Birtwistle: Bow Down for voice, speaker and percussion
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- Composer: Harrison Birtwistle (1934-2022)
- Format: Performance Score
- ISMN:
- Size: 12.0 x 8.9 inches
Description
Bow Down is based on the ballad The Two Sisters, which appears and re-appears in folklore all over northern Europe and in North America (where it turns up, in at least one manifestation, as a bluegrass number).
Each version has its own idiosyncratic details, depending on the local culture and geography. However, the basic outline of the story remains the same:
A suitor comes to woo the fairer of two sisters. The other (dark) sister is consumed with jealousy and takes the fair one for a walk by the waterside in order to push her in. The fairer sister drowns and her body is swept away, leaving the dark one free to pursue the suitor. Meanwhile, the body is washed up on a nearby shore, where it is found by a rapacious miller who plunders it. Later it is rediscovered by a blind musician who fashions an instrument from it, using the bones for the frame and the hair for the strings.
The musician goes on his way, carrying his new instrument, until he comes to a wedding feast which is celebrating the marriage of the suitor and the dark sister. He is invited to play for the couple but, before he can lay his hands on the strings, the instrument itself sings the story of the murder. Enraged, the wedding guests turn on the dark sister and put her to death – burying her alive in the ground as her sister was buried alive in the water.
Bow Down is a story of enormously powerful images – horrific in its details of sibling rivalry, mutilation, torture and murder and yet also transcendent in the way that music is perceived as being capable of overcoming death in order to reveal the truth.
Clearly, as with all good legends or fairy stories, the myth is capable of any number of interpretations – Marxist, Freudian and Feminist among them. But Bow Down does not set out to make that sort of intervention. It rather presents us with a collage of different versions, sometimes overlapping, sometimes contradicting each other. The focus keeps changing, as does the diction (the show includes Scottish, Northumbrian and Danish versions, amongst others) and the detail. By constantly shifting the angle of vision, Harrison Birtwistle has created a piece that is, in a way, cubist. and yet, it's also a rattling good story.
In fact, Bow Down sits squarely in the story-telling-tradition. It is not a play where the music has the role of providing atmosphere or 'numbers'. Nor is it an opera, in which dramatic personae appear on stage while the music comes from a separate 'pit' band. It can only really be classified as music-theatre, a term appropriated by a very diverse range of material but which can perhaps best be defined as 'work whose dramatic content is purposeless without the music and whose music is meaningless without the dramatic content.'
It is therefore a highly collaborative piece, originally created through a workshop process at the National Theatre in 1977. Composer, poet, director, actors and musicians worked together to devise a piece based on the original ballad texts. The final 'script' or 'score' was not put together until after the event.
Graham Devlin
Publishers use a lot of words to describe what they sell, and we know it can be confusing. We've tried to be as clear as possible to make sure you get exactly what you are looking for. Below are descriptions of the terms that we use to describe the various formats that music often comes in.
Choral Score
A score for vocalists that only contains the vocal lines. The instrumental parts are not there for reference. Generally, cheaper than a vocal score and requires multiple copies for purchase.
Facsimile
Reproductions of the original hand-written scores from the composer.
Full Score
For ensemble music, this indicates that the edition contains all parts on a single system (there are not separate parts for each player). In larger ensembles, this is for the conductor.
Hardcover
Hardbound. Generally either linen-covered or half-leather.
Orchestral Parts
Similar to a wind set, this is a collection of parts. In the case of strings, the numbers listed are the number of copies included, though generally these are available individually (often with minimum quantities required).
Paperback
When publishers offer multiple bindings (e.g. hardcover) or study scores, this is the "standard" version. If you're planning to play the music, this is probably what you want.
Performance / Playing Score
A score of the music containing all parts on one system, intended for players to share. There are not separate parts for each player.
Set of Parts
For ensemble music, this indicates that there are separate individual parts for each player.
Solo Part with Piano Reduction
For solo pieces with orchestra, this is a version that contains a piano reduction of the orchestra parts. For piano pieces, two copies are typically needed for performance.
Study Score
A small (think choral size) copy of the complete score meant for studying, and not playing. They make great add-ons when learning concertos and small chamber works.
Vocal Score
A score prepared for vocalists that includes the piano/organ part or a reduction of the instrumental parts.
Wind Set
For orchestral music, this is a collection of wind and percussion parts. The specific quantities of each instrument are notated.
With Audio
In addition to the printed music, the edition contains recordings of the pieces. This may be an included CD, or access to files on the internet.
With / Without Fingering (Markings)
Some publishers prepare two copies - a pure Urtext edition that includes no fingering (or bowing) suggestions and a lightly edited version that includes a minimal number of editorial markings.
Birtwistle: Bow Down for voice, speaker and percussion
