Artemis (Perc Ens 9)

The explorative Artemis illustrates scenes from nature using a familiar percussion palate with unique harmonies and organic grooves. Six keyboard performers and three percussionists portray a variety of moods and atmospheres woven together with grounded melodic themes.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 9
Series: N/A
Level: Medium Advanced | Duration: 6:00

Instrumentation
Vibraphone 1: Crash Cymbal
Vibraphone 2: Sizzle Cymbal
Marimba 1: 4.3-octave, 4-mallet
Marimba 2: 4.3-octave, 4-mallet
Marimba 3: 4.3-octave, 4-mallet
Marimba 4: 5-octave, 4-mallet
Timpani: 4 drums, 2 Woodblocks, Cymbal Stack, Suspended Cymbal
Percussion 1: 4 Concert Toms, China Cymbal, Crotales (2 octaves)
Percussion 2: Concert Bass Drum, Brake Drum, Ribbon Crasher, Temple Blocks, Glockenspiel

Program Notes
Artemis was premiered by the McKinney High School Percussion Ensemble. Named after the Greek Goddess of wild animals, hunting, and vegetation, the work is organized into four distinct sections: Hunt, Garden, Life, and Earth.

Each section portrays its namesake sonically:

HUNT
The nearly frantic rhythms and cyclical dynamics give a hair-raising reference to the realities of nature’s food chain.

GARDEN
The audience is given a chance to relax, breathe, and reflect on natural occurring beauty and sustenance.

LIFE
Inspired by a sweeping landscape shot from the wildlife documentary Planet Earth, this section once again throws the audience into the intense, high stakes game of survival that wildlife endure to survive.

EARTH
This section takes a step back to give a holistic view by using the various themes and timbres to tie the piece together in an epochal summary.

The sections are connected with a repetitive, swelling call from the metallic keyboards and a larger-than-life, bombastic timpani solo. The metallic call expresses the cyclical passing of time, and the timpani suggests a grandiose connection from scene-to-scene.

The main theme and Life section were written in the early stages of the 2020 quarantine. After sitting for a couple years, the piece took up after the partially sarcastic but fully endearing term “nature is healing.”