Edward Ryan

TWO ROOMS
2
TWO ROOMS TWO ROOMS TWO ROOMS TWO ROOMS
Performance instructions
This piece places a great deal of emphasis on the performance
practice, improvisation, and aleatory.
The intention of the composer is to create the sensation of moving
between two differently constructed rooms.
THE PIANIST THE PIANIST THE PIANIST THE PIANIST
You may begin the piece at any rehearsal mark.
How you proceed from that rehearsal mark is determined by the
flowchart located on the second page. The form of the piece may
be changed by THE ARCHITECT at any time.
The behaviour of repeats is indicated by the bracketed number
directly above the repeat sign. Repeat the number of times
indicated. The number of times you repeat a measure may be
modified by THE ARCHITECT.
Tempo and rhythmic values are relative and subject to the player's
tastes. Wide fluctuations in time are encouraged and recommended.
In measures containing repeats, slashes are used in conjunction with
dynamics. The first dynamic stated is the dynamic to be used in the first
repetition, the second dynamic in the second repetition, and so forth.
Continue playing, following the instructions given to you by THE
ARCHITECT. The ending is not notated and the piece continues indefinitely
until concluded by THE ARCHITECT.
It is recommended that you look over THE ARCHITECT's score to familiarize
yourself with the sort of instructions you'll be given.
THE ARCHITECT THE ARCHITECT THE ARCHITECT THE ARCHITECT
Follow the directions on your score. You will need a small sticky-note
pad and a pencil.
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Programmatically, the music attempts to convey its namesake: the
sensation of a person passing between two very differently constructed
rooms. The aforementioned blocks of sound are initially divided into
one of two groups: music for the towering, cathedral-like first room,
and music for the intimate, child-like room beside it. Each room has
its own harmonic palette and set of articulations. The Architect is
then invited to break this distinction, and assemble a new room of
his or her own construction.
There is a final oddity about Two Rooms: the written music is
completely cyclical. The piece can not end until the Architect intervenes.
Although suggestions are made in the score, Two Rooms can exist, like
its many other aspects, in two states: as something very long, or
something sudden.
Of variable duration. Composed in Los Angeles, CA, October 2011.
At the heart of Two Rooms is a dichotomy - aleatoricism versus
linearity. From this dichotomy come many of the structural and
programmatic themes that the music entertains. The pianist plays
a series of musical phrases, and the music dictates how these
phrases initially unfold and grow. The pianists partner, playfully
named 'the Architect', acts as a sort of devils advocate to the music,
free to manipulate and contort the formal structure of the music
as he or she pleases, and does so by writing instructions on a
slip of paper, posted on the music itself. While retaining the
vestiges of linearity, aleatoricism literally asserts itself
upon the music, and the result is a wry combination of the two:
blocks of sound that develop not through melodic or harmonic
progression, but through blunt context.
Program notes
Two Rooms is a piece constructed out of pairs: a pair of people,
a pair of moods, a pair of musical philosophies. The result is a
music much at odds with itself - a music constructed out of
contrary parts.
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EDWARD RYAN (2011)
You control the form, flow, and development of this piece, and do this
by giving written instructions to THE PIANIST.
Your instructions must always address four points, and preferably be
written in this order:
-When the instruction begins
-The action itself
-The section or sections the action affects
-The frequency of the action.
An example:
After you finish this section, repeat section A four times. After you finish this section, repeat section A four times. After you finish this section, repeat section A four times. After you finish this section, repeat section A four times.
or
Immediately, stop playing all repeats indefinitely. Immediately, stop playing all repeats indefinitely. Immediately, stop playing all repeats indefinitely. Immediately, stop playing all repeats indefinitely.
When writing your instructions, pick some aspect of the performance
space and attempt to address or cater to it. If the hall is
particularly reverberous, take advantage of that by playing Sections
A and C multiple times. If the hall is small and intimate, emphasize
the intimate Section F.You must also, at some point, instruct THE PIANIST
to end the piece. Attempt to keep the piece length between 2 and 6
minutes.
The intitial structural instructions for the pianist, for reference:
ARCHITECT ARCHITECT ARCHITECT ARCHITECT
TWO ROOMS

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ff / / p pp ppp
PIANO PIANO PIANO PIANO
with levity (con rubato, with levity (con rubato, with levity (con rubato, with levity (con rubato, e=110) =110) =110) =110)
A AA A

p / mf ff pp
B BB B

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ff
an arrival (maestoso, an arrival (maestoso, an arrival (maestoso, an arrival (maestoso, e=60) =60) =60) =60) rall.
C CC C

fff
ppp

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(x3)

s
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EDWARD RYAN (2011)
TWO ROOMS
falling away...
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(x2)
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(x2)
(x3) (x2)
did you lock the door
on your way out?
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ppp
with humor (marcato, with humor (marcato, with humor (marcato, with humor (marcato, e=70) =70) =70) =70)
D DD D
mp pp mp pp
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ff
pp
E EE E

mp/pp ppp
with a delicate sense of nostalgia, with a delicate sense of nostalgia, with a delicate sense of nostalgia, with a delicate sense of nostalgia, q=66 =66 =66 =66
F FF F

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(x3)

s
5
as you release the D, catch its overtones with the sustain pedal
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(x2)

s
walking on marshmallows
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