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Perpetuo, as the title suggests, is largely comprised of driving 16th-note figures that cohere from player to player, creating the feeling of constant motion. Thomas R. Marceau wrote this piece for young percussionists who have some years of battery experience but very little mallet keyboard experience. Hence, each player has a limited number of pitches in their respective parts so they can focus on the rhythmic complexity of their music. In addition to a keyboard instrument, each player has 2 boomwhackers and a tom-tom which make the piece fun to learn and fun to watch!
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone
• 1-2 marimbas*—(1) 4-octave, (1) low A or low F
• Drums (4 tom-toms)
• Accessories (8 boomwhackers: (middle C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C)
*Both marimbists may share an instrument if necessary. The Marimba 2 part contains optional notes for a 4.5-octave (low F) instrument if available.
This is a welcome addition to the repertoire in that it’s an interesting blend of keyboard and drumming skills, along with the extra excitement of the boomwhackers. It would work very well for a high school or young college quartet. There is some syncopation that younger players would have to work out to stay “in the groove” of this piece but, rhythmically, there is enough to stabilize the tempo even if some of the syncopation goes awry.
A multi-percussion element to this work will challenge younger players—moving from a keyboard instrument to a drum, and back to the keyboard—but more advanced players should be able to tackle this fairly easily. The tricky part is to create and maintain the groove throughout while balancing the sounds of the keyboards and drums with the boomwhackers.
Harmonically, “Perpetuo” is relatively stagnant, so younger players will have a much easier time in learning the keyboard parts, which are all written for two mallets. Dynamically, the piece builds throughout, so it would be a great opener to a concert, or, since the footprint of the piece is small enough, it could be included on a fine-arts-night program where multiple disciplines (art, band, choir, brass quartet, etc.) could be showcased.
—Marcus D. Reddick
Percussive Notes
Vol. 57, No. 3, July 2019
Perpetuo, as the title suggests, is largely comprised of driving 16th-note figures that cohere from player to player, creating the feeling of constant motion. Thomas R. Marceau wrote this piece for young percussionists who have some years of battery experience but very little mallet keyboard experience. Hence, each player has a limited number of pitches in their respective parts so they can focus on the rhythmic complexity of their music. In addition to a keyboard instrument, each player has 2 boomwhackers and a tom-tom which make the piece fun to learn and fun to watch!
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone
• 1-2 marimbas*—(1) 4-octave, (1) low A or low F
• Drums (4 tom-toms)
• Accessories (8 boomwhackers: (middle C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C)
*Both marimbists may share an instrument if necessary. The Marimba 2 part contains optional notes for a 4.5-octave (low F) instrument if available.
This is a welcome addition to the repertoire in that it’s an interesting blend of keyboard and drumming skills, along with the extra excitement of the boomwhackers. It would work very well for a high school or young college quartet. There is some syncopation that younger players would have to work out to stay “in the groove” of this piece but, rhythmically, there is enough to stabilize the tempo even if some of the syncopation goes awry.
A multi-percussion element to this work will challenge younger players—moving from a keyboard instrument to a drum, and back to the keyboard—but more advanced players should be able to tackle this fairly easily. The tricky part is to create and maintain the groove throughout while balancing the sounds of the keyboards and drums with the boomwhackers.
Harmonically, “Perpetuo” is relatively stagnant, so younger players will have a much easier time in learning the keyboard parts, which are all written for two mallets. Dynamically, the piece builds throughout, so it would be a great opener to a concert, or, since the footprint of the piece is small enough, it could be included on a fine-arts-night program where multiple disciplines (art, band, choir, brass quartet, etc.) could be showcased.
—Marcus D. Reddick
Percussive Notes
Vol. 57, No. 3, July 2019
