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John Herndon's Close Your Eyes and Dream is based on a lullaby dedicated to his twin children, Taylor and Calvin. Herndon would sing this melody to his children to help them drift off to sleep. He later wrote lyrics with two slightly different verses to underscore the twins' differing and unique personalities.
This piece can be performed in a number of ways: as an octet featuring all of the percussion parts, as a smaller ensemble without the optional percussion parts, or as a larger ensemble with expanded instrumentation, doubling the marimba, vibraphone, and xylophone parts. The vocal part (also optional) may also be expanded with each vocalist singing the melody in unison.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
• Glockenspiel
• Chimes
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone (optional doubling)
• Marimba—low A (shared between M1 & M2)
• Timpano (29’’)
• Cymbals (suspended cymbal*, sizzle cymbal*)
• Accessories (triangle, mark tree*, triangle*, sleigh bells*)
• Solo or ensemble vocals*
*Optional
Close Your Eyes and Dream is a simple lullaby written in honor of the composer’s twin children. The sound of the piece is exactly what you’d expect, but the variety of ways the piece can be performed is the attraction of this work.
The core instrumentation for this piece is a traditional mallet ensemble (including two marimba parts that can be performed on a single 4.3-octave marimba). From there, ensemble directors can add two optional percussion parts, double the marimba, vibraphone, or xylophone parts, or even add a vocal part that is provided for one or more singers. This level of versatility makes this piece useful for different programs of middle-school level percussionists.
Regarding technique, there is nothing here that a middle school percussionist couldn’t do, though some parts are more demanding than others (such as the two marimba parts that carry a bulk of the melodic and harmonic material). The percussion parts are also easily manageable. One thing to note is the performance notes recommendation for the percussion parts are reversed, so Percussion 2 should have the double-sided sticks, and Percussion 1 should mount the triangle on a stand.
Middle school directors looking for a simple melodic work for their program would find a good candidate in Close Your Eyes and Dream. The possible addition of vocals also makes it a great opportunity to collaborate with choral directors, and the option to augment the forces with flexible instrumentation makes this a good piece to have in your library.
—Brian Nozny
Percussive Notes
Vol. 56, No. 3, July 2018
John Herndon's Close Your Eyes and Dream is based on a lullaby dedicated to his twin children, Taylor and Calvin. Herndon would sing this melody to his children to help them drift off to sleep. He later wrote lyrics with two slightly different verses to underscore the twins' differing and unique personalities.
This piece can be performed in a number of ways: as an octet featuring all of the percussion parts, as a smaller ensemble without the optional percussion parts, or as a larger ensemble with expanded instrumentation, doubling the marimba, vibraphone, and xylophone parts. The vocal part (also optional) may also be expanded with each vocalist singing the melody in unison.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
• Glockenspiel
• Chimes
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone (optional doubling)
• Marimba—low A (shared between M1 & M2)
• Timpano (29’’)
• Cymbals (suspended cymbal*, sizzle cymbal*)
• Accessories (triangle, mark tree*, triangle*, sleigh bells*)
• Solo or ensemble vocals*
*Optional
Close Your Eyes and Dream is a simple lullaby written in honor of the composer’s twin children. The sound of the piece is exactly what you’d expect, but the variety of ways the piece can be performed is the attraction of this work.
The core instrumentation for this piece is a traditional mallet ensemble (including two marimba parts that can be performed on a single 4.3-octave marimba). From there, ensemble directors can add two optional percussion parts, double the marimba, vibraphone, or xylophone parts, or even add a vocal part that is provided for one or more singers. This level of versatility makes this piece useful for different programs of middle-school level percussionists.
Regarding technique, there is nothing here that a middle school percussionist couldn’t do, though some parts are more demanding than others (such as the two marimba parts that carry a bulk of the melodic and harmonic material). The percussion parts are also easily manageable. One thing to note is the performance notes recommendation for the percussion parts are reversed, so Percussion 2 should have the double-sided sticks, and Percussion 1 should mount the triangle on a stand.
Middle school directors looking for a simple melodic work for their program would find a good candidate in Close Your Eyes and Dream. The possible addition of vocals also makes it a great opportunity to collaborate with choral directors, and the option to augment the forces with flexible instrumentation makes this a good piece to have in your library.
—Brian Nozny
Percussive Notes
Vol. 56, No. 3, July 2018
