After getting a price quote for metronome rentals from Wittner to perform Ligeti’s Poeme Symphonique which was in reliable secondhand car territory, I decided it would be more fun to buy them and have a set at my disposal, to satisfy my periodic urges.
I have one hundred black Wittner Model 836 Taktell Piccolo metronomes. If you are interested in renting my set, contact me through my website! They live in Toronto, so keep that in mind when calculating shipping logistics. I generally only ship within Canada. See below for other countries.
They arrive in a big heavy shipping crate, and will take some time to unload and unpack. You should also spend some time with them to get a feel for how long to wind them/how fast they are set – otherwise you could end up with a very short or very long performance. I would recommend at least one “test run” to iron out any kinks and to make sure that all the metronomes are completely expended. If you test them at a certain number of half-rotation winds at a median tempo and get a rough timing, you can extrapolate the winds/tempo as a ratio. i.e. if 6 half-turns at 120 lasts 6 min, 9 half-turns at 180 will last roughly the same time. Beware MM 40-50 + overwinding!
Performances so far:
Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound 2013
Fluxible 2013
Victoria Symphony 2014 (link to a Times Colonist article)
National Youth Orchestra of Canada 2014
New Music Edmonton 2015 (link to a Edmonton Journal article)
Big Lake Festival 2022
University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble 2023
New Music Concerts 2023
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 2024
Thanks to the folks at Counterpoint Music for helping me out!
Renting in Europe: Try the makers themselves: Wittner GMBH. It’s about 1000 EUR last time I checked, plus shipping. The advantage here is that you will be getting the big wooden ones. email: wittner@wittner-gmbh.de for current rates, availability and shipping details. I would recommend this for non-continental renters, as the shipping from Europe is much more than the rental itself.
Renting in US: You can rent them for free from 100metronomes.com – you just need to cover the cost of shipping. WHAT A BARGAIN. There
THE SCORE (source here)
GYöRGY LIGETI- POEME SYMPHONIQUE 1962
for 100 metronomes – score
“Poeme Symphonique” (for 100 metronomes) requires, as its primary condition for performance, 100 metronomes. Their acquisition may be accomplished in several ways. For example, they may be borrowed from one or more music instrument firms. (When the pertinent special shops are not to be found on the spot, it is recommended that inquiry be made to this end at so-called music dealers). For the purpose of attaining the desired result (i.e., the permission to borrow), some comments may be useful with regard to the value of the advertising to the firm, gained through its readiness to loan. In this connection one may offer to print the name(s) of the firm(s) on the concert poster, in the programme book or on a placard to be placed on the stage, or one or another combination of the listed possibilities. If necessary, the announcement may take the form of verbal communication, either by itself or as a means of following up the printed announcement.
Another way to bring about the acquisition of the metronomes is the insert advertisements in the newspapers. In this case all private persons will be invited to be so generous as to make temporarily available the metronomes in their possession for use in the performance. In cities which have their own music schools*, this request can be made directly to the teaching staff or the student body, with the assistance of the customary media of communication. In the two last-named instances it is recommended that the owners of the required instruments be asked to put some means of identification on them, to prevent their being misplaced or mixed up. This can be achieved, for example, through the obligatory affixing of the owner’s name by means of a suitable strip of paper**.
Should it happen that a Maecenas makes it possible to borrow the metronomes for the purpose of performance, his name- after consultation with the person in question- shall be made public.*** The composition is provided with a passe-partout dedication: on each occasion the work is dedicated to the person (or persons) who have helped to bring about the performance through the contribution of instruments, by any means whatsoever, whether it be executive council of a city, one or more of the music schools****, one or more businesses, one or more private persons. If a patron can be found who will remove once for all the financial hindrances to the performability of the work by buying the necessary metronomes and guaranteeing the transportation costs which arise from time to time, “Poeme Symphonique” will be dedicated from then on to him alone.
In particular, the following instructions for performance are to be carried out: 1) It is preferred that pyramid-shaped metronomes be employed. 2) The work is performed by 10 players under the leadership of a conductor. Each player operates 10 metronomes. 3) The metronomes must be brought onto the stage with a completely run-down clockwork (that is, in an unwound condition). It is expedient that they be placed on suitable resonators. Loudspeakers, distributed throughout the concert hall, can serve to raise the dynamic level. It is recommended that each of the 10 groups of 10 metronomes be arranged about a microphone which is connected to an appropriated loudspeaker*****. The distance between the metronome-group and the microphonem as well as the regulation level of the allocated loudspeaker******, are to be differently set in order to achieve the proper effects of closeness and distance. 4) At a sign from the conductor the players wind up the metronomes. Following this, the speeds of the pendulums are set: within each group they must be different for each instrument.
“Poeme Symphonique” may be performed in two versions: 1) All metronomes are wound equally tightly. In this version the chosen metronome numbers (oscillation speeds) wholly determine the time it will take for the several metronomes to run down: those which swing faster will run down faster, the others more slowly. 2) The several metronomes of a group are wound unequally: the first of the 10 metronomes the tightest, the second a little less, the tenth, the least tightly. Care must be taken, however, that the winding and the regulation of the speeds of the several metronomes are carried out completely independently of each other. Thus the metronome in each group which has been most lightly wound must not be the fastest or the slowest in its oscillation.
The conductor arranges with the players beforehand the method and the degree of winding. The performance may be considered ideal, if a) in the first version all the metronomes b) in the second version the first metronome of each group is(are) completely wound.
The ideal manner of performance is the obligatory one. Non-ideal performances are only permitted if weighty reasons are present which force the occurrence of a deviation from the ideal performance, such as the playing of a shortened version of the work. In this unwelcome case the conductor must set, with the performers, the number of turns for (1) all the metronomes or (2) the first of each group, according to whether the first or second version is being played. The winding-up and the regulation of the oscillation speeds (the setting of the metronome number) must be done ceremoniously and formally. At the conclusion of this preparatory activity comes a motionless silence of 2-6 minutes, the length of which is to be left to the discretion of the conductor. At a sign from the conductor*******, all the metronomes are set in motion by the players. To carry out this action as quickly as possible, it is recommended that several fingers of each hand be used at the same time. With a sufficient amount of practise, the performers will find that they can set 4 to 6 instruments in motion simultaneously. As soon as the metronomes have been started in this fashion, the players absent themselves as quietly as possible******** from the stage, led by the conductor, leaving the metronomes to their own devices. “Poeme Symphonique” is considered as ended when the last metronome has run down. It is up to the conductor to decide when the last metronome has run down. It is up to the conductor to decide the duration of the pause, before he leads the players back on to the stage to receive the thanks due from the public.
(Translated by : Eugene Hartzell)
- resp., colleges of music
- It is recommended that the use of fountain pen or ball-point pen be prescribed.
- See in this connection the paragraph on the music instrument firms.
- resp., colleges of music
- or group of loudspeakers
- resp., group of loudspeakers
- downbeat
- Suitable footwear is requested.
- downbeat
- resp., group of loudspeakers
- or group of loudspeakers
- resp., colleges of music
- See in this connection the paragraph on the music instrument firms.
- It is recommended that the use of fountain pen or ball-point pen be prescribed.
Hi, could we rent your metronomes for a concert in Victoria BC on March 29?
thanks for your help.
-m
I would love to do this piece on my students’ chamber music concert at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles on February 10th and 11th. Are they available to rent then, and how much do you charge?
I am wondering what it would cost to rent these 100 metronomes. I want to get an idea of how to support one of our local music groups in a performance of the Ligeti. Shipment would be to New Mexico, USA