Legerdemain
General Info
Publisher: XY Publications
Duration: 00:02:00
Instrumentation
Program Notes
“Legerdemain” was an experiment with form for me. Meaning “sleight of hand” in French, the piece is a musical and technical display of the performer. It is another piece I started composing during my vacation in France in the summer of 2019, immediately following the completion of the rough draft of “Through the Streets of Lyon.” However, unlike the preceding work, the draft of “Legerdemain” was not entirely completed in France, it was only started there. Only the beginning to A was completed then. After that, work on the piece nearly came to a halt until later in the summer. I had no clue of how the rest of the piece should go. I knew that I wanted something with the complexity of Delécluse, but had no idea of how to structure the piece. Thankfully, I got my muse from a giveaway book from the UIUC Music Library. After reading an article from the Journal of the American Musicological Society (JAMS), “Henry Cowell and John Cage: Intersections and Influences, 1933–1941,” I had an idea. In the correspondence between Cowell and Cage, there was a mention of something called “micro-macrocosmic form.” To put it shortly, this form structures a song based on numerical values. So imagine a percussion ensemble with 7 players. The piece would be 7/8 in which phrase lengths would be 7 bars long, and the song’s structure would consist of 7 sections of such, with some variation. To put it simply, micro-macrocosmic form creates somewhat of a musical fractal. I noticed I had unintentionally applied this technique to the first 3/4 section of the piece (m. 1-13). It consists of 3 three-bar phrases in 3/4 time with the final fourth phrase having an added measure. The rest of the piece was structured in loose accordance with micro-macrocosmic form. You will notice bolded bar lines which demonstrate how the sections are structured with this form. These should not hinder your musical interpretation of the piece, and are merely there to show the form. The next section, A (m. 14-23), consists of 2 five-bar phrases in 5/4. In terms of rhythmic material, it is rather free and serves more as developmental material. However, there are long dynamic markings and syncopated rhythms which should be interpreted carefully. Following the idea of ascending odd numbers, B (m. 24-44), is in 7/8. This center section of the piece consists of 3 seven-bar phrases in 7/8. Each phrase showcases a different musical aspect, but at the same time, exercises the strict rhythmic stress of: (3-2-2) (2-3-2) (2-2-3) (3-1-3) (3-2-2) (2-3-2) (2-2-3), which can be seen in the beaming of the notes. In a sense, the phrases follow a strict “talea.” The first phrase (m. 24-30) is a palindrome. If taken as a whole, this phrase is a non-retrogradable rhythm. I wrote this shortly after learning about this technique and Olivier Messiaen in theory class. The second phrase (m. 31-37) juxtaposes rolls in the first 3½ bars against grace notes in the second 3½. And finally, phrase three (m. 38-44) showcases extreme dynamic contrast. C (m. 45-54) serves as the climax of the piece. The first phrase (m. 45-49) is actually the very first section of the song, but with augmented note values. I wanted to go with climactic Delécluse rolls; something bold and loud. The augmented note values create an illusion of slowing down when in reality the same tempo is maintained. The following five bars (m. 50-54) are a variation of the second five bars from A. Returning to unaugmented ideas makes the tempo feel faster as we approach the last section of the piece. To finish the piece, a recap of the original 3/4 section with variation is presented at D (m. 55-68), much in the style of Delécluse. A little reference to Lt. Kije is thrown in at the very end, concluding with a soft long roll. This information may seem like a bit much, but I just wanted to explain the process I used to create the piece. Hopefully this helps in interpreting “Legerdemain!” Special thanks to Zoë McNett, Andrew Veit, Parker Meek, Fabian Correa-Güette, and Matthew Anderson for proofreading this piece!