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Angelic Voices (Keyboard Perc Quintet)
Genre: Percussion Ensemble
# of Players: 5
Level: Medium | Duration: 5:15
Publisher: C. Alan Publications | Copyright: 2018
Download mp3 | Click on images to left for score sample
Rating:
Price:
$36.00
Item #:
24840
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Notes & Instrumentation
The metallic sound of the bells and vibraphones combined with the warm, woody sound of the marimbas expresses the wonder and mysteriousness of the angels who are ever-present in our lives. Fluctuating tonality, sweeping melodic lines and colorful chord progressions enhance the ethereal ambiance of the work.
Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 5
Level: Medium | Duration: 5:15
Instrumentation
Bells
Vibraphone 1
Vibraphone 2
Marimba 1 (4.0-octave)
Marimba 2 (4.3-octave)
Program Notes
Angelic Voices was commissioned by the Byron Center Band Program, Byron Center, Michigan, for the Byron Center High School Percussion Ensemble. The work is inspired by the angels who dwell around and within us. The first four stanzas of the poem The Angelic Voice by Victoria Heby expresses this quite well:
Angels are around us
every day, and every night
and you can hear their whisper
if you are in your delight.
They talk about the light that shines,
and darkness, which holds space
they complement each other
in the essence of Its grace.
The Light is everything that is
the knowledge that we know
the things that we appreciate
the seeds we like to sow.
The Darkness is potential
for future yet to come
the nothingness, and unexpressed
the Essence being home.
The metallic sound of the bells and vibraphones combined with the warm, woody sound of the marimbas expresses the wonder and mysteriousness of the angels who are ever-present in our lives. Fluctuating tonality, sweeping melodic lines and colorful chord progressions enhance the ethereal ambiance of the work. -
Product Reviews
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Percussive Notes New Literature Review
David Gillingham has offered an excellent addition to the percussion ensemble repertoire with this new work. The piece was commissioned for a high school ensemble; therefore, the instrumentation is very straightforward, only requiring a 4.3-octave marimba for the lowest notes. Only the second marimba player is required to play with four mallets, and that is for a short chorale in the middle section. The piece alternates between the metals having arpeggios while the woods have the melody, and then the woods playing arpeggios while the metals have the melody. The melody for the metals is an ethereal tripletized syncopation, requiring excellent rhythmic ability among those players. The chorale sections will require some communication on phrasing amongst the players so that it comes off seamlessly in the performance.
The harmonic language of the work is what really creates the feel. The harmonies fluctuate throughout, creating the ethereal effect Gillingham is going for. This is a wonderful work by Gillingham, given the attention to harmonies and the interaction of the metallics with the wooden instruments.
The piece would work well on any percussion ensemble concert, particularly an advanced high school or undergraduate group. With the attention to detail needed, any performing group would have a wonderful time working on this piece.
Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 57, No. 3, July 2019 Josh Armstrong on Jul 11th 2022
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