It has not taken long

About this piece

It has not taken long for cello and pre-recorded electronics was commissioned by Inbal Segev for her 20 for 2020 recording project. Molly Joyce wrote it in the spring and summer of 2021 in Fairfield, Connecticut and Charlottesville, Virginia. It takes its title and starting point from a song by the German singer-songwriter Nico. In her programme note, Joyce says she wanted to 'highlight [Segev's] intensely lyrical and melodic playing by expanding the lyrical line of the song to cello, specifically embracing the instrument's upper range and mirroring Nico's high chest voice'. Marked 'Ethereal' and 'soaring, super singing', the live cello sings slow, quiet phrases over a track of sustained chords. The phrases climb into the tenor-clef register and arrive at a fortissimo climax of glissandi over a held lower note. Segev's recording appears on 20 for 2020 Volume IV (2022). Joyce sells the score with the electronics as a PDF download from her website, where a score preview and programme note are also free to view.

Technical overview

A single movement of about 6 minutes at crotchet = 84, played against a fixed track in alternating 4/4 and 6/4. It calls for a sustained cantabile line with tenuto accents and triplets, double stops over held lower notes, and long expressive glissandi high in tenor clef. Dynamics swell from pp to ff, and the closing section has a repeated low-register ostinato.

Technical focus

• Legato
• Double Stops
• Shifting
• Dynamics
• Hairpin Dynamics
• Rhythm
• Ensemble Skills