DUALITY
In the intricate tapestry of existence, one prevailing theme weaves its way through our perceptions and experiences—duality. The concept of duality encapsulates the inherent contradictions and opposing forces that coexist within us and the world around us. It is a profound reminder that life is not defined by absolutes, but rather by a delicate balance between opposing elements.
Duality
Jlin, arr. David Skidmore
Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) is a producer and composer based in Gary, Indiana. Her unique and evolving electronic sound is rooted in Chicago's iconic footwork style, with additional influences ranging from Nina Simone to Igor Stravinsky. Jlin's work assembles evocative and vivd sounds into a musical style that she describes as clean, precise, and unpredictable."
Her seven-movement work Perspective was written for Third Coast Percussion through a highly collaborative process. Jlin visited TCP at their studio in Chicago multiple times to discuss their musical inspirations and new possibilites, and to explore and sample instruments from TCP's vast collection of percussion sounds. She then created the first version of each of the work's seven movements in a digital audio workstation using these samples and other sounds from her own library.
The members of Third Coast Percussion then set about determining how to realize these pieces in live performance. Jlin provided the ensemble recordings of full tracks as well as the stems (individual recorded parts) that make up the track. Diving into each of the tracks, the percussionists found a beautiful complexity - dozens and dozens of stems in each track, patterns that never seem to repeat when one would expect them to, and outrageous sounds that are hard to imagine recreating acoustically, Even typical percussion sounds like snare drum, hi-hat, or kick drum exist in multiple variations, subtle timbral shades in counterpoint or composite sounds. Jlin named her piece Perspective as a reference to this unique collaborative process; the same music, interpreted by two different artists and their different modes of expression.
The Duality of Angels & Demons
Angels of the Apocalypse
David R. Gillingham
Angels of the Apocalypse was inspired by the Biblical book of Revelation. The work begins with the opening of the Seventh Seal with trumpets being given to seven angels. As each of the first six angels blows the trumpet, a series of apocalyptic events is unleashed upon the world. After much death and destruction, a rainbow forms over the earth and the seventh angel blows a trumpet and so begins the "Hymn of Angels."
demons
Imagine Dragons
The lyrics of this well-known Imagine Dragons song portray the protagonist warning the significant other of his or her flaws. The song was a commercial success, becoming their second top ten single after "Radioactive". It spent twelve weeks in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, four of which were spent at its number six peak.
T
The Duality of Earth & Sky
Mother Earth, Father Sky
Ney Rosauro
“The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us.” Spoken by Big Thunder of the Wabanaki nation in Maine, these words bear eloquent testimony to an awareness of the cosmos that is shared by all the native cultures of what is today the United States and Canada.
The first part represents the Earth and depicts the progression from the dawn to the full light of day. A small bridge represents the fire, and the second part represents the Sky with its force and thunderstorms. The same material that represents the Earth will close the work. The main theme of the work represents the Great Spirit and his voice will be heard throughout the piece, through the Earth and from the Sky.
- notes by the composer
The Duality of Open & Closed
Open and Closed
Jessica Flannigan
Each summer, my husband and I drive across the country with our children, visiting national parks and spending all our time outdoors. I often think of how great it would be to play music amidst these incredible landscapes, but loading a marimba or drumset into the car isn’t always practical. Quartets that Travel is a collection of 13 short quartets for small auxiliary percussion where all instruments can be carried in one trip, and no sticks or mallets are required (unless substituting bells for kalimba). The sequence of this set progresses from basic techniques through more advanced articulations and structure.
Utilizing two prominent sounds of the triangle, Open & Closed plays with phrases that mix open and closed articulations, quick passages that require playing inside the triangle, and timed dampening, allowing the listener to be left with the resonance of the instrument without the click of a closed strike.
- notes by the composer
The Duality of East & West
The Duality of Hope & Despair
Hope and Dreams & Save the World
Toby Fox, arr. Chris Dandeles
"Hopes and Dreams" & "Save the World" are both songs by Toby Fox for the 2015 video game Undertale. The soundtrack from Undertale has been well received by critics, especially for its use of various leitmotifs for the various characters used throughout various tracks. In particular, "Hopes and Dreams" is the boss theme when fighting Asriel in the pacifist playthrough, a run-through where the player avoids killing any monster, brings back most of the main character themes. The composer Toby Fox has stated that "Hopes and Dreams" is a personal theme for him, and it certainly has earned a special place in the hearts of Undertale fans everywhere.
The Duality of Chaos & Order
Fugue in G minor
Johann Sebastian Bach
Fugue in G minor, BWV 578, (popularly known as the Little Fugue), is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach during his years at Arnstadt (1703–1707). It is one of Bach's best known fugues and has been arranged for many different instruments.
A fugue is a beautiful musical device that through rigid rules of composition epitomizes order. A single voice begins a simple melody, unaccompanied and unadorned. As the first theme continues to develop, a second voice enters the mix, presenting the original theme in a new key. As more voices join, they weave a complex melody that’s always shifting, unfolding and accompanying itself.
This polyphony is at times chaotic, like four people trying to talk to and hear each other at the same time. This is impossible in conversation, but musicians can turn the chaos into order. In music, the voices can both complement and rival each other, adding depth and direction to every note. Whether written for singers, wind instruments or keyboards, the effect is mesmerizing.
The Duality of Fire & Ice
Game of Thrones
Ramin Djawadi
Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first of which is A Game of Thrones.
Ramin Djawadi began composing the music for the show after he had watched the first two episodes of the series and discuss the concepts of the show with the showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. According to Djawadi, the showrunners wanted the title theme to be about a journey through the many locations of the world of "Ice and Fire." After Djawadi was shown a preliminary animated Game of Thrones title sequence that the visual effect artists were still working on, he was inspired to write the piece. He said that he started humming what would become the theme tune in the car after seeing the visuals for the title sequence, and conceived of the idea for the theme on the drive back to his studio. The music was completed three days later!
The Duality of Light & Dark
Light in Darkness
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras and artists. Evelyn has commissioned over 200 new works for solo percussion and has recorded over 40 CDs. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians.
Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including 2 GRAMMY’s, the Polar Music Prize, the Léonie Sonning Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was appointed as the first female President of Help Musicians. Since 2021 she has been Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Evelyn curates for The Evelyn Glennie Collection which includes in excess of 3,800 percussion instruments. The film Touch the Sound and TED Talk are key testimonies to her unique and innovative approach to sound-creation. She continues her life-long mission to Teach the World to Listen through her charity The Evelyn Glennie Foundation, which aims to improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening in order to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower.
The Duality of Left & Right
Shockwave!
Alan Keown
Shockwave! by Alan Keown is a short, accessible, and drummy piece for percussion ensemble. It serves as an introduction to antiphonal performance, with the group often split into halves: Players 1-4 on the RIGHT, and Players 5-8 on LEFT. Other simple textures are also explored, such as unison playing and basic hocketing between players.
The Duality of Sun & Moon
Moondance
Van Morrison
Moondance is a song recorded by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison and is the title song on his third studio album Moondance. It was written by Morrison, and produced by Morrison and Lewis Merenstein. Morrison did not release the song as a single until November 1977, seven and a half years after the album was released. Moondance is the song that Van Morrison plays most frequently in concert.
Van Morrison comes up with songs many different ways, sometimes a lyric or title idea sparks a song, and other times it's a melody. "Moondance" started as a jazz saxophone instrumental, and Van played that original sax solo he wrote for the song. He told Rolling Stone magazine: "I used to play this sax number over and over, anytime I picked up my horn." That Rolling Stone quote is about all you're going to get from Van regarding the song. He is notoriously fickle when it comes to speaking about his music, as he feels that the songs should speak for themselves.
The liner notes to the Moondance album were written by his girlfriend Janet Planet, and instead of a traditional explanation of the recording process or a list of thank-you's, these notes are a fable, telling the story of an artist in ancient times who has a great gift but keeps it to himself. When his wife gets sick, he cures her using his gift of song. She then asks, "But who will ease your pain, who will save you?"
Watercolor Sun
Ivan Trevino
Watercolor Sun (2023) was commissioned by the Grammy-winning ensemble, Third Coast Percussion. It was written for the quartet to perform on one single 4.3 octave marimba. I have been friends with the members of Third Coast for many years and have watched them from afar with much admiration. It brings me great joy to write music for them.
There are moments in life that create a feeling I can’t quite describe. Like waking up in a sunlight room, or sharing a meal with old friends, or going on a road trip with someone you love. There’s a jovial, euphoric feeling to it. I feel it when I catch the sunrise with my family, and I feel it when I play music too. Maybe it is gratitude, or peace, or something in between. Whatever this feeling is, it is at the heart of Watercolor Sun.
– Ivan Trevino, Nov. 2023
The Duality of Life
I Ching
Dwayne Rice
I Ching (The Book of Changes) by Dwayne Rice is a set of variations fo large percussion ensemble based on concepts from the ancient Chinese book of wisdom by the same name. Pronounced Yee Jing, the I Ching is derived from the polar concepts of Yang (the light ocreative) and Yin (the dark or receptive). Yang is represented by a solid line and Yin by a broken line. These lines are then combined into all possible groups of three, creating eight different trigrams (a set of three lines). Each trigram is associated with an image of something that exists between Heaven and Earth.
The trigrams are then stacked onto each other in all possible combinations of two, resulting in 64 Hexagrams (a set of six lines), each representing a degree of change that can happen in our lives. Each degree of change is given a name, an image, an explanation, and a way to confront the change.
The book is often labeled as mysticism, but is actually very far from it. It can be used as a practical way to approach life. Both Taoism and Confucianism, the predominant schools of thought in China, have their roots in its study.
The inspiration for I Ching came from the images of the eight trigrams, which are presented in the following order: Earth, Mountain, Water, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Lake, and Heaven. The resulting piece is a set of variations on a theme, each basically an "impression" of the trigram's image and meaning.
The connections between the piece and the actual I Ching run much deeper than just the surface images of the trigrams. They not only dictate both the form and the feel of each musical section, but their consecutive connections into hexagrams, and those hexagram's degrees of change, give the piece its direction and momentum.