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COMPOSITIONS by OWEN DENNIS BLOOMFIELD B.Mus., Wilfrid Laurier University, 1998 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC (COMPOSITION) in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (School of Music)  We accept this thesis as conforming to/he required standard  THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2000 © Owen Dennis Bloomfield  in  presenting this  degree at the  thesis  in  University  of  partial  fulfilment  British Columbia,  of  the  requirements  I agree that the  for  an  advanced  Library shall make it  freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of  this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my  department  or  by  his  or  her  representatives.  It  is  understood  that  publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without permission.  Department of  / i£x.S >'c.  The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada  Date  DE-6 (2/88)  s4*r</ZS  . Z ^ C *  copying  or  my written  ABSTRACT  This paper is a collection of five musical works written between the years 1998 and 2000. A variety of genres are represented which include large and small chamber groups, the orchestra, solo piano and an experimental interdisciplinary theatre piece. Nectar of the Gods is an abstractly programatic work about mental illness, primarily bipolar disorder. It contrasts both linear structures with vertical ones. Borealis is constructed from a single melodic line. It is slightly programatic as well in a depiction of the Northern Canadian boreal forests. Only certain forces of the orchestra are used such as the clarinets, flutes, vibraphone and the string section. Love Song is a small work for two sopranos and harp. Like with Borealis, it is constructed from two melodic lines, one for the harp and another for the voices. The lines here are used heterophonically and disguise the originals. The text is by Cathy Richards and the work is dedicated to my wife Trisha Unwin. Piano Piece uses a South Indian reductive form as its basis. While the length of the overall musical sections remain the same, the events within the sections become shorter resulting in a formal acceleration. Variations on Gestalt is a work for the theatre. The music is an integral part of the action and was written with an extremely loose form. This facilitates a fluid change that may be needed in different productions. The musicians are used as actors themselves along with the main character and the dancer.  T A B L E OF CONTENTS  Abstract  ii  Table of Contents  iii 1  Nectar of the Gods Borealis  57  Love Song  73  Piano Piece  81  Variations on Gestalt  89  iii  Nectar of the Gods  Chamber Ensemble Owen Bloomfield  J  P i  Flute  Oboe  Nectar of the Gods  = 80  Owen Bloomfield  Score in C  with nervous energy  mf  PP  PP  P  Clarinet  "if  PP  Bassoon  mf  PP  HI  mf  Horn  Comet  Jr.  - H  r  1  •(  1  Trombone  •«-:  Piano  Violin  P 1  'Cello  con sordino  dPP  mf  —=  pizz.  5  P  Copyright © 1999 Owen Bloomfield -2-  PP  —zh  -3-  -6-  -8-  - 10-  -11 -  - 13 -  - 14-  - 15 -  -25 -  -26-  -27-  Fl.  m  84  Ob.  m  P  f  P  84  CI.  = / 84  ^  Bn.  84  Hn.  1'  Ct.  Tm.  Pn.  84  h»h» ,U f f* , f f £  Vn.  84  Vc.  5= -29-  1'  i  J-  -32-  -33 -  -38-  -39-  -42-  -44-  -46-  -47 -  -48-  -49-  -50-  129  Fl.  Ob.  129  CI.  Bn.  129  I  Hn.  129  Ct.  In, , ,,, , — - - - 129  Tm.  "  •  1  •  *  =  r  >-  :  B  129  P  Pi  1*  Pn. 129  P  }8i»  i%u %%u  %%u  Vn.  Vc.  7  4  4 -51 -  %%u  wI 131  Hn.  —  >-  131  Ct.  jf— -yn '  ^  ,  TT  T  4  131  Tm.  -t^-'-±  •J  131  f=£==t Pn. 131  ^ #)ltl jHt» pi. p i  jjfafrffiii  *>  '  =  iiitj> pj» pj» iitj>iii  % f|tf^ pd» pd» tffld»  Vn.  Vc.  * Highest note possible -52-  -53-  -54-  -56-  Borealis for Orchestra  Owen Bloomfield  -57-  Performance Notes Numbers at top of score indicate conductor cues with the vertical dotted lines indicating aligned events. Horizontal lines signify to continue the figure in the brackets or the single note unbroken until the line ends. A l l instruments sound as written except for Double Bass which sounds an octave lower than written.  -58-  Borealis J= 56  with much rubato and freedom  1  Flute 1  Flute 2  Cellos  2  Double Bass  -59-  uu  -60-  -61 -  -62-  I  -63 -  -64-  -65 -  2  DB  -66-  3  unmeasured  VP  -67-  2  3  4  5  -68-  6  unmeasured Fl. 1  P  %r  Fl. 2  t  p  CI  B.C1  p  Vib  m  normale psenza sord. P normale r~ senza sord. ^~ r  lb  Vlns<  PP tutti senza sord. ft  2a  P  2b  i  p normale ^ senza sord. P  P Vlas  PP  senza sord.  PP  s i  *>  P  VCs  senza sord.  PP senza sord. DB  P*  ~~S~  -69-  DB  -70-  G  -71 -  , unmeasured Fl. 1  Fl. 2  CI  B.C1  Vib  morendo  1  —  ;pppp morendo  I  PPPP  Vlns<  :  2a  , morendo  2b  I  o  f\ —  Vlas  morendo  WE VCs  DB  -72-  Love Song Owen Bloomfield  Soprano duet and Harp  -73-  Love Song soprano duet and harp Owen Bloomfield  Text by Cathy Richards Gently and delicatly J = 60 Soprano 1  iriJ'i  \  ftn " 1'  I  j> [>| 4 «b " \' 4  Soprano II  Jl v'\ I 4 —  Harp  r f  .  m  J J -- J r—> .  »J-  1*—f  -«  _ 1  3  r n  w  1 '  DCBl>|El>FGAl,  mm  S. I  p  S. II  -  ill'.  -  IT  = 1  m  1  n — — A A \~— 3  -A Hp.  L h h  A^kJ «)  r  r  1  r 1  ^= 3  1  -  f 1  P 3  m ,> 1  -74-  r  ~ f  1  if  _  , ~f  f  minimal to no vibrato 12 S. I  llvx jm  o  1  flows  H  9  r>  n  f  1  flows  *  *>  ?  like mu - si(c)  minimal to no vibrato 12 Pi  s. II  p  Love  Love  like mu-si(c)  Hp.  S.I  |9 Love flows  like  mu  mu  -  | j» -  S. II Love flows  like  sic.  19  Hp.  -75-  sic  .Loveflows  like mu - sic  ~  priil., r  1  '•  =  25  LPLI>. W  .  = =  l  25  ,  1 J'[1 *—. rc 3 1 3 i  if  n—  1  1J T  1  j n-nM- J  3 1  1  ? 3  -  1  nip  p  31  S. I Its  P  31  S. II  Hp.  w  Ll'| ' |7  as  as sweet  ~*  4—  7^  *~ %  4—  •— as sweet as  taste  3E  -•7G-  sweet as  Its taste as sweet  P .wine  9  <<-  ^  1  37  S.I as  as wine  sweet as  wine  37  -0  S. II  1»sweet.  as  wine_  37  Hp. Gl,  44 S. I  s.n  44 Hp.  U — l  k * J j J^J l±  T r—if  -f-r  Lj_J  f  P  -77-  -78-  S.I  70  S. II  si  i- J r when your  70 Hp.  r 2 ^  Lf  J  kj  -79-  J  J  ikj  J  J  |J i > J i*  Mill,.  .  =  ,  1-  i  J  J 1 *  rr  1  when your depth  \ l \ h . . depth  . V  ^  a  o  —  of soul  1*—  »  'J  —^  moves  rit.  82  • *  S. I moves  a .mine  moves  Z2z mine  rit.  82  S. II  o depth of soul  moves  mine  82  Hp.  -80  _  1  Piano Piece  Owen Bloomfield  -81 -  Performance Notes: Accidentals pertain only to the flag grouping that they are in. Barlines are only used as a visual aide and do not signify any meter.  -82-  Piano Piece  -84-  -85-  -87-  -88-  Variations on Gestalt text by Lawrie Crawford music by Owen Bloomfield  -89-  Notes on the Score The score to Variations on Gestalt is designed to be fluid and work within any possible vision for a production of the work. Freedom is given to the musicians to use the music as they see would fit their particular production. The music may be improvised upon as much as desired or left out where not needed. Cello: The cello music is divided into sections marked by Roman numerals. These numerals signify musical sections or ideas. These sections are mobile throughout the script. Singer: The singer's part is written in a pitchless clef to allow a freedom of movement within the voice. The steps within the clef are to be used only as a rough guide of the contour. Stemless notes are to be read at any rhythm as suits the scene.  -90-  Variations on Gestalt Singer's Score 1.  2.  1/4 tone gliss O —  > 0 •L= 1 c  from loves  Crazy  3.  ri 1 1 LI  • m  ^  • can  kiss - es  make  1  1 1 1 1  you  <  J1  O  long  past  1 1 1 1  *•>  • u you  crazy  4.  *  1 1 1 1  know  5.  kis - es"  • kiss  '  can make you  IK HI  only a kiss  ' crazy  •  =  nrm  IK HI  1  -0 - es  ib*  can make you  crazy  it's a strange thing  left me empty  8.  7. 1 4  « — — W per  -  trust - ing  haps!  strange kiss - es  9. -x  n  ~x  very safe  you're really  with me  10. • Loves  m with  -  out  a  rail  -  -91 -  ing  you  know  12.  11.  • 3  0=  h liv-ing with-out a  Love knows no  rail - ing  I  0 #  * It* j? f  rail - ing  had to take down the  14.  f* walls  15.  ZEE  0—0-  the walls  went up  3E so slow-ly  had to takedown the walls  so slow - ly teariowrthewalls  +• f-  times to  go a  lit - tie era - zy  kiss - es  can  make you era - zy  can make you  Love  19.  18.  17.  o  m  hurt and alive  hurt and alive  crazy  when the walls came down  20.  0—*J P 0 knows no  rail - ing  —o  a  0  to the  kiss  ftn  abyss  knows no  to the  free  abyss  22.  21.  ^  -* is need  a burden  rail - ing a  ~  tf  kiss  • 0 |*  o  was  already  -92-  to  be  fall  Variations on Gestalt  I  Cello Score  Pedantically  Sul Pont. arco  pizz.  PP Sul Pont. arco  pp  ~  normal  Jf  5  S.P.  Jf  PP  normal  S.P.  * . jML  »—  9—  9  -  *. .  ->  W>—  !  !  9-  »—  A— w  -^-  9  —#- » —  A* W  . aormal  w  fx^  Jf  II  3  Repeat music at left slowly using irregular rythms. Accent words in speaker's text by playing a cell from the following group. Choose a different cell each time.  IP * — •<  \<  J  —1  4ka-  -93-  pp  Ill  arco pizz.  <•>:  ~  r-  1  1^=  izz. ,  >izz.  4 •+J 4  <I pizz.  P.  *^4J;  Ft  m  •J1  1  = H  -  PP  /  *  •  7  o  9  1si—  « ^  m  IV ace//.  o ] '• 9  zz.  mm  W  o ©• 9  J= 130  ^ ^ ^ ^ ^  Jf bounce bow approximating rhythm of second voice  9 if NHSfi y iff m i  o  h  *>  •  1  -94-  5  1  J  a  ?  5  r  |*f5  5  u  •  «  it  n n —  f *  -3n s J ••  TO  Fn a  -95-  8 r——'  A t  r f  '—j  I esc.  - I f f  —fa  ctccll  M n — r - f - 1  i —  -3  -96-  *  7  (V)  Singer Times  to go  a  lit - tie  craz - y kis - ses  can make you  craz - y Love  drop in register on cue "Damn!"  can make you  h  'g  h3 5 5  Possible  Singer crazy  highetst note possible non-harmonic  VI  arco irco  pizz.  pizz.  arco  P  pizz. it  v  VII m pp  o  arco  m  r  = .  slightly bend pitch and on each repeat increase scratch-tone  scratch-tone  ^h »  m  o  cresc.  -97-  1/4 tone sharp Jff  Variations on Gestalt:  A Monologue  in E  script by Lawrie Crawford music composed by Owen Bloomfield  Characters Three female actors Speaker Dancer Singer Musicians  Male cellist  Setting The set is extremely minimal. The voice lines are soprano and will be used to echo themes and circles in the text, and sometimes will overlap with the speakers lines. The singer will wander, sometimes off-stage, or in audience, and in front and behind scrim. She will sometimes sing to characters, echo their words, or just drift off in vocal background to the text and has a somewhat 'otherworld' sense. The dancer has a few lines of a desperate worldly nature, while the female actor is primarily chatty and reflective. The cellist has a few spoken lines for a male voice.  CELLIST:  You don't have any any new e-mail.  SPEAKER:  I hate that message... What if I never hear from you again? For days and days upon a time, (beat) Oh I know, it's been less than two weeks since we met, dare I ask? How can I say this?  SPEAKER:  "DO Y O U ASTRO-TRAVEL?"!!!! A m I crazy?  S9NQZR.:  -98 -  SPEAKER:  Then again, it has purpose. I have to find out if you were in my bed last night. Like was that full-size, full-bodied figment under the covers beside me your manifestation, or was it just me... making you up.  S9NQZH:  SPEAKER:  Kliiei, can make you chaqy. you knoiu (ovenleppUia).  Just making you up from that kiss After all, kisses can make you crazy you know.  S9AIQCR:  SPEAKER:  KiiAei, can make you dayy .  Perfectly scaled delusions of a man in my bed, true to the touch, and a fast-forwarded memory. It was only a kiss.  S9AQBR:  ...only a, kite.  CELLIST:  Men fantasize.  DANCER:  Women hallucinate.  SPEAKER:  But I really want you to know that I touched you, and felt you present with me last night. So astro-travel was all I could think of! Like, what am I supposed to say? "Did you know you were in my bed last night?" After all, we had barely just met. (beat) One kiss—then we drove five hundred miles in opposite directions. I must have imagined it.  S9AIQCR:  SPEAKER:  KtiA&L can make you ctafy  But the odd thing was—it wasn't when I wanted you that you showed up in my bed. I hadn't expected you. You startled me. That's the strange part. Then, I was overcome.  S9AQZR:  9t'i.a.ii^a*iaeiUuta...  SPEAKER:  That used to happen with a man I knew.  DANCER:  A man I knew!  -99-  ...  SPEAKER:  Who am I kidding?  DANCER:  You had to go and marry him.  SPEAKER:  The love of my life, who pulled me inside out and left me an empty shell.  S3AQCR:  left mz empty...  I could feel his hands when we were thousands of miles apart. But never did I see him like I saw and felt you last night. This was new. Your body was in my bed. That is why this... DANCER:  —this  is  so  scary.  SPEAKER:  So, do you astro-travel? I suppose it's a natural question considering.... Considering that we had just talked. Considering that I was naked under my silk dress and you bent your head down to kiss me gently with your full, soft lips. Why do I note them? I assess men by their lips you know.  DANCER:  Never trust a man with thin lips.  CELLIST:  Is the inverse true?  S9NQZR:  PenkapL.  SPEAKER:  Your lips opened me into trusting you.  SPEAKER:  Something that I know I never should do, especially when I know nothing. Nothing. I trusted the opening you offered. But I know nothing. I can hear you now.  CELLIST:  (softly) Bad. Bad girl. Go away. I won't e-mail you any more.  SPEAKER:  I'm so much more fun in person, gently joking away the fears and anxiety in both of us. That light, early nervousness of possibility.  CELLIST:  Susceptibility can be such a sweet thing.  -100-  DANCER:  But you don't know the half of it!  SPEAKER:  I'm at risk in text.  DANCER:  Forced to an honesty that is a bare naked hell.  SPEAKER:  I come off that way in print—without the chuckles and the winks and the hand on your thigh, or ankle against your calf under the table, to reassure you that you're safe with me.  £9AQ£R:  SPEAKER:  Ijou ate teaUy, <m*f. iaffi with ma.  If.... you are really with me. (longpause) I need a response. Even a reaction would do. (takes huge breath simultaneously with dancer, and holds it, then exhales loudly) Maybe... oh no... may be.... you are not quite, so safe with me.  DANCER:  (whispers) I live without a railing .... (overlapping) £ovei without a, lailuuf. you know... (o4&*fafifu*iq.)  DANCER:  (louder) I live without a railing .... (overlapping)  S9AQCR:  SPEAKER:  £ove& wtfltout a ntuUntf ...((wetLfupuUuj.)  That's why I don't invite many people over. They're shocked at the narrow ledge I live with. It's only 39 inches wide, and 15 feet straight down. It doesn't bother me though.  DANCER:  Hell! I just hang on, and lean out!  SPEAKER:  Let it all hang out. (pause) One time this single doctor was chatting me up at a potluck, seeming really interested and all that. I told him I eat graham wafer and butter sandwiches for dinner, and he took off before the next sentence was finished. See, I think you're a guy who eats cold pizza for breakfast.  S9NQCR:  SPEAKER: S9/VQCR:  2ioi+Uf without a luUlituj....  I think living with this narrow ledge has helped me. £OUB  known no ladUuj....  - 101 -  SPEAKER:  It used to be splintered and ragged from the teeth of the chainsaw that fed the rest of the house to a D9 cat, December second, 1992. I sanded the edge with time. Down below is where the walls fell on me. (pause) I had to take down the walls—  SSAQCR:  SPEAKER:  Jlad to take doom the walk (ovedapfutta)  —there was no rebar in the concrete footings my husband had laid for the new addition. Oh, I know he knew better, but he was drinking by then; he didn't care. I cared, but he was the journeyman carpenter. We poured the concrete in a day, but the walls went up more slowly.  S9NQ&R:  Ike walk went up, io ilowly. Jlad to take (Sown tUe walU (<M&ntapftf*fi}.)  SPEAKER:  Later, all these old guys shook their heads when they looked at the cracks in the footings...  CELLIST: iONQCR:  SPEAKER:  You can't build a structure that lasts, without a good foundation. ...ioilowlu..  It wasn't anything that could be fixed.  SHAQCR:  Once the lies are laid down.  .. teal down tUe walk  DANCER:  Get rid of the dangerous stuff.  SPEAKER:  Oh, I suppose pry bars, nail pullers and rubber mallets are a sort of mid-range therapy: between splitting wood, when you visualize the face of your lover in the concentric rings and aim for the core; and pounding pillows with plastic bats, coddled by strangers who share your pain. Those are usually the same strangers who yearn to become astrotravellers and sign up for workshops] on their vacations. I don't want you to think I'm like them. It was an incredible amount of work...  - 102-  I pulled and pried nails from the rafters and joists and walls of the framed-in shell. It took all the strength I had—forcing out those obsessive metal shards that bound him and I so tightly. I was trying to tear them apart and it happened incredibly fast. Fortyfive feet long of spaced 2x6 studs, 15 feet high, sheathed with plywood, crashed towards me. Everything flattened around me, and I found myself safe in a hole in the wall—in the space planned for a doorway. I was fine....  but, I couldn't find my dog.  'lUttei. totfaa little aayy. KiiAeA. can make you dayy. Jlooe can make you cAayy (ove>dafifUna)  SPEAKER:  When I don't know something, like, where my kids are in the middle of the night, or why you haven't written. Damn! I'd get like that before he'd come home with his shirt buttoned up wrong. I couldn't lift the walls; I was afraid my dog was underneath. Was he hurt and alive? Jlwitand allue.  SPEAKER:  Hurt and alive. I've left men like that before. They say it's my fault. I used to believe them, but now I think I just... well, I found them that way. My dog was hiding by the lake. He's more like me, and only barks when people leave. You said—  CELLIST:  —The success of a relationship isn't in its duration.  SPEAKER:  Very 60's and all that, but my dog will look like he's attacking when you try to leave... that is... if you ever come over. tJfwU and aliue, (ovetlafifuna)  SPEAKER:  But I don't want to make you nervous,  DANCER:  (whispering) Don't want to make you nervous... tMu/Uand alive.  - 103-  I burned the wood if the nails wouldn't come out. Some of the lumber I stacked, some I sold; scavengers and thieves took the rest. I grew tanned and strong doing it, and I rested for a long time after. I grew to feeling comfortable with the walls gone. B9NQZR:  Whentiie.walk came dow*u..  SPEAKER:  Safe.  DANCER:  Now I'm exposed!  SPEAKER:  Your kiss tipped some nerve centre somewhere. Created an opening I'm falling into. Openings long to be filled. And I don't want to long for anything. Part of me wants nothing of this. The rest of me knows no railing...  B9NQZR:  ....kttowi, HO tailuuf... A kiAA to tUe aJuf&A.  SPEAKER:  (sends e-mail)  DANCER:  (shouts after long pause) Who cares?  SPEAKER:  I know I'll breathe again.  S9AQCR:  ....know*, HO lailUtf... A klu. to the. aJiyU.  SPEAKER:  9H piee frdL  9HfreejfdL  I've learned upon impact... that lies hurt more.... than any hard truth can ever, (pause) So... I don't know if you're safe with me. Or if I'll ever hear from you again.  CELLIST:  (softly) Go away. I won't e-mail you any more.  DANCER:  It's a scary thing.  S9AQCR:  9i.Heedatut^deHaheadif?  - 104-  SPEAKER:  Willows are growing through the gravel now. A pile of charred nails still lie in a mound of ashes. Only the cracked ruin of the unstable foundation rings the space where the addition was to be.  S9AQSR:  SPEAKER:  l4J*i.taU  No addition now—just a small space with a narrow ledge. A n edge with a great view. That's all it ever is, this love stuff.  THE END  -105-