The Persistence of Memory (Perc Ens 3)

The Persistence of Memory is based on the well known Salvador Dali painting of the same name. The painting, which features Dali's famous "melting clocks" is one of the definitive works of the Surrealist Movement in art. It evokes a number of themes that lend themselves will to the music, especially the atrophy of time and shape. Time, pitch, and timbre all "melt" and re-form throughout the piece.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 3
Level: Medium Difficult | Duration: 8:30

Instrumentation
Percussion 1 (ocean drum, echo wind chimes, piccolo snare drum, bongos, 2 woodblocks, hi hat, china cymbal, sizzle cymbal)

Percussion 2 (ratchet, kick drum, snare drum, log drum (4), opera gong, splash cymbal, FX cymbal, sizzle cymbal, china cymbal)

Percussion 3 (rainstick, bass drum, 4 toms, 2 woodblocks, triangle w/ bowl of water, thai gong, china cymbal)

Program Notes
The Persistence of Memory is based on the well known Salvador Dali painting of the same name. The painting, which features Dali's famous "melting clocks" is one of the definitive works of the Surrealist Movement in art. It evokes a number of themes that lend themselves will to the music, especially the atrophy of time and shape. Time, pitch, and timbre all "melt" and re-form throughout the piece.

The first part (Dreamscapes) depicts the ocean and mountain landscape and employs water triangle and echo chimes to create a dropping, bending, "Doppler" effect with pitches. The clocks are represented somewhat overtly by woodblocks, which persist in a tic-toc fashion through much of the piece. The second section (Gears) is inspired primarily by the war like ants that are attacking a clock in the painting, suggesting anxiety and the unrelenting nature of time, hence the fast tempo and asymmetric meters. The final section (Melting Clocks) features cacophonous, polyphonic woodblock passages and the further decay of pitch, time, and previous motives. Throughout the piece, rhythms and sounds that first appear to be solid become amorphous, deformed, or completely liquid. The overall effect is reminiscent of a half remembered dream, a feeling that you've been immersed in a world only vaguely resembling reality.