Program Notes
Celebration II is a colorful, exciting opener or closer for 5 players on one 5-octave marimba. It is also available for 3 players on one 4octave marimba under the title Celebration III.
Michael Colgrass' Three Brothers is composed for percussion nonette. The "three brothers" are the snare drum, bongo and timps and they carry the majority of the musical content while the other parts are supporting.
Scavenger Music, everything but the kitchen sink? This piece requires the players to do some of their own “scavenging” to find and create all of the instruments necessary to perform it. Fairly simple rhythms throughout (limited to quarter notes and eighth notes) make this a perfect novelty piece for a high school percussion ensemble or young college ensemble.
One Eyed Jacks, An attention grabber from the very beginning. Very catchy melody with the appropriate amount of supporting batterie. Excellent listening, good musical material for the conductor searching for a little lighter sound that challenges the players.
Composed two years before her death, Price’s “Adoration” is originally for organ. As the title suggests, the brief 3-minute work channels a sacred devotion common with liturgical hymnody. The form is ternary, beginning with a long meditative melody accompanied by a bed of harmony. A responsorial section leads to a richer, slower section that rises and falls in melodic contour, reaching its expressive peak. The work ends returning to the opening melody, cadencing the musical prayer in Amen.
Momentum. Commissioned by Dr. Brian A. West and the TCU Percussion Orchestra for the opening of the Van Cliburn Concert Hall in the beautiful new TCU Music Center, Momentum is a fanfare for non-pitched percussion ensemble in surround sound. The piece immerses the listener in a rising wave of accents and atmospheric effects around the performance space, culminating in a dramatic final unified statement. Arranged for solo violin and strings by Jim Gray. As the title suggests, the brief 3-minute work channels a sacred devotion common with liturgical hymnody. The form is ternary, beginning with a long meditative melody accompanied by a bed of harmony. A responsorial section leads to a richer, slower section that rises and falls in melodic contour, reaching its expressive peak. The work ends returning to the opening melody, cadencing the musical prayer in Amen. for solo