EARTH MOVES ANDREW CONKLIN
for 8 percussionists
Ivy Las Music
INSTRUMENTATION
Player 1: glockenspiel, suspended cymbal, 2 bongos, 3 congas
Player 2: glockenspiel, concert bass drum, log drums (4 pitches)
Player 3: crotales, mark tree, 5 wood blocks, 2 triangles, hi-hat
Player 4: chimes, 5 temple blocks, trash cymbal, suspended cymbal
Player 5: vibraphone
Player 6: vibraphone
Player 7: marimba (5-octave)
Player 8: marimba (5-octave)
Duration: ca. 8 minutes
PROGRAM NOTES
I first heard the music of Vicente Lusitano in 2020, which marked the beginning of one of the driest three-year periods in California’s history The rain and snow returned three years later with a vengeance, and we rejoiced, even as we quietly feared it was too much all at once for the parched earth to absorb
Vicente Lusitano’s radiant vocal music sounds like something beamed in from a distant time and place, which, in a sense, it is The African-Portuguese composer lived in 16th-Century Europe, where he wrote motets and music theory treatises before falling into obscurity for roughly 400 years The recent ripple of attention around Lusitano reminds me of the anomalous wetness we Californians enjoyed in 2023 I am glad to see more performances and recordings of his music, yet I sense the brief buzz surrounding the stunning music of this composer may already be receding
For my part, I seem unable to let go of my fascination with Lusitano’s music, which has seeped into my most recent compositions in different and unexpected ways The title of this piece for eight percussionists, Earth Moves, comes from the final words of one of Lusitano's best-known motets, Heu me Domine:
Free me, Lord, from eternal death on the awful day; When Heaven and earth move
At the basis of Earth Moves is a cyclical chord progression that rotates through various permutations, musical contexts, and color combinations I hope the music conveys a hint of that very particular blend of hope, awe, longing, and inevitability that accompanies the inexorable passage of time.
EARTH MOVES
in response to Vicente Lusitano’s “Heu Me Domine”