Less

Hypnotic, lyrical and rhythmically meticulous, Less for percussion quartet makes for a singular experience for performers and audiences. The combination of melodic dreamy textures, a scrupulous rhythmic spine, and a delicate sound world offers multiple angles and opportunities for subtle and expressive music-making.

Program Notes

All three movements in Less share a common nature: a persistent, rather unchanging surface made with a lively, effervescent texture. This “dynamic stasis” takes mildly-differentiated tones in each movement: Surgical Dreams references the hypnotic sonic environment of medical operating rooms and the semi-conscious dreamy way in which we might experience them. Cadenza is a nod to the remarkable shaker-virtuoso tradition in some regions of South America. Meditation is a special case: while conceptually similar to Surgical Dreams (“dynamic stasis” traversed by a long melodic line), I wrote it in a slow five-beat-compound-meter bar (15/8), remembering those lucky months when I ventured to play with local folk and jazz musicians in the island of Saint Lucia.

-A.R.

Grade Level: Medium Difficult
Copyright: 2020
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Category: Percussion

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Instrumentation

Percussion 1: Glockenspiel, High “G” Crotale
Percussion 2: Vibraphone, 2 Wood Slabs, Elephant Bell
Percussion 3: 2 Ceramic Plates, Elephant Bell, Shekere, 2 Caxixi
Percussion 4: Brake Drum, 3 Ceramic Flowerpots, Elephant Bell