Errata & Comments on Jacob Druckman's Reflections on the Nature of Water

William Moersch Errata I, m. 36, upper stave (3rd beat) - missing quarter-note rest I, m. 37, both staves (entire measure) - tremolo III, m. 11, lower stave (1st beat) - extend 16th beam to C III, m. 17, lower stave (1st beat) - extend 16th beam to C III, m. 25 (5th-7th eighth notes) - all 32nds, not 16ths IV, m. 23, lower stave (last 16th note) - E, not Eb (missing natural sign) IV, m. 43, upper stave (first beat) - A and C, not F and A IV, m. 47, upper stave (last note) - G and C#, not G and D# VI, m. 10, lower stave (3rd beat) - B, not Bb (missing natural sign) VI, m. 10, (3rd beat) - all 32nds, not 16ths VI, m. 16, lower stave (last 8th note) - B, not Bb (missing natural sign)

1. Crystalline - 1/8 pulse @ MM 108, mallets: IP502-503-503-504, grace note figures are generally ON the beat rather than TO the beat, add slight breath mark before the last set of grace notes in m. 5 & 21, diminuendo line of L.H. octave A's m. 16-21, possible slight fermatas at end of m. 17 & 28, be sure to sustain sound of high F / Ab for full duration m. 28, possible slight retard on septuplet in m. 33, tremolo last measure.

2. Fleet - Misurato = even, articulated 32nds, non-tremolo for entire movement, mallets: IP502-503-503-503, mf not too loud & poco sfz not too much, hear high notes sustaining thru the rests in m. 23 & 24, C# poco meno in m. 28 with slight rallentando to end, bring out the melody of the chords (R.H.) m. 28-32 (add accents to all, p in m. 30), possible ghost tremolo on last F / C. 3. Tranquil - 1/8 pulse @ 104, mallets: IP502-503-503-503, watch counterpoint dynamic shifts between voices, sfz F# within diminuendo m. 11 & 17, possible mf rather than mp on peak tremolos in m. 22 & 26, careful with partial triplet figure m. 29. 4. Gently Swelling - in 2, 1/4 quintuplets @ MM 60-63, mallets: IP502-502-503503, 3-chord bass line with 7/16 bars as modulations, 2nd time compressed with altered voicings in R.H., tremolos as measured 32nds m. 55-63 (like Mvmt 2), note metric shift in m. 62, possible slight fermata on last C# / F# (actual tremolo). 5. Profound - consider time line as 5/4, 1/4 @ MM 60, mallets: IP502-503-503503, sustain 5ths with 2 & 3, 1 & 4 play outer voices, practice cascades of harmonies non-tremolo (lines 4, 5 & 9), delay grace notes to stretch silences in lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 (notice ghost quarter-note rest in line 4: Jacob later commented that the drawback to his choice of notation in this movement was that space equaled time, yet it took more space on the page to write numerous fast notes, thereby making them appear slower), connect last note to tremolo with diminuendo. 6. Relentless - mallets: IP503-503-503-504, consider levels of attack & materials as counterpoint: background -> sfz -> accents -> caret accents on open notes, watch "upbeat" or negative accents m. 38-41, practice variations of m. 50 (hands alone, R.H. double stop 5ths, etc.), keep tempo even on rallentando & perdendo m. 55-57, possible accelerando m. 63 to end but diminuendo.

Interpretations As for interpretation, I use Druckman's six stated qualities of water to provoke imagery for each movement. Consider the dual nature of the movement words / titles as both musically expressive indications and as qualities of water. Develop a scenario or screenplay concept for each movement. In screenplay terms, visualize an "establishing shot" for each movement, observing details of location, climate, topography, time of day and action. A few suggestions: I: icy and brilliant, but very quiet and not too harsh in the low register. II: water in motion, flowing over terrain. The important issue is to articulate all of the 32nd notes, but still maintain a "fluid" sound, not too "dry." III: a pond in a forest grove. IV: think of deep ocean waves, very long, very slow, but a tremendous mass of water in motion. The time feel should be in 2 (groups of 5), not 3 or 4. V: I set metered rhythm for everything (5/4 at mm60) and then adjusted the rhythms until I arrived at a satisfactory version, which I could then play consistently. Jacob's stated concern was that the flaw in the notation was the contradiction of more notes (density) requiring more space on the page, thus resulting in less density. Compress the material to allow greater breath between the phrases. VI: I always had the image of frogs, for the bounce in the opening figure, but perhaps a driving rain, something having to do with the power of water to erode.

I generally use voiced combinations of mallets and my choices for this piece have moved slightly softer over the years. (I also went one grade softer for my recording than I use in live performance.) Out of a four-point hardness scale ("1" being the softest) and applied to many different mallet lines over the years (Malletech Concerto, Van Sice, Zeltman, Innovative Percussion Soloist & William Moersch), my usual versions are below, from left to right: I: 2-3-3-3 or 2-3-3-4 II: 2-3-3-3 or 3-3-3-4 III: 1-1-1-2 (recording?) or 2-3-3-3 IV: 2-3-3-3 or 2-2-3-3 (recording) V: 2-3-3-3 VI: 2-3-3-3 or 3-3-3-4