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In Trinidad Tidings, John Willmarth has mashed up some of our favorite holiday tunes for a standard percussion ensemble. Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, Ode to Joy, and The Hallelujah Chorus, are all present throughout the work. As if this weren’t enough, Willmarth has gone a step further and underpinned the entire piece with a Carribean feel, using a Soca pattern in the drumset. The result is a refreshingly new take on old standards, guaranteed to keep your holiday spirits bright!
The steel band version of Trinidad Tidings is a perfect add on to this percussion ensemble version for a fuller, more joyful holiday experience!
Use of this product is governed by the license terms outlined here.
• Chimes
• Glockenspiel
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone
• Marimba—low A
• 3 timpani
• Drumset
• Accessories* (bongos, cowbell, sleigh bells, mark tree, resonant piece of metal)
*Optional
“Trinidad Tidings” is a charming and versatile holiday percussion ensemble piece that mixes “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Hallelujah” in soca and calypso styles. For a school without a steel band, this piece would be a fun and simple way to introduce students to playing in soca and calypso. The parts are written in such a way, however, that if a steel band director wanted to include this cheerful 2-minute number on a concert, the piece could easily be adapted to be played by a small steel band.
The individual parts are not virtuosic, but they do require some facility on the instruments and contain syncopation, accents, changing meters, and a quick tempo. The drumset part requires a proficient player as it calls for a firm grasp of the soca and calypso rhythms. In the notes on the piece, John Willmarth suggests that the drumset player could be used “as an anchor” in lieu of a conductor. The auxiliary parts are ostinato-based and optional, providing beginning students with a place in the ensemble.
The piece requires a minimum of seven players, but it can be expanded to accommodate many more players by adding in, and even adding to, the accessory percussion parts and by doubling the mallet parts. The mallet parts do include a lot of double-stops, so for very large, less experienced ensembles the parts could be split between two players with one playing the top notes and the other playing the bottom notes.
Overall, “Trinidad Tidings” would be a lovely and fun addition to any middle school or high school, holiday percussion ensemble concert.
—Marilyn K. Clark Silva
Percussive Notes
Vol. 56, No. 2, May 2018
In Trinidad Tidings, John Willmarth has mashed up some of our favorite holiday tunes for a standard percussion ensemble. Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, Ode to Joy, and The Hallelujah Chorus, are all present throughout the work. As if this weren’t enough, Willmarth has gone a step further and underpinned the entire piece with a Carribean feel, using a Soca pattern in the drumset. The result is a refreshingly new take on old standards, guaranteed to keep your holiday spirits bright!
The steel band version of Trinidad Tidings is a perfect add on to this percussion ensemble version for a fuller, more joyful holiday experience!
Use of this product is governed by the license terms outlined here.
• Chimes
• Glockenspiel
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone
• Marimba—low A
• 3 timpani
• Drumset
• Accessories* (bongos, cowbell, sleigh bells, mark tree, resonant piece of metal)
*Optional
“Trinidad Tidings” is a charming and versatile holiday percussion ensemble piece that mixes “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Hallelujah” in soca and calypso styles. For a school without a steel band, this piece would be a fun and simple way to introduce students to playing in soca and calypso. The parts are written in such a way, however, that if a steel band director wanted to include this cheerful 2-minute number on a concert, the piece could easily be adapted to be played by a small steel band.
The individual parts are not virtuosic, but they do require some facility on the instruments and contain syncopation, accents, changing meters, and a quick tempo. The drumset part requires a proficient player as it calls for a firm grasp of the soca and calypso rhythms. In the notes on the piece, John Willmarth suggests that the drumset player could be used “as an anchor” in lieu of a conductor. The auxiliary parts are ostinato-based and optional, providing beginning students with a place in the ensemble.
The piece requires a minimum of seven players, but it can be expanded to accommodate many more players by adding in, and even adding to, the accessory percussion parts and by doubling the mallet parts. The mallet parts do include a lot of double-stops, so for very large, less experienced ensembles the parts could be split between two players with one playing the top notes and the other playing the bottom notes.
Overall, “Trinidad Tidings” would be a lovely and fun addition to any middle school or high school, holiday percussion ensemble concert.
—Marilyn K. Clark Silva
Percussive Notes
Vol. 56, No. 2, May 2018
