Lifecycles-SAMPLE

MIKE NEVIN LIFECYCLES for percussion ensemble

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TSPCE25-001

PROGRAM NOTES

I initially wrote this piece as “Part 2” of the 1998 Blue Knights World Percussion Ensemble show, “Circular Momentum.” Shortly after the Winter Guard International Championships that year, one of our front ensemble members, Debbie Downing, was killed in a car accident. Debbie was also one of my students in the Gateway High School Percussion Ensemble in Aurora, Colorado. At Debbie’s funeral, a group from the ‘98 BKPE front ensemble performed this section of the “Circular Momentum” show.

Much later I lengthened the piece and arranged it for one of my high school ensembles. I retitled it Lifecycles because the central groove felt like a spinning wheel, even though I wrote much of it in 7/4. Also, the cyclical changes between major and minor tonalities became a musical metaphor for our life cycle as humans, reflecting the times in our lives that are melancholy and those that are happy and joyous.

—Mike Nevin

PERFORMANCE NOTES

The middle section of the piece (rehearsal letter F to rehearsal letter J) is open for solos.

The first solo segment is letter F to H (mm. 54–61 may be repeated as needed for additional soloists). The soloist should continue through the phrase at letter G. The last solo segment is letter H to J. The soloist should continue all the way to letter J.

The accompaniment for each section is “modular.” Feel free to rearrange, take away, or add in any of the accompaniment parts. For example, if a marimba player is taking a solo, have the vibes play their comping part from mm. 54–61 (letter G). If the soloist is a vibe player, the marimbas can play their part from mm. 67–74 (letter H).

Transcriptions of the solos in the audio recording are provided with the parts as a reference.