From this Viewpoint (Perc Ens 6)

Based on the perpetual development of two intertwining melodic ideas, From This Viewpoint is a mesmerizing work for keyboard percussion sextet.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 6
Level: Medium | Duration: 7:30

Instrumentation
Percussion 1 (3-octave vibraphone)
Percussion 2 (3-octave vibraphone, bells)
Percussion 3 (chimes)
Percussion 4 (4-octave marimba, 2-octave crotales)
Percussion 5 (4.3-octave marimba, bells)
Percussion 6 (5-octave marimba)

Program Notes
Based on the perpetual development of two intertwining melodic ideas, From This Viewpoint is a mesmerizing work for keyboard percussion sextet. The piece opens with a simple vibraphone statement of the primary melodic idea over a low marimba sustain. The idea is then highlighted with the crotales and bells as it is traded between wood and metal instruments. It is allowed to shift modally, yet uses exclusively the seven natural pitches. Approximately one-third of the way into the piece, the second melodic idea enters in the bells and crotales and is immediately set in canon with the marimba, vibes, and chimes. The piece gradually builds in intensity as the tempo accelerates into a sixteenth-note underlying marimba ostinato. The two primary ideas combine with this ostinato and each other before ultimately dying away into one final statement of the opening phrase, again in the vibes and low marimba.