Chapter 8 - Special Effects
Coloristic Devices
Harmonics
Double Stops and Chords
1. Pizzicato is the word used to indicate plucking or picking the strings with the finger tips. The abbreviation pizz. is sufficient, and the word arco written when bowing is to be resumed. The change from arco to pizz. may be made almost instantaneously if the last note preceding the pizz. is played with a bow. Otherwise, a few seconds of rest should be allowed for this change. Intervals, as well as three- and four-note chords, may be played pizzicato, an open string being a decided convenience in such combinations. Although all dynamic levels are playable — from strong, accented chords to single notes of extreme delicacy — fast tempos with rapid figurations are to be avoided as being unplayable. Soft staccato accompaniments, common in piano music, may frequently be transcribed effectively as string pizzicatos. It is imperative that the starting points for both pizzicato and arco be indicated clearly if confusion with notation is to be avoided.
Pizzicato is effective in outlining melodic figurations and rhythmical patterns. An outlining notation may be arranged by eliminating all the non-harmonic notes in a phrase or pattern.
The following suggestions should not be overlooked in writing pizzicato for the string section.
(1) Soft octave passages in the bass are frequently arranged for arco cello and pizz. bass.
(2) Avoid excessively high pizzicato notes.
(3) Retain basic outlines eliminating rapid passage work.
(4) The pizzicato's effectiveness is dependent upon the element of contrast.
(5) Quick arco-pizz.-arco changes are possible if confined to moderately fast tempos, as illustrated in Examples I- 19a and b.
2. The mute (sordino or Dämpfer) is a small three-pronged clamp of wood or metal which, when placed over the strings on the bridge, produces a smooth, subdued tone not possible by any other means. Mutes not only soften the tone; they change the quality of the tone. Muted strings create a sotto-voce effect that is highly desirable for quiet accompaniments with imaginative connotations. Both styles of tremolos can also be enhanced by muted string tone when confined to the softest dynamic levels. A few measures of rest are needed for the placing of mutes (termed con sord.), or their removal (termed senza sord.). An unusual organ-like effect can be produced with solo muted strings playing pianissimo and without vibrato.
Vibrato is an "artificial trembling of a note" used to vitalize tone. Orchestral strings, without vibrato, somewhat resemble organ tone without the tremolant stop.
3. Sul ponticello is a directive for the bow to be placed very close to the bridge. It is a bowing style which produces a "glassy," rather unmusical sound that all but obliterates pitch. Being an artificial effect, its use is restricted to music that is in the realm of the fantastic, grotesque, and mysterious. Although possible with regular detached bowing, it becomes alive when used with an unmeasured bowed tremolo. The word naturale (or natural) is written in the part for the resumption of normal bowing.
Col legno has the back of the bow striking the string, resulting in a clicking sound of rather indefinite pitch. Although composers of program music have associated this unusual bowing with the macabre, it does have interesting possibilities for abstract rhythmical ideas. The word naturale is used for the return to normal bowing. The eerie effect of col legno is fully realized in the "Witches' Sabbath" movement of the Berlioz Symphonie fantastique.
5. The subject of harmonics is one which merits considerable research because of its peculiarities of technique and notation. Although natural and artificial harmonics vary but slightly in sound, the methods used in playing them are quite dissimilar.
Natural harmonics (also called "flageolet notes") have a thin, fiutey quality which is a coloristic device with an impressionistic effect. They appear infrequently as part of melodic lines and arpeggiated chords. Their greatest asset is the long, sustained inverted pedal point, sometimes augmented to include intervals and chords. Natural harmonics are produced by touching the string, without pressure, at varying points of its total length. A small circle over the note's actual pitch is the sign used.
Figure 1-20 gives the natural harmonics for each open string of the violin and viola. Those for the cello would be an octave lower than those listed for the viola.
The opening of Mahler's Symphony no. 1 features natural harmonics in the strings
5. Artificial harmonics are produced by pressure applied to the first finger while the fourth finger lightly touches the string a perfect fourth above. The pitch of the note thus produced will sound two octaves above the stopped note. Artificial harmonics are indicated by placing a diamond-shaped note a perfect fourth above the stopped note. The illustrations for both types of harmonics have been left in context, as they have little or no significance by themselves.
Harmonics, because of their uncommon timbre and pitch, are a coloristic aspect of string technique rather far removed from normal, practical scoring. Conspicuously absent until the late Romantic and Impressionist periods, they have become increasingly frequent in the scores of twentieth-century composers. Representative illustrations in many and varied forms may be found in the works of Bartok, Debussy, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Ravel, and Stravinsky.
6. Double stops and chords are a natural aspect of the playing technique for string instruments, but they are practical only when the intervals are confined to adjacent strings. Double stops of seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, and octaves for violins and violas, and fifths, sixths, and octaves for cellos are playable as they "lie in the hand." The only restrictions of size for intervals having an open string as the lowest note are those concerning the player's technical proficiency in executing the full range of fingered positions. Chords of three or four notes are extensions of practical interval combinations. Keys that contain the greatest number of open-string possibilities are preferable for double stopping and chord playing. The technical skill of unprofessional string players varies greatly in this regard, and it is far safer, therefore, to divide intervals and chords rather than run the risk of poor intonation or insecure attacks. The intervals and chords in Figs. 1-2 la and 1-2 lb combine an open string or strings with first positions for violins, violas, and cellos. (Double stops are not practical for basses.)
Double stopping is a particular function of the second violins and violas, as most of their parts are centered in the middle-range register where extra harmony spreading is quite common. These two instruments combine very well for afterbeats in dance forms where three- and four-note chords may be set as interlocking double stops.
Caution. Double stops are inadvisable when the top note of the intervals forms a cantabile melodic line. Write the two parts out divisi. If a two- or three-voice harmony progression is to be played legato, do not write double stops. Divide the parts so that a legato will be playable. Accurate notation for all intervals and chords is essential, as it is only possible to sustain the two top notes.
Many adaptations of double stopping may be found in a variety of dynamic levels. In the softer nuances, they are rarely given a legato bowing, while the pizzicato style is quite frequent. String intervals or chords may be rolled or arpeggiated, as in piano music. Perhaps their greatest worth comes from playing with successive down-bows while doubling wind instruments.
7. The glissando (meaning "slurred, smooth, in a sliding manner") produces a smeared, unclear sound and is indicated by a straight or wavy line placed between two notes of different pitch. Sometimes the abbreviation gliss. ox port, {portamento, meaning "to carry over") is also included. This effect, used infrequently prior to the early 1900's, has become increasingly conspicuous for all sections — strings, winds, and percussion. (See Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Morton Gould's LatinAmerican Symphonette.)
8. Sur la touche (or sul tasto), meaning "on the fingerboard," directs the bow to be placed over the fingerboard rather than in its usual place between the fingerboard and the bridge. The resulting tone becomes softer and more delicate. It is to be found mostly in scores by French composers (see Example 1-16).