This work is the fifth in a series piano pieces belonging in style and contemplative character to the "night music" genre; thus the title "Nocturnal".
Nocturnal No. 5 is written in open score. Taking as model the polytextual motet, the intent was to write a non-imitative, contrapuntal piece using four discreet, clearly- delineated lines. The inspiration for the work was Akutagawa Ryunosuke's story In a Grove (the basis for Kurosawa's film Rashomon). In the story there is a central event which is described differently by each of the four main characters. These versions differ from each other sometimes slightly, sometimes radically. In Nocturnal No. 5 the central event is a central pitch ordering which, in each voice, becomes an individualized vocalise with clearly marked laws of characterization. The spine of the work is a cantus-firmus type of bass line which, as the piece unfolds, becomes the dominant rhythmic pulse around which the other voices swirl and dance, The separate lines are further troped with uniquely individual melismas, creating, ultimately, a "woodcut" of four horizontally- placed panels. The lines influence each other and, gradually, three of the voices begin to merge, resembling each other more closely as they approach an inexorable climax. Nocturnal No. 5 does indulge our conventional concepts of what a Nocturnal should be: a vision in which subterranean and night-like clusterings of identifications and differences seem to connect all notes. But the physical gestures necessary to perform the piece constantly undermine such moorings. Gasps, excesses, incompleteness are tied around a seemingly naive cantalina. This cantalina is surrounded by an energized field of overtones and subtones, of dissonances and consonances, which create a dance of collisions. The harmonic plan, governed primarily by an overtone structure, gives the piece a harmonic armor guarding it from serial and structural commonality. We are meant to hear shadows and bodies in motion. But the cantalina is a story: it is not a mere collection of incidents, but an examination of events that form an important link with the seeming chaos around them. I was trying to create a work whose credence rests upon a structure that is revealed measure by measure, a work of evocative understatement and the "ethereal potency of unstressed metaphor".
The first performance of Nocturnal No. 5 was by Laura Spitzer on June 23, 1985 at Merkin Hall, New York City. Nocturnal No. 5 is recorded on the album Jurassic Bird: Chamber Music of Virko Baley on Cambria Records (Cambria CD 1077) Virko Baley
Editorial Notes
Fingerings and Hand Distribution
The two top lines are always played by the right hand, and the bottom two lines by the left hand, unless otherwise marked. Any unusual distribution of hands is notated with "R" or "L" for right or left hand Fingering may be paired with hand distribution; i.e., R3 indicates right hand, third finger. Where R or L appears, all notes on that line will continue to be played by that hand until otherwise marked.
Ghost Tones
This effect, which releases the initial sound attack, and then recaptures a pianissimo fraction of the sound, can be created with the damper pedal, finger, or both. The context will generally dictate the mechanics; in passages where a dry staccato sound is desired the fingers can create the effect alone (examples: measures 63, 98, 103, 200 and 362). Exceptions: (1) where there are inside sounds (they require pedal in order to "speak"), as in measure 64, (2) where the pedal is necessary to keep a line legato and the sostenuto cannot used, and/or (3) when the staccato notes are keys without dampers (see measure 55). In all other cases, the pedal alone will create a perfect ghost tone; however, I prefer to supplement it with a quick return of the fingers to the keys. It provides a backup in case the pedal does not catch the residual sound.
Pedal Suggested pedal is full indicated throughout. In legato sections it is intended to create as "wet" a sound as possible, while still maintaining the clarity and individuality of each line. In passages with detached voices, it is used either at full depth, in dabs (measures 419- 440), or as a fractional pedal, marked higher and with a dotted line. The depth of pedal used in these cases differs according to the register of the staccato line. In measures 85-6 the pedal should be depressed about halfway, to sustain the tenor line and detach the soprano; in measures 441-46 the pedal must be so shallow that the tenor notes barely catch, creating a reverbant, but still marcato, sound. Laura Spitzer