Resounding Earth

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Resounding Earth is a chamber music composition for percussion ensemble by the American composer Augusta Read Thomas. The work was composed in 2012 for the percussion group Third Coast Percussion, to which the piece is dedicated. It was first performed on September 30, 2012 at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center in Notre Dame, IN. [1] [2]

Chamber music form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments

Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers, with one performer to a part. However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances.

Percussion ensemble

A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical music. In America, percussion ensembles are most commonly found at conservatories, though some professional groups, such as Nexus and So Percussion exist. Drumlines and groups who regularly meet for drum circles are two other forms of the percussion ensemble.

Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.

Contents

Composition

Resounding Earth is scored for four percussionists and requires over three hundred metal instruments to perform. Thomas described the inspiration for the piece in the score program notes, writing, "Scored for four percussionists playing bells from a wide variety of cultures and historical periods, the project is conceived as a cultural statement celebrating interdependence and commonality across all cultures; and as a musical statement celebrating the extraordinary beauty and diversity of expression inherent in bell sounds." [1]

Structure

The piece has a duration of roughly 30 minutes and is composed in four movements: [1]

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

  1. "Invocation – Pulse Radiance" (homage to Olivier Messiaen and Igor Stravinsky)
  2. "Prayer – Star Dust Orbits" (homage to Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez)
  3. "Mantra – Ceremonial Time Shapes" (homage to Lou Harrison and György Ligeti)
  4. "Reverie – Crystal Lattice" (homage to Edgard Varèse, Harry Partch, and John Cage)

Reception

Resounding Earth has been praised by music critics. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times wrote, "...there’s nothing quite like the hypnotic experience of being immersed live in the shimmering, thrumming, pealing sound cloud created by these instruments, many of which have ceremonial powers in their cultures of origin." She added, "Fluidity is a quality in much of Ms. Thomas's work, even as it retains the uncompromising angularity of modernism. Much of that has to do with her unerring ear for tone color and the ever-changing timbres she creates, which pull the listener along as surely as a traditional harmonic progression." [3] John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune similarly lauded, "There's a ritualistic quality to Thomas' tintinnabulations, each percussionist assuming by turns a kind of hieratic function. Bell sounds at once ancient and modern – bright, dark, shimmering, shattering, rhythmic, lyric – combine to create a wondrous, otherworldly carillon. I found the delicate cosmic song of the Japanese rin in the 'Prayer' section absolutely haunting." [4] Michael Cameron of the Chicago Classical Review remarked:

<i>The New York Times</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper based in New York City

The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 127 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.

<i>Chicago Tribune</i> major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It is the eighth-largest newspaper in the United States by circulation.

The clear, semi-dry acoustics of Logan Center were a perfect fit for the strike-and-decay sonic profile, and the players threw themselves into their realization with obvious affection for both the composer and the centuries of musical traditions that shaped each instrument. While the work reflects Thomas' reverence for these cultural symbols, she shows no reticence in coaxing novel timbres from the vast array. A lesser composer might have drowned under the stress of such a profusion of sonic possibilities, but Thomas neatly matched each rhythmic gesture to an appropriate sound and dynamic. [5]

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Cymbal common percussion instrument

A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note. Cymbals are used in many ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands, and marching groups. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride, or crash/ride, and a pair of hi-hat cymbals. A player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist.

Percussion instrument Type of musical instrument that produces a sound by being hit

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Drummer percussionist who creates and accompanies music using drums

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Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy Award-winning American percussion ensemble, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Thomas, Augusta Read (2012). "Resounding Earth". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ Midgette, Anne (March 5, 2015). "A gallery's worth of music, and it's all free". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (March 6, 2015). "Review: Augusta Read Thomas's Spiritual 'Resounding Earth'". The New York Times . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Rhein, John von (February 25, 2014). "Third Coast contributes to 'youthquake' in city's new-music scene". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ Cameron, Michael (February 22, 2014). "Third Coast Percussion delivers powerful Thomas premiere at Logan Center". Chicago Classical Review. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
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