Deviations (Solo Marimba/SD + Percussion Quartet)

Deviations is a love letter to standard collegiate percussion repertoire, expanded, warped and transformed into an energetic ensemble work. The parts are lively and intricate, and should challenge students without being unachievable.

Genre: Solo Marimba/SD + Percussion Quartet | # of Players: 4 + 1
Series: N/A
Level: Medium Advanced | Duration: 8:00

Instrumentation
Soloist: 5-octave Marimba, Concert Snare Drum
Percussion 1: Hi-Hat, Piccolo Snare Drum, Mounted Crash Cymbal
Percussion 2: Mounted Cabasa, Hi-Hat, Bongos, Crotales (2 octaves)
Percussion 3: Vibraphone (4-octave preferred), Multi-Bass Drum
Percussion 4: 4 Concert Toms

Program Notes
Deviations functions largely as a love letter to some of the literature I’ve performed as a college student. Each section has a hint of a motif from a work I loved, then deviates from it (hence the name) to create something new, modern, and, hopefully, interesting. The snare drum sections are inspired by the works of Delécluse and Thompkins, the Marimba by Trevino, Burritt, Wu, Sammut and more. While the piece isn’t programmatic in the strictest sense, I think it conveys a sort of sense of the melancholy that I felt while writing it, feeling like I was trapped in a degree that I struggled with, but also loved far too much to quit. Maybe Deviations can be a sort of escape for those who perform it, as it was for me while I wrote it.

– R.M.F.