Percussion Ensemble - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.935385

Composed by Dan Heslink. Contemporary. Score and parts. 36 pages. Pharaoh Publications #5775261. Published by Pharaoh Publications (A0.935385).

One Hour to Madness for percussion septet.                            by Dan Heslink

From its opening motto to its bold closing summation, One Hour to Madness explores a high degree of musical energy. The title is loosely inspired by Walt Whitman’s marvelous poem, One Hour to Madness and Joy (Leaves of Grass). The music presents a dark and exciting expression couched in pervasive contrapuntal development. A high degree of dissonance is contrasted with the second theme’s clear Bb major tonality. The work’s contrapuntal nature is distilled into a fugato in the second half.

 Predominantly a mallet ensemble composition, scoring is for orchestra bells (2 mallets), xylophone (2 mallets), vibraphone (4 mallets), 3 marimbas (each with 2 mallets) and timpani. The timpani part is best performed on the standard set of 4 drums (23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 32-30). The marimba 1 part requires the standard range of 3 ½ or 4 octaves; the marimba 2 part can be executed on the standard 4-octave instrument by omitting a few octave doublings, or on a 5-octave instrument if one is available; marimba 3 requires a 5-octave instrument.

 The composer assigns a difficulty level of advanced. It will serve any concert or recital very well. Audiences and performers alike will enjoy the flashy passage work and musical impetus afforded by One Hour to Madness. Duration is 3:41. The composer, Dan Heslink, can be contacted at dan@dheslink.com.