Leander Kaiser - Symplegades, Timpani Solo

Описание: From Jonathan Palmquist's Master of Music Percussion Recital at California State University, Northridge. April 18th, 2015.

Symplegades
Leander Kaiser

Composed: 1997
Length: c. 7 minutes
Timpani Solo
Notes from the composer:

“This composition is based on the Greek myth of the voyage of the ship Argo through the Symplegades.

The Symplegades were a group of rocks which opened and closed so that every ship caught in between was crushed. The seer Phineas told the Argonauts to let a pigeon fly between the rocks. If the pigeon flew through unharmed, the ship would also be able to pass safely. When the Argonauts reached the rocks, they followed Phineas’ instructions. As the pigeon flew through the Symplegades, the rocks closed, catching her tailfeathers. Having seen this, the Argonauts followed and, as the rocks closed, only the helm of the Argo was caught.”

The piece contains several extended techniques for timpani including using different mallets such as brushes and wooden sticks, striking one stick with another, playing in the center of the drums, and executing glissandos by changing the tuning of a drum while playing. The form is roughly an arc (A, B, A’) with an introduction and a coda. After the slow introduction, each hand continually repeats two different rhythms in the center of the drums. A melody is slowly built by adding one pitch at a time as the passage repeats. After a dramatic build up and diminuendo, the middle section begins. It establishes a slow ostinato (repeated phrase), with one note on each drum, and embellishes on it. After another build up and drop down, the same melody that had been built early returns in its fully realized state. But this time it is slowly deconstructed as the notes are taken away one drum at a time. The coda combines both themes as the piece quietly fades out.

Notes by Jonathan Palmquist