Encircled Echoes (digital download)

Three of the movements of Encircled Echoes were originally part of my book 14 Etudes for Snare Drum. The final seven etudes from the book were conceived as pieces to be performed on recitals either alone or grouped into suites. Three of the etudes have origins in orchestral works by composers who helped shape the modern role of percussion in the orchestra. Encircled Echos incorporates those three pieces along with a brand new movement that draws inspiration from another composer whose musical imagination moved percussion forward.

The title Encircled Echos represents the sounds from the drum and the ideas that formed the composition. The snare drum head is encircled by the counterhoop. All of the sounds in this piece are activated inside this circle. There are no rim clicks, stick clicks, or additional small instruments used to create the music. The echoes are the rhythms from the past that ricochet and reflect off each other to create these new pieces.

I. UnRaveling

UnRaveling is an orchestral snare audition fever dream. It draws inspiration from Maurice Ravel’s Bolero (with just a touch of Prokofiev). Performing Bolero with an orchestra is a lot of fun. Playing the two-bar rhythmic figure non-stop for hours as you prepare for the audition that might just give you the opportunity to practice it for many more hours to prepare for the performance is a very different experience. It will haunt your dreams. But...it’s worth it!

II. Air a Bela

Bela Bartok began the second movement of his Concerto for Orchestra with an “unsnared” drum. This reflective movement takes Bartok into a hall of mirrors.

III.   Nicolai’s Risky Organ Loft

Nicolai’s Risky Organ Loft is loosely based on rhythms from Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol (and includes a brief visit with a captivating storyteller). The title is a malapropism of the composer’s name. I like to imagine the rhythms imitating an imaginary Rimsky-Korsakov deftly jumping around an unstable organ loft filled with traps and puzzles while working the pedals, pulling out all the stops, and still making great music.

IV.   Igor Dances

Originally titled “Ice Dragons” (an anagram of “Igor Dances”), this movement draws on rhythmic motives from Igor Stravinsky’s second ballet, Petrushka, and rhythmic structures from his third ballet, The Rite of Spring.