Rhapsody on Euler's Identity

For Clarinet and Grand Piano

Abram Foster

For Michael, who probably won't like it

Performance Notes
This piece is to be played by three performers.
The rst performer ("the clarinettist") plays clarinet, the second ("the eects artist") plays the strings of the piano, usually at the rear of the piano but
occasionally at the front, and the third ("the pianist") plays the keys of the piano and occasionally the front of the strings.
The clarinettist should play facing away from the piano unless otherwise specifed; this person should stand such that at certain points in the piece the
clarinet can be played directly into the soundboard of the piano.
Poco rubato can be used as needed throughout the piece, except with rehearsal section C (mm.35-57), which should be played as strictly as possible.
The triangular noteheads in mm.61-63 should be keyed and vocalized, but not played.
In rehearsal section G, improvise a passage or some sort of melody with the provided pitches. Vary dynamic and rhythm as much as possible. If you are
so moved to change octave, you may do so, but try and group the pitches as is notated (so wait a few seconds before changing octave again). It is
encouraged to play some sections and not others into the soundboard of the piano.
The eects artist should play mm.1-17 at the rear of the piano, mm.20-31 at the front left of the piano, 34-68 at the rear of the piano, mm.73-76 at the
front right of the piano, and mm.81-93 at the rear of the piano.
Dynamics on the eects line are not notated, and with the only exceptions being the low As, the line should be played relative to the pianist's dynamic.
Regular noteheads on the eects line are hits on the soundboard. I recommend hitting the soundboard on the far right (facing from the back towards the
keys) past the lowest notes to give easy access to the low A. Noteheads without caps should be hit with the intersection of the palm and the upper wrist
to make a deep resonance. Noteheads with caps should be hit with the middle phallanges in a st, as if knocking on a door.
The nine large parallelogram noteheads should all be played the same way: from the back far right of the soundboard, place your index nger in the gap
between the lowest A and the lowest Bb, and pluck the lowest A with great force. The slow vibrations in the lowest A string should cause the hammer
mute to bounce up and down, amplifying the sound. If the pluck does not cause this eect, it is not strong enough.
In mm.20-22, stand to the pianist's left and mute with the right palm the six strings leading up to the ones the pianist was muting previously in mm.19.
In mm.24, place a cell phone in the same general area that was muted previously. Let the metal in the cell phone mute and amplify the strings, and hold
it in place, varying pressure on the phone. The phone should be turned on, and unrelated sounds from the phone are encouraged.
After transferring the cell phone to the pianist in mm.31, quickly move to the back of the piano and pluck the low A once more. It is more important that
the A is plucked with force than that it is plucked in time, and the pianist is expected to improvise until the A is plucked.
In measure 62, place a hand palm-down on the lowest section of strings and move it around the section of strings, maintaining contact with the strings at
all time. Make slow, circular motions counter-clockwise until the end of mm.64. Then, in mm.67, quickly streak the hand in a line across these same low
strings. Repeat this in mm.68.
Walk to the pianist's right, and watch the keys, particularly the lower Bb picking up to mm.72. Mute the ve strings around this Bb with the palm from
mm.73-76, then quickly return to the back of the piano for the next hits.
In Rehearsal section G, streak the lowest section of strings in various shapes and motions, similar to what was done in mm.62-68, but completely freeform and open for experimentation. Feel free to use more than one hand or to hit the low strings as desired.
DIAMOND NOTEHEAD #1-2: In mm.82 and mm.84, there are large diamond noteheads. Both represent a half-note length of time. In this time,
glissando up the lowest section of strings from bottom to top and down the next lowest section from top to bottom. This should be done loudly, but not
too loud that it swallows up the rest of the sound.
The pianist should bear in mind that although a secondary piano eects ossia sta is occasionally notated, string mutes unless otherwise notated are to
be played by the pianist.
It is up to the pianist's discretion as to whether the trills and fast repeated notes are to be played with one hand or two.
On all the trills between "C" and "B#," mark the location of the strings. Then place the left middle nger on the B3 strings with as great force as possible
without hurting the nger, in front of but very close to the hammers, raising the pitch by a quarter tone. Place the left index nger on the C4 string
lightly, muting the string but not changing the pitch. Be careful to watch these trills because not all of them require forcefully depressing the B3 String.
In mm.26-33, improvise using the provided pitches, maintaining a constant 16th note pulse. Don't count 4/4 beats, and let the other performers play
their parts. The cue to go back into time is the low A pluck in mm.34, and the improvisation should be concluded with the provided passage, although
this is not critical.
In mm.32, use the left hand to take over control of the cell phone, varying pressure on it. It is not required to remove the cell phone immediately at the
end of the passage, as the other immediate notes do not go to those pitches. Play the low E in mm.35, and take mm.36-39 to quietly remove the phone
from the strings.
Depress the four C's in mm.57 and hold the sostenuto pedal with the left foot through to mm.68.
Mute the C with the left hand in front of the hammers in mm.58, then jump to immediately behind the hammers in mm.59. Slide the hand up the string
towards the cross-beam in mm.60, move it down with signicant vibrato and then up again in mm.61, and then continue in such manner nding
dierent harmonics and overtones to middle C. Return to a mute in mm.67 and then release.
Take a breath before the rubato section starting at mm.69. This is a lyrical side thought to the past two sections.
In the crescendo in mm.81-82, keep the left hand louder than the right. At the end of mm.82, feel free to ritardando even past Maestoso.
The cadenza in mm.85 is obviously Rubato.
Wait for the low A to nish resonating before taking mm.88. This bar is very similar to mm.73 in that it gives lyrical closure to intensity.
Rehearsal section G should be played almost identically to mm.62-66, except feel free to take liberties with the rhythm of the key press. Although the
pedal will reect the sound of the other instumentalists, ignore them entirely and pedal solely for the benet of the harmonics resonating from middle C.
DIAMOND NOTEHEAD #3-6: The following should happen as the last bar of the piece:
1. The pianist should stop harmonics on middle C and hold down all keys in the interval from the lowest E on the piano to the C above that.
2. The pianist should stop pressing middle C and clear all pedals. This can be after any number of seconds of improvisation (I recommend 30), but this
is the cue for the other performers to take their actions.
3. The clarinettist should play and hold a very high note at the top of their range at piano dynamic.
4. The eects artist should stop improvising on the lowest section of strings.
5. The pianist should strum the entire lowest section of strings from bottom to top at fortissimo dynamic.
6. The clarinettist should continue with their very high note and decrescendo to niente as the low strings ring.
7. The pianist should begin releasing keys in the interval very slowly, nally isolating the low E pitch, and nally releasing that as well.

Rhapsody on Euler's Identity

For Clarinet and Grand Piano
Abram Foster

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