Qilyaun

John Luther Adams

General Info

Year: 1998
Publisher: Chester Music
Duration: 00:15:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Cost: Score and Parts - $19.99   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Bass Drum
Player 2: Bass Drum
Player 3: Bass Drum
Player 4: Bass Drum

Program Notes

"Qilyaun" is the Iñupiaq word for the shaman's drum. Translated literally, it means "device of power". The drum is the shaman's vehicle for spirit journeys. The shaman rides the sound of the drum to and from the spirit world.

Commissioned by the Fairbanks Symphony Association, the piece is dedicated to Scott Deal, who gave its first performances. Qilyaun traverses a continuum of rhythm. From the rapid-fire streams of the opening, the dummers gradually decelerate to sustained rolls in the middle and then gradually accelerate again to the unison ending.

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Multiple Percussion Solo

Songbirdsongs, Book I – Multiple Percussion; Piccolo
Songbirdsongs, Book II – Multiple Percussion; Piccolo
The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies – Multiple Percussion; computer

Percussion Trio

Songbirdsongs – Percussion Trio; Piccolos (2)
Always very soft

Percussion Quartet

dust into dust - from: Strange and Sacred Noise
Five Percussion Quartets - from: Coyote Builds North America
Four Drum Quartets - from: Earth and the Great Weather
Prophecies of Fire
Qilyaun

Percussion Sextet

Green Corn Dance – Percussion Sextet

Others

Sauyatugvik: The Time of Drumming – Percussion Ensemble