PERFORMANCE SPOTLIGHT: Eastman Percussion Ensemble - The Inexorable Motion of Time (PASIC PREMIER)

Описание: The Inexorable Motion of Time (2022) Billy Childs

The Inexorable Motion of Time was an interesting and fulfilling project. I conceived it as a percussion ensemble piece with a featured part for the piano. I sought to illustrate the mercurial and elusive nature of the passage of time, and our relation to it. While the architecture of the piece, in retrospect, can be loosely analyzed as an arch form, my actual process of composing the piece was organic in that my sense of structure was guided exclusively by the feel for a logical continuum. This is pretty much how I compose music these days.

The main rhythmic figure in the work is based off of a rather simple pattern inspired by the Tala system of composition in Indian Carnatic music. In this particular fixed time cycle, there are eight beats then a rest, then seven/ rest, six/rest, five/rest, and so on down to one. Since the units of beats and rests are 16th notes, the entire cycle equals two measures of 4/4 and a measure of 3/4. This theme is first introduced by the marimba in the opening statement (F, Bb, C, and Eb). When the piano enters a few measures later, it plays the Carnatic based pattern in retrograde - one beat then a rest, two beats/rest, and so on up to eight. This first section is marked allegro at MM 120. The next section features pointalistic interplay between the percussionists with the piano acting as an obligato, doubling the notes and rhythms of the various percussion figures.

We then arrive at the middle section, which is a slow, lyrical dance between vibraphone, marimba, and piano. This section was inspired by (and dedicated to) my father, who used to absolutely love the third-stream and Baroque influenced music of the Modern Jazz Quartet, with the ingenious arrangements and compositions of John Lewis. After the timpani, bell tree, mark tree, and snare drum join in, a dirge-like march ensues followed by rapid fire pronouncements from the xylophone.

The last section starts with a three-voiced fugue, beginning with the subject being stated in the tom-toms, followed by the snare drum, and concluding with the marimbas. Then a return to the pointalistic section follows, only this time slightly truncated and using different material. What comes next is a recapitulation of the opening passage concluding with the Carnatic rhythmic figure being played in unison by most of the ensemble, punctuated rhythmically by the brake drums and the tom-toms.

*Used with permission by Percussive Arts Society

Video used with permission. The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is the world’s largest percussion organization, with over 5,000 members in over 80 Chapters across the United States and around the globe. PAS hosts the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) annually, featuring the top names in drumming and percussion. This video is from PASIC 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 9–12, 2022. For more information on PAS and PASIC, visit http://www.pas.org/ and http://www.pasic.org/, and subscribe to the PAS YouTube channel (   / percarts  .