More images

Click to enlarge

Purchase

5 Songs in the Age of Stupidity

for percussion and mezzo-soprano
Level: Advanced
Duration: 7:20
Personnel: 3 performers
State Lists: Texas
Release Date: 2014
Product ID : TSPCE14-006
Price: $33.00
Item #: TSPCE14-006

Formats Available:


Description

In this work for two percussionists and mezzo-soprano, John Max McFarland sets five of his favorites from his The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said Page-A-Day Calendar. Each of the songs in 5 Songs in the Age of Stupidity is a setting of a complete quote. Some are quite short (11 words), while others are a few sentences. The musical means are contemporary in nature, with a programmatic quality enhanced by a wide array of percussion instruments, noise makers, and toys (literally...start sucking up to your older sister so you can borrow her kid’s Tickle Me Elmo), some of which are played by the mezzo-soprano. And just as she has to stretch beyond her comfort zone, the two percussionists will have to bring more theatricality than is often required on the concert stage in this moderately difficult song cycle.

This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.

Instrumentation

  • Crotales (2 octaves)
  • Xylophone
  • Vibraphone
  • Marimba—low C
  • Drums (bongos, congas, snare drum, concert toms*, concert bass drum
  • Cymbals & gongs (small splash cymbal, sizzle cymbal, hi-hat, trash-hat, loose cymbal for dropping, tam tam, opera gong)
  • Accessories (suspended finger cymbals, mark tree, woodblock, tambourine**, 3 or 4 pairs of drumsticks for dropping, ratchet, bike horn, slide whistle, part blower, metal mixing bowl, acme siren, flexatone, vibraslap, train whistle)
  • Electrolarynx® (optional)
  • Tickle Me Elmo® Doll (not optional)
  • 10 hole harmonica (in Bb major)


*Set of 4, plus one large tom tuned very low
**Mounted, non-headed

Description

In this work for two percussionists and mezzo-soprano, John Max McFarland sets five of his favorites from his The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said Page-A-Day Calendar. Each of the songs in 5 Songs in the Age of Stupidity is a setting of a complete quote. Some are quite short (11 words), while others are a few sentences. The musical means are contemporary in nature, with a programmatic quality enhanced by a wide array of percussion instruments, noise makers, and toys (literally...start sucking up to your older sister so you can borrow her kid’s Tickle Me Elmo), some of which are played by the mezzo-soprano. And just as she has to stretch beyond her comfort zone, the two percussionists will have to bring more theatricality than is often required on the concert stage in this moderately difficult song cycle.

This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.

Instrumentation

  • Crotales (2 octaves)
  • Xylophone
  • Vibraphone
  • Marimba—low C
  • Drums (bongos, congas, snare drum, concert toms*, concert bass drum
  • Cymbals & gongs (small splash cymbal, sizzle cymbal, hi-hat, trash-hat, loose cymbal for dropping, tam tam, opera gong)
  • Accessories (suspended finger cymbals, mark tree, woodblock, tambourine**, 3 or 4 pairs of drumsticks for dropping, ratchet, bike horn, slide whistle, part blower, metal mixing bowl, acme siren, flexatone, vibraslap, train whistle)
  • Electrolarynx® (optional)
  • Tickle Me Elmo® Doll (not optional)
  • 10 hole harmonica (in Bb major)


*Set of 4, plus one large tom tuned very low
**Mounted, non-headed



You may also like...

A rudimental percussion ensemble for six drummers, originally written for The United States Army Band.
Duration: 2:45 | Level: Med-Advanced | Personnel: 6 players
$30.00
A drummy, raucous percussion quartet that uses trading accent patterns and bombastic unisons an homage to Russell Peck’s “Lift-Off!”
Duration: 4:00 | Level: Med-Advanced | Personnel: 4
$36.00
A medium-difficulty piece for percussion ensemble, with a focus on multi-percussion setups and a machine-like groove.
Duration: 3:10 | Level: Medium | Personnel: 5 players
$36.00
This arrangement from the incidental music to Shakespeare's classic play is both subtle and challenging, and brings a unique way for modern mallet ensembles to recreate Mendelssohn's magic.
Duration: 2:20 | Level: Advanced | Personnel: 8 players
$35.00
#TAPSPACE