These Violent Delights (Percussion Quartet)

These Violent Delights is a quartet that experiments in control and chaos. Each section offers just enough time to feel the groove before slowly devolving into a jumbled mess, then suddenly everything stops and begins again.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 4
Series: N/A
Level: Medium Difficult | Duration: 8:00

Instrumentation
Player 1: Kick Drum [placed horizontally], Shaker, Sizzle Cymbal, Two Medium Toms, 4 Tuned Gongs (E2, F2, F#2, G2)[Optional Chimes]

Player 2: Marimba (5-octave)[shared w/ Player 4], Desk Bells (B, C, D, E, F, G, A) [Optional Glockenspiel], 5 Wood Planks

Player 3: Marimba (4-octave), Brake Drum, Cowbell, Opera Gong [on table],Ribbon Crasher, Concert Bass Drum

Player 4: Marimba (5-octave)[shared w/ Player 2], 4 Log Drums, Suspended Cymbal, 2 Low Toms

Program Notes
I woke up one morning with the opening textures of the piece swirling around in my head, mixed with a dark, mysterious, and somber feeling. The emotions were similar to those I get from Westworld, of which the title is derived. It is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: “These violent delights have violent ends.” Control becomes chaos. What once made sense is now a gnarled mess.

These Violent Delights experiments with sections that start relatively simple and allow just enough time to feel the groove before becoming increasingly complex and even devolving into chaos. Suddenly, everything stops and begins again.

-J.T.