Prologue & Essence

Item details

• Description +

  • Duration: 5:35 min.
    
    1. The piece should start in complete darkness. The first movement was composed as a standalone soundscape. (Quadrophonic speakers are desirable, but stereophonic speakers are acceptional).
    
    2. The lights should gradually be raised to a dimly lit level upon the entrance of the wine glass(es). The wine glass(es) should be amplified with small condenser microphones pointed at the lip of the glass about 15 - 20 cm away from the lip directed toward the chest of the performer(s)...

• Instrumentation +

  • Tape
    Wine Glass
    Guiro
    Jam block
    Opera gong

• About the composer +

  • A great groove, clarity, and awareness of the ensemble,” – Tromp Jury 2012. Garrett Mendelow is an up and coming percussionist from the United States. Though his interest in percussion extends to many different facets of the art, he dedicates much time to contemporary percussion performance and new music in both solo and small ensemble settings.
    
    Garrett has given performances and masterclasses throughout the United States and Europe, and has also appeared in several music competitions. In 2012, Garrett ventured to the Netherlands for the Tromp Percussion Competition and won 2nd Prize and the Youth Jury Prize. He also had the pleasure of premiering a new double percussion concerto by Nico Muhly with world-renown percussionist Colin Currie, and the Britten Sinfonia during the festival. Additional performances include a solo appearance at PASIC 2013, a tour with the Crosslinx Festival in the Netherlands, and concerts featuring the music of Iannis Xenakis. Recently, Garrett was a semifinalist at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Germany.
    
    After receiving his Bachelors Degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, he received his Masters Degree at Stony Brook University in New York. Garrett is currently studying with Peter Prommel at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany. In the fall of 2015, Garrett will be attending the University of Wisconsin – Madison to pursue his Doctoral degree in performance as a recipient of a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship.

• Reviews +

  • Percussive Notes, November 2016
    
    This piece for multiple percussion and tape begins with sounds that can only be described as scary. It sounds like a moaning ghoul, and the score calls for the piece to begin in the dark. Other sounds soon take over, but the mood is mysterious and enigmatic. The player or players enter after three minutes and provide a wine glass harmonic to the prerecorded sounds for another 46 seconds. So ends the “Prologue.”  
    
    The piece flows directly into the second movement, “Essence,” which contrasts greatly with what has come before. It is written in 4/4 and is very metric. The percussion part can be performed solo or as a trio playing in unison. As a solo piece, the player attaches the guiro to the left leg, the jam block to the right leg, and hangs the opera gong “like a necklace around the neck.” Wearing the instruments contributes to the obvious theatrical quality of the piece. The player is also instructed to perform “signs” as if striking an invisible instrument, using one, two, or three fingers or all fingers. These are indicated with numbers in the written part. If performed as a trio, all three players use the same kinds of instruments and execute the same “signs” or hand motions. Recorded sounds correspond to the invisible instruments played by the fingers and hands.  
    
    The recording can be obtained from the publisher after the piece is purchased. The composer states, “This piece was composed as a sound-scape/theatrical transition for recitals and concerts. I wanted a short piece that was effective both musically and visually.” The contrast between the fluid, non-measured first movement with the more metric, almost funky second movement is effective and interesting. This piece would add the unconventional and the unexpected to a recital or concert.  
    
    —Tom Morgan

• Credits +

  • Front Cover graphics and layout: Gaia Gomes
    Engraving: Garrett Mendelow
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com

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