The Great Divide - Grade 4 - Percussion Ensemble for 11 players - Printed Version
Grade 4 - Percussion Ensemble for 11 players
The Great Divide builds a groove around 7/8 time and quasi-stereophonic effects.
This is the order page for the Printed Version of this piece. Because of how the Squarespace sales platform works I have to keep the physical and digital product pages separate. If you want to purchase this piece for Automatic PDF Download, click here.
The Great Divide was commissioned for the Pea Ridge High School Percussion Ensemble, Kevin Hume & Matt McCool, Directors, Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
This piece was meant to employ some stereo-type effects by placing the melodic elements of the ensemble on one side and the rhythmic elements on the other side. The goal was to feel like the piece was panning from your left ear to your right ear over the course of the piece. Sometimes the stereo effects would be predictable, but others it would be a surprise. At the time I was composing this piece my mind was constantly thinking about trails. One trail in particular, the Appalachian Trail, which I had spent some time on the previous summer. Much like the Appalachian Trail, there are a few others in North America, namely the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. The Continental Divide Trail covers a lot of the same area as a part of the North America known as the Great Divide. With my composition, I was trying play with the “divide” of acoustics between the two sides of the ensemble.
I also composed a technical exercise to accompany this piece. You can find it here!