Last updated

Tuesday September 24th 2002

Min of Meer

Min of Meer (More or Less) is written for four players in monochrome combinations.

Min of Meer was written in 1988 on request of the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet.

The piece consists of four parts which are not synchronized. Each player starts individually. The first player takes tempo q = 72. When he reaches bar 5 (that is: within 20 beats) the second player starts, playing at a tempo of q = 76. The third player starts again before the second has played 20 beats, this time at tempo q = 80. The last player goes after some 20 beats of his predecessor at q = 84. All players should therefor use metronomes with flashlights or earphones (no audible beeps or ticks please!).
The order in which the parts start is free; that is why the parts are not numbered but are identified with the completely arbitrary letters D, J, V and W. Naturally, a score is not feasible whence not available.
The piece can be played in three versions:

Saxophone quartet Parts should be distributed in any order over any four saxophones (e.g.: D: Alto, V: Barytone, W: Tenor, J: Soprano; or: J and W: Tenor, V: Sopranino, D: Bass)

Clarinet quartet
Any group of four clarinets may be used provided that their tunings are only octaves and one fifth apart. This means: only B-flat instruments, or: B-flat and E-flat instruments, or: C and F instruments, but not: B-flat and A, or B-flat, E-flat and F-instruments.
The parts are distributed in any order over the four clarinets (e.g.: D and J: Bb-flat-soprano, W: E-flat-alto, V: B-flat-contrabass).

Quartet of oboes and bassoons Any combination of oboes and bassoons may be used, provided they are all either tuned in C or in F. The parts are distributed in any order over the four players (e.g.: D: Bassoon, W: Oboe, J: Contrabassoon, V: French horn).

Each player should play his part as written without transposing. This will give different results with different combinations and distributions of the parts over the instruments used. All parts have a range from (written) low b-flat to high f'''.
Only the three (more or less monochrome) combinations mentioned above may be used. It is not allowed to mix them (e.g. saxophones and bassoons together are not allowed).

About the structure of the piece:
Six parameters are used in each part: Pitch, duration, degree of dissonance, dynamics, frasing/articulation, effects. Each of these moves two or three times more or less from more to less or vice versa. E.g.: In part W pitch moves from up to down and then back; duration moves from long to short, back and again to short. Some parameters move parallel to another, e.g.: The amount of effects in part V moves perpendicular to the degree of dissonance in part W. A full scheme of all patterns involved is given as an appendix.
Whereas the general movements between extremes are as described above, the individual notes only more or less adhere to these laws. They move a little bit around the lines set out for them.
The exact distribution around the set averages is determined by the probability law of Poisson.
This law (drawn from natural, real-life sources) indicates the probablilty of rare possibilities. E.g.: If it is known that in a certain town 1 baby is born each day on a long-time average, then the probability that today 2 babies are born (or 5 or none) is given by Poisson's law. Or, if composer choses that around bar 95 the average duation of notes should be 2 beats then Poisson gives the probability that the actual note will be 7 beats long (or 1 or 34). A randomizing device then decides on the actual outcome. Any outcome is allways possible but values near the average are much more likely to occur then extremes.

During performance, players can adopt different ways of positioning themselves, e.g. spread out over the whole stage, or around the audience, or in the middle with the audience around them, or simply sitting in a semi-circle close together in the middle of the stage.
The piece should last some 9 minutes.