A Vast Expanse... (Percussion Duet)

a vast expanse… is a duet, largely scored for tuned metallic percussion instruments, and an examination of plants’ communication and parallel live cycles across the earth. The cold timbres and disparate tunings between vibes, metal pipes, and steelpans suggest a distance over which the players attempt to connect throughout the work, and as lines move from echoes to intertwining unison, the music becomes more about the intimate combinations of these sounds.

Genre: Duet for 2 Percussion | # of Players: 2
Level: Medium Difficult | Duration: 5:15

Instrumentation
Player 1: Vibraphone, Tuned Metal Pipes (D4, F4, A4), Double Second Steelpan (F3-A5)

Player 2: Tenor Steelpan (C4-A5), Marimba (5-octave)

Program Notes
a vast expanse… is a duet, largely scored for tuned metallic percussion instruments, and an examination of plants’ communication and parallel live cycles across the earth. The cold timbres and disparate tunings between vibes, metal pipes, and steelpans suggest a distance over which the players attempt to connect throughout the work, and as lines move from echoes to intertwining unison, the music becomes more about the intimate combinations of these sounds. As these connections reach a frustrating peak, the listener peers into the earth, hearing a vast tangle of roots and vines in the marimba, and the plants are fundamentally unified — for a moment. In spite of the parallels and connections, the listener is taken out of the vines, and ultimately reminded once again of the distance of an entire earth.

Anthony McIntosh and John Wayne Duke commissioned a vast expanse… and two premiered the work on their recitals in April 2018.