Fracture

Fracture tackles the weighty subject of childhood abuse in this moving work for percussion ensemble. Beginning with carefree, idyllic simplicity and segueing into places with dark, sharp edges, Archer paints a vivid & powerful soundscape.

Program Notes

Fracture was commissioned by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Percussion Ensemble, Dr. Tammy Fisher, director & the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Tony Falcone, conductor.

Most of us recall our childhood in a comfortably hazy, idyllic light, as a time of carefree simplicity. However, I was recently struck by a friend’s admission of having abruptly recovered memories of childhood abuse. What must this be like? Those long-held pastel images suddenly have to be integrated and reconciled with darkness and sharp edges. It occurred to me that while this is horrible, it is perhaps not so different from the common human experience of a traumatic accident, illness, death, or other life-changing event. For all of us, once our world is fractured, who we are and what we thought we knew can never be the same again.

- Kim Archer

Grade Level: 3
Copyright: 2011
Number of Players: 9 + piano
Duration: 7:00
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Category: Percussion

Listen to Recordings

Instrumentation

Bells, Brake Drum, Bell Tree
Crotales, Bass Drum, Woodblock
Chimes
Vibraphone
Xylophone
Marimba 1 (4-octave)
Marimba 2 (4-octave)
Timpani
Percussion (Tam_Tam, Field Drum, Triangle)
Piano