhythm can apply to any sound or technique.

Chromatic cluster, played on white and black keys

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Perçu -3
Bois + 3
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ff
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Percs
-5
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