| LUNA NOVA HOME> Extended Techniques for Piano> Glissando Ex. 3 |
|
 |
|
George
Crumb, Voice of the Whale, Sea Theme |
|
| Page 8, first half of first line Example of glissandi over bass strings that produce specific pitches, which are depressed silently on keyboard. The “Variations on Sea-Time” is where we first hear the “Sea Theme.” This theme is also heard during the “Sea Nocturne,” which comes at the end of Whale after all of the variations. The theme is played by the electric cello, while the piano accompanies by playing low three-note chords produced by strumming the strings. This approach involves the left hand silently pushing down each of these chords a split-second before the right hand does a rapid glissando with the finger tip over the strings in the corresponding range. The chords are in the lowest range of the piano, so the left hand should be the one over the keyboard. Since only the three dampers of each note are up off the string, these are the only strings that continue to vibrate after the glissando. Care must be taken in the left hand to avoid allowing any hammer to strike the string. Each pulse (metronome marking of fifty to the half note) begins at each right-hand glissando, so the left hand needs to have each chord depressed before each pulse. |
|