Beyond the Clouds (Download)

This piece offers an auditory experience for audiences, as Jim Casella takes them to the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal. The piece is inspired by a trip taken there during the monsoon season and reflects the adventure of hiking through the rainy mountain region.

The work calls for some unusual instruments such as Himalayan Yak bells, a pod rattle, ankle bells, and singing bowls. Casella offers insight on where to obtain these instruments or how to find reasonable substitutes. The mallet players will need to be rather adept and agile with two mallets, playing fast scalar passages up and down the instruments. Syncopations between the instruments create a consistent rhythm amongst the mallets.

The fast opening is highlighted by the melody in the vibraphone part. In the middle section the malelt instruments are to be played with "shaft slaps" and with the butt of the mallet. This helps to create a unique wooden sound that recalls the sound of rain in the mountains. As the piece builds back up we return to the opening material, that then slowy fades back down leaving only the marimba scale passages as the sounds of yak bells and bamboo wind chimes ring in the distance.

This piece would be an excellent addition to the repertoire of an advanced high school or collegiate percussion ensemble. If a big enough stage is used, spreading the ensemble out would allow for some very interesting antiphonal effects for the audience. Casella has done an excellent job of capturing the rainy hikes he describes in the program notes.

–Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 56, No. 3, July 2018