Dance of the Clockwork Dolls by Stephen Dunstone

Dance of the Clockwork Dolls For Intermediate 3-part harp ensemble Please click the "About this work & Performance Notes" heading below for further details This book is supplied as a score and set of 3 parts   Buy this music now £10.50 +p&p

Artist Profile and catalogue of works - Stephen Dunstone

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Dance of the Clockwork Dolls
There are three parts as follows::-

Harp A
Harp B
Harp C

I found the opening melody of this piece going round my head as I was walking through a wood with autumn leaves falling, and my first thought was that it was going to grow into an ensemble with a title like Waltz of the Autumn Leaves. But once I was home and starting to develop it, I realised it was all far too rhythmic for autumn leaves, and the image of mechanical dolls in synchronised dance came to mind.

I did originally have the tempo instruction Giocoso meccanico, but that made the dolls seem robotic and threatening, whereas the dolls in my imagination are thoroughly benign, albeit clockwork so there are no dynamics or rubato in the piece. The only tempo changes are towards the end of verses 1, 2, and 3, where the dolls’ motors run down, followed by the swift turning of keys to wind them up again. (Ideally it would be great if the players could start to slump as their motors are running down, then perk up as they’re wound up again...) The winding up is extended and more vigorous before verse 4, giving rise to the syncopated and jazzy nature of that verse. The music goes into 4/4 there, so clearly I couldn’t call the piece a waltz any more, hence the less specific Dance of the Clockwork Dolls.

The melodies and harmony are passed between the parts pretty well equally throughout the piece, but since the melodies are single lines with lots of quavers (and since I always feel it’s much better for multiple reasons to keep both hands in play as much as one can) I have indicated possible use of left and right with the usual convention of tails-down / tails-up respectively (bearing in mind page turns for users of paper copies). But this is just a suggestion, so, as always, please do what works best for you. (In verses 1 and 2 there’s also a line that’s not one of the (labelled) fast melodies nor the oom-cha-cha harmony, but I haven’t made any suggestions for left and right in those sections as the music allows plenty of alternative ways of using your hands, and plenty of time to choose.)

Title:	Dance of the Clockwork Dolls
Composer:	Stephen Dunstone
Instrumentation:	3 Lever or Pedal Harps
Level:	Intermediate
Format:	A4 stapled score and set of 3 A4 parts
Weight:	128gm
ISMN:	979-0-57046-471-5
Our Ref:	SD1074
Publisher:	Creighton's Collection
Printer/Distributor:	Creighton's Collection
Edition/Year:	2025
Origin:	UK