Reveal (PE) - Louis Raymond-Kolker [DIGITAL]

Reveal is a setting of Charmaine Cadeau’s poem of the same name for SATB choir with piano or percussion quartet. Reveal is one of my favorite poems of hers, and I love its musicality, imagery, and how its meaning constantly shifts as words unfold over time. In my setting, I sought to translate her text into music, while especially playing with rhythm, time, and meaning.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 1
Series:
Level: Intermediate | Duration: 4:45

Instrumentation
Conductor's Score (8.5"x11" stapled booklet)

Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
(16 copies of choral score include)

Percussion 1: Glockenspiel, Crotales [2-octaves], Bass Drum, 2 mallets and bow
Percussion 2: Vibraphone, 4 mallets and 2 bows, tinfoil on G3-E5
Percussion 3: Marimba [4.5-octave] (can be shared with Perc. 4), Suspended Cymbal, 4 mallets
Percussion 4: Marimba [5.0-octave] (can be shared with Perc. 3), 2 mallets, 2 bows, Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 2). Sizzle Cymbal (played with mallets and sticks)

Program Notes
Reveal is a setting of Charmaine Cadeau’s poem of the same name for SATB choir with piano or percussion quartet. Reveal is one of my favorite poems of hers, and I love its musicality, imagery, and how its meaning constantly shifts as words unfold over time. In my setting, I sought to translate her text into music, while especially playing with rhythm, time, and meaning.

In addition to the source text, I found inspiration across more of Charmaine’s work, in her themes of code, secrecy, and espionage. I treated this setting like a musical puzzle box, with voice exchange, discordant voice-leading, and frustrated Common Practice resolutions as key parts of the construction.

This setting of Reveal would not exist without the collaboration of Charmaine Cadeau and the High Point University Chamber Singers, directed by Marc Foster, and my percussion students (Aaron, Joey, Kayla, and Marc) who premiered the work in 2024. Reveal was originally published in Charmaine’s collection Placeholder (Brick Books, 2013).

High Point University Chamber Singers, conducted by Marc Foster