percussion featured

The sound world of Pt. Reyes Seashore came to me in the winter of 2010-11 during a hike with my family in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore.  Pt. Reyes is a cape about 60 miles north of San Francisco.  It has the distinction of being connected to the San Andreas Fault, and, as a result, of moving northward at the rate of about 2 inches per year.  It is the home of numerous species of flora and fauna, and contains some of the most remarkable views of and access to the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast. We had been hiking the McClures Beach Trial in the northern part of the park when we passed uphill of a magnificent passage of ocean pounding against the rocks and beach of the coast.  The sound—even at a distance of perhaps 500 yards—was incredibly memorable:  deep booms, echoes, churns…. it challenged me to think of any human produced or created sound that could equal its magnificence.  Experiencing the scene—the waves on the coast, the vast ocean behind it—I thought of the power of the ocean, and the humility of water. 

Musical works:

1.  motion/less for percussion solo
2.  Oneiro for percussion trio
3.  64 Statements re and not re Child of Tree for solo percussion and audio tapes
4.  Pastorale for solo percussioin and Dancer
5.  Friends, for piano, crotales, and narrator
6.  Three Short Pieces
       i. Five, brass quintet
       ii. Four interludes from Downward Facing Dog, for piano solo
       iii. For Frank Bowen, solo flute
7.  Decline of the West, for female narrator and all-male heavy-metal band
8.  Metaphysics, for spoken voice and boom boxes, requiring 7 assistants
9.  Faith, for voice or any instrument
10. Hope, for hand percussion, guitars, and voices (Version 2 of Decline of the West, when performed as part of the opera, Faith, Hope, and Love
11. Love, for Seven Performers
12. Do something/Do something else, for any number of performers
13. Gesturing hands, for solo theremin
14. Blindness, for solo marimba
15. Written on the body, for musicians and dancers

Texts:

A dramatic monologue from The Telltale Heart, adapted by Jim Lovensheimer, from the original short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Perc:  Marimba, African percussion set, vibraphone, steel-pan, snare drum, 3 suspended cymbals, 3 cowbells, temple blocks, 4 tom-toms