Three Miniature Processes by Natalie Draper
you left your shadow by Cassie Wieland
Poya by Cory Wong
Before the worms get my body by Ian Power
two marimba solos by Justin Rito
Last Dance by Joep Beving
Brief Works by Michael Laurello
you left your shadow by Cassie Wieland
Poya by Cory Wong
Before the worms get my body by Ian Power
two marimba solos by Justin Rito
Last Dance by Joep Beving
Brief Works by Michael Laurello
There isn’t a lot of music written with young percussionists in mind. For decades, many percussionists, marimba players in particular, wrote their own music. I’ve never been inclined to compose, outside of singing silly songs to my dogs. But over the fifteen-ish years I’ve been teaching, I’ve lamented the amount of music accessible to many of my students. So a few years ago, I set out on a project with the goal of expanding this type of repertoire.
After a bit of work, I was lucky enough to receive funding from York College of Pennsylvania and The Peabody Institute. This enabled me to commission five new pieces, and make two arrangements. I recorded all of this music in the Fall of 2024. Teaser videos are below, and the album is now available to stream. The bottom of the page contains program notes for each piece.
Before the worms get my body was engineered by Sam Pluta, the rest by 2x1 Media. Album artwork by pseudodudo.
After a bit of work, I was lucky enough to receive funding from York College of Pennsylvania and The Peabody Institute. This enabled me to commission five new pieces, and make two arrangements. I recorded all of this music in the Fall of 2024. Teaser videos are below, and the album is now available to stream. The bottom of the page contains program notes for each piece.
Before the worms get my body was engineered by Sam Pluta, the rest by 2x1 Media. Album artwork by pseudodudo.
|
Cassie Wieland you left your shadow |
Natalie Draper
Three Miniature Processes Movement I |
Justin Rito
two marimba solos Movement I: Circle Back |
Program Notes
Three Miniature Processes
Each movement of this piece explores process in a variety of ways. The first movement alternates between a pulse and a groove, with the material gradually rising in register before hitting a “reset” in the middle and then starting again. The second movement is more romantic in spirit, but still investigates a process – in this case an additive chord progression that is also shrinking in terms of harmonic rhythm. The third movement is a series of echoing, cascading descents – a process based on both register and duration.
- Natalie Draper
You left your shadow
is about remembering a person
in the remnants that they leave behind
- Cassie Wieland
Poya is written by one of my favorite musicians, Cory Wong, whose music brings me joy, even on my worst days. It comes from an early album of his called "Becoming," which features music for solo electric or acoustic guitar.
Before the worms get my body
“You say, ‘This is the kind of human being I choose to be before the worms get my body. ’ It’s what the
great William James calls the core problem of religion: the call for help. Our being an agent, being a
subject in the world but knowing that there will be moments of relative helplessness and impotence so
that you must call for help.” - Cornel West
“Masochism is one of the soul’s ways for restoring value to what has been devalued.” - Lyn Cowan
This piece is about devotion to an instrument, both embracing its tradition and xing on its minutiae.
It is about the self-disciplinary power felt in achingly gradual change. It is about the anxiety of staying
clean. It is a Pinocchian etude, brought to life as (a) real work.
- Ian Power
two marimba solos
These two marimba solos mark a return of sorts for me as a musician. I wrote them as I was beginning my first semester teaching at Alma College, where I attended music school as an undergrad. It’s been amazing, scary, disorienting, and humbling to work alongside some of the professors I once had in class and rehearsal, and I’ve tried to compose two short pieces to reflect that whirlwind. The first is groovy and off kilter, sort of inspired by the strangeness of being back in a place that seems familiar and surprising all at once. The second is a simple song for my new daughter Kennedy, without whom I wouldn’t have made the decision to return to teaching.
- Justin Rito
Last Dance is a beautiful work for solo piano, from Joep Beving's 2022 album "Hermetism." Written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Beving says of the piece that “the music has a spiraling, circling nature. It’s as if something is falling and then it gets picked up again, and it could go on like that forever. This image really fits within the concept of Hermetism, and I get drawn back to this music almost like a mantra.”
Each of the two movements in Michael Laurello's Brief Works explores rhythmic possibilities. The first contains numerous mixed meters (5/8, 7/8, etc), and the uneven lilt they embody. Collections of pitches differ from one hand to the other, creating an overlapping and dense texture. Movement II uses two rhythmic patterns, a 2:3 polyrhythm and rapidly moving sixteenth notes. The two ideas alternate back and forth, eventually fracturing apart as the piece concludes.
Each movement of this piece explores process in a variety of ways. The first movement alternates between a pulse and a groove, with the material gradually rising in register before hitting a “reset” in the middle and then starting again. The second movement is more romantic in spirit, but still investigates a process – in this case an additive chord progression that is also shrinking in terms of harmonic rhythm. The third movement is a series of echoing, cascading descents – a process based on both register and duration.
- Natalie Draper
You left your shadow
is about remembering a person
in the remnants that they leave behind
- Cassie Wieland
Poya is written by one of my favorite musicians, Cory Wong, whose music brings me joy, even on my worst days. It comes from an early album of his called "Becoming," which features music for solo electric or acoustic guitar.
Before the worms get my body
“You say, ‘This is the kind of human being I choose to be before the worms get my body. ’ It’s what the
great William James calls the core problem of religion: the call for help. Our being an agent, being a
subject in the world but knowing that there will be moments of relative helplessness and impotence so
that you must call for help.” - Cornel West
“Masochism is one of the soul’s ways for restoring value to what has been devalued.” - Lyn Cowan
This piece is about devotion to an instrument, both embracing its tradition and xing on its minutiae.
It is about the self-disciplinary power felt in achingly gradual change. It is about the anxiety of staying
clean. It is a Pinocchian etude, brought to life as (a) real work.
- Ian Power
two marimba solos
These two marimba solos mark a return of sorts for me as a musician. I wrote them as I was beginning my first semester teaching at Alma College, where I attended music school as an undergrad. It’s been amazing, scary, disorienting, and humbling to work alongside some of the professors I once had in class and rehearsal, and I’ve tried to compose two short pieces to reflect that whirlwind. The first is groovy and off kilter, sort of inspired by the strangeness of being back in a place that seems familiar and surprising all at once. The second is a simple song for my new daughter Kennedy, without whom I wouldn’t have made the decision to return to teaching.
- Justin Rito
Last Dance is a beautiful work for solo piano, from Joep Beving's 2022 album "Hermetism." Written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Beving says of the piece that “the music has a spiraling, circling nature. It’s as if something is falling and then it gets picked up again, and it could go on like that forever. This image really fits within the concept of Hermetism, and I get drawn back to this music almost like a mantra.”
Each of the two movements in Michael Laurello's Brief Works explores rhythmic possibilities. The first contains numerous mixed meters (5/8, 7/8, etc), and the uneven lilt they embody. Collections of pitches differ from one hand to the other, creating an overlapping and dense texture. Movement II uses two rhythmic patterns, a 2:3 polyrhythm and rapidly moving sixteenth notes. The two ideas alternate back and forth, eventually fracturing apart as the piece concludes.