Palm Sunday

Item details

• Description +

  • Duration: 5 min.
    
    Palm Sunday consists of various short rhythmic motives that occur throughout the piece, often like characters in a novel or play. These motives are often presented in various orders, tempi, and mutations throughout the piece. The piece is comprised of three large sections, delineated by the use or lack snares, through which all motives occur freely – creating a through-composed single movement concert piece with the spirit of a short three movement work.
    
    This work was commissioned by a consortium led by Eric Willie and the Tennessee Tech. University Percussion Studio in 2012. Consortium members included students and faculty from: the University of Kentucky, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, University of North Texas, Western Kentucky State University, University of Utah, Texas A&M University at Commerce, East Tennessee State University, Dickinson State University, California State University at Long Beach, State University of New York at Oneonta, and SSG Robert Moore – U.S. Army Band.

• Instrumentation +

  • Snare Drum

• Watch+

• About the composer +

  • Jason Baker serves as Professor of Music and Percussion Area Coordinator at Mississippi State University. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas, New England Conservatory of Music, and University of Connecticut. His current performance interests focus on commissioning solo percussion music by emerging composers from the American South.
    
    Jason has commercially released four solo albums, four etude books, and over 30 arrangements and compositions - many of which are included on solo and ensemble music lists throughout the United States. His works have been performed at the Modern Snare Drum Competition, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Kaohsiung Band Festival in Taiwan, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.
    
    Jason is timpanist of the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Meridian (MS) Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a clinician and/or performer at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, New York City Day of Percussion, ​Encontro Percussivo Festival in Brazil, College Music Society National Conference, Texas Music Educators Association Convention, All-West Tennessee Music Educators Convention, Mississippi Bandmasters Association Convention, and universities throughout the United States. Jason has also performed with the Brooklyn Composers' Syndicate and as a faculty member at the Sam Houston Summer Percussion Academy.
    
    Jason is Associate Editor of New Literature Reviews for Percussive Notes and previously served as chair of the College Pedagogy Committee and president of the Mississippi Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. He was a performing member with the Glassmen, Boston Crusaders, and Connecticut Hurricanes Drum and Bugle Corps and later served on the instructional staff of the Boston Crusaders. Jason is proud to be an artist for the Yamaha Corporation of America, Innovative Percussion, Remo, Sabian, and Grover Pro Percussion.

• Reviews +

  • Review (Percussive Notes, July 2016)
    
    A delightful piece for both the hands and the mind, “Palm Sunday” is a single- movement solo for concert snare drum, five minutes in length when performed at the notated tempos. Structurally, the work is organized in three large sections (fast, slower with snares off, fast) clearly creating the sense of a traditional three-movement narrative.
    
    Musically, the piece unfolds through rapidly changing variations of several germinal rhythmic ideas. These motives dance and weave through multiple meter changes, often with quick technical segues to keep the hands engaged. The execution of these quickly morphing figures requires sharp dynamic contrast and control, precise treatment of the embellishments, and crisp rhythmic articulation to keep a sense of forward momentum.
    
    Technically, the rudiments required are largely contained to the standard “orchestral rudiments” (flams, 3- and 4-stroke ruffs, concert rolls). But the lively tempo markings require a full mastery of both single- and double-stroke rebounds as well. The work is not for beginning or even intermediate snare drummers. There is plenty of meat here, both technically and musically, for an audition, competition, or recital.
    
    The challenges presented in Jason Baker’s solo are written in an interesting vocabulary that is refreshing for those playing a steady diet of Delécluse and more established concert solos. I can easily recommend “Palm Sunday” for advanced players looking to polish their concert touch or refine their rhythmic security, or for anyone looking for performance material with a few surprise “twists and turns.”
    
    —Phillip O’Banion
    

• Credits +

  • Front Cover graphics and layout: Kirstine Kørner Jensen
    Photo: Mississippi State University Public Relations Office 
    Engraving: Jason Baker/Johan Svitzer
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com

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