BLACK BILE

For Two V io l ins and Harp

Concert Score & Per formance Instruct ions

Performance Instructions

Instructions: All notes for violins are to be played pizzicato, all harp notes are plucked normale. Dynamics are ppp throughout unless otherwise noted. Dashed lines indicate unison events. Suggested piece duration = ~3min. Adjust individual and group readings accordingly. Mouth sounds for performers are indicated below their respective staves. Mouth sounds for harpist are in between staves. Note heads do not indicate precise pitches, they are marked only to indicate general pitch areas and movement. Actual pitch material to be chosen by performers either ahead of time or in real time. Preparations: Each musician is to be given a crumpled sheet of paper to be held in the palm of either their right or left hands for the entire piece. Harpist is encouraged to prepare the harp strings with interleaved single sheets of paper.

“... as a lute out of tune; if one string or one organ be distempered, all the rest miscarry,

By yesterday's excesses still oppressed, The body suffers not the mind to rest”

-Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy