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Work Title
But what about the noise of crumpling paper which he used to do in order to paint the series of "papiers froisses" or tearing up paper to make "papiers dechires?" Arp was stimulated by water (sea, lake, and flowing waters like rivers) , forests
Date
Composed in 1985.
Ensemble Type
Percussion Ensemble
Work Length
Approximately 20 minutes
Instrumentation
For percussion ensemble.
Comments
This work was composed "in celebration of the work of Jean Arp on the occasion of the centenary of his birth". Its title comes from a letter written by Greta Ströh, manager of the Arp Foundation to Cage, and is part of the extant correspondence between the two concerning the project as a whole. There are 10 parts provided, any 3 to 10 of which may be used in a performance. Repetitions may be made. Each player chooses 2 or more slightly resonant instruments of different materials played in unison, notated in the parts as + . The o stands for water, paper, or other unidentified sounds. Dynamics are free, but should be varied. A performance should be without conductor, very slow, each player following his or her own beat. Each performer plays his or her part twice, but as each player keeps his own time, the second performance will always be subtly different, since things will inevitably occur at different moments. Performers may be stationed around the audience, or among them, or on stage. If the work is performed on a stage, the players should not be positioned too closely together.
Dedicatee(s)
Les percussions de Strasbourg
Publication
Peters Edition EP 67074
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