Wolfstack Lights (for Piano Solo)
Home waters. Zailors dawdle at the rail, watching for the lights of London.
Chamber Music from the Unterzee ( track 2 / 21 ) from the Sunless Sea video game soundtrack by Maribeth Solomon and Brent Barkman
arranged by Kelly Wong for piano solo – ( downloadable sheet music with parts, score ) ( listen ) ( alternatively: arranged for string quartet )
post and track analysis down below!
I already went through quite a bit of analysis in my last post (very) early this morning about the string quartet arrangement, so I won’t bore you with the specifics. The string quartet allowed for a really thick layer of harmonies and different timbres occupying the same note value that you don’t really get with a piano, but I do think the piano was particularly suited to the melody of this piece. So here.
In lieu of the usual blathering about the music, I’ll use this space to talk about things I’ve changed between the string quartet arrangement and this one.
thing i’ve changed between the string quartet arrangement and this one
For one, I’ve moved the original viola pizzicato ‘wave’ line down an octave. It definitely gives the melody a more earthy feel than in the string quartet arrangement because of the bigger counterbalance between the range of the melody and the waves, which are really a driving force of the entire piece. The addition of the pedal below the waves cements this difference from the beginning, because instead of being the light beachy waves from the string quartet, they’re these powerful forces that toss ships around. Which is why the tempo marking reads Andante con moto in both.
(Additionally, the piano would have sounded heavier even without the octave shifting--the string quartet arrangement is driven by viola pizzicato, bubbly and light and perfect like champagne to a piano’s warm apple cider or something.)
Take a look at the differences between the “call” motif in the two arrangements--piano on top, string quartet on the bottom. I modified the piano arrangement to contain one of the few original figures in the entire piece because of three reasons: bowed instruments are unique in their ability to sustain notes without killing them and the piano is not a bowed instrument; the left hand was preoccupied; and I just didn’t feel like making the player play yet another arpeggio. On which this new figure is based.
Speaking of which, I’m really sorry about the whole arpeggio thing. I experimented with ways to acquire the same effect without making you dance across the keyboard (even consulting a piece with a hugely popular 6/4 wave motif, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, mostly because I’m a dweeb and also because I wanted an excuse to listen to it again) but nothing worked. The whole point of the wave theme is to roll between two extremes, anyways; not having it would defeat the purpose.
The string quartet plays on typical orchestral tropes and has Violin II doubling Violin I in a lower octave. This rapid octave-shifting nonsense Does Not Fly with piano players, or at least with me. You’re welcome.
Hey! I was able to condense the viola and cello strumming part, originally for classical guitar, into one line! I couldn’t write the quadruple stop pizzicatos for the viola/cello because the strings don’t work that way and all three notes have to be playable and expressive. That’s one major perk of composing for piano, not having to do mental gymnastics mapping out every chord. You’d think cello was easier for me to think about because it’s tuned to the same four notes as the viola, but somehow it’s even worse because the octaves are all messed up. Moving on.
And lastly, I had to rewrite the rhythms for the final section for maximum impact. The strings can sustain these notes with the same intensity, no problem, but the piano requires a little bit more rhythmic interestingness to keep the energy alive. I added triplets where there was previously just a triplet-duplet pair within the viola line and doubled up on the chords during the change. Do keep in mind the heavy swing applies to this, too, so they’re not just straight eighth notes.
That’s about it. I wrote more than I thought I would have, even though I really didn’t change much except for reshuffling some chords and octaves to make them playable with a normal-sized hand. I think next will be a string quartet based on ‘Elegaic,’ but the strange orchestration of ‘The Surface’ still calls to me. Enjoy playing this!
