A World of Our Creation

Louis Raymond-Kolker

General Info

Year of Published: 2019
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 00:04:30
Cost: $40.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Glockenspiel 1
Player 2: Glockenspiel 2
Player 3: Double Seconds (steel pan)
Player 4: Desk Bells (one chromatic octave) & Sizzle Cymbal
Player 5: Vibraphone 1
Player 6: Vibraphone 2
Player 7: Hi-Hat & Triangle & Brake Drum & Metal Mixing Bowl

Program Notes

Writing a work for Matt Ehlers and the McCallum High School Percussion Ensemble was an extremely personal project: as a Mac Percussion alum (class of 2013, go Knights), I reflected on my time at McCallum, and what I hold in common with the performers in today’s ensemble. On the positive side of things, McCallum is a truly magical place, one that strongly encourages creativity and individu{{ality. I owe a large part of my musical and personal upbringing to this culture of accepting and understanding. However, at the same time, high school is a time when young people are presented with the knowledge that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows; nothing illustrates this better to me than the sense of urgency with which students have addressed the issue of a rapidly changing climate. As a response to this idea, I decided to write a piece that uses no wooden instruments, including keyboards or drum shells, and is entirely metallic. In this, A World of Our Creation is the dual world that we’re moving towards: we’ve made wonderful, creative instruments and sounds, but there may be a point at which we will only have what we’ve created, and nothing else. As dire as that may sound, A World of Our Creation is a call for creative solutions. In presenting some of my favorite creative sounds (bowed vibes, steel pans, desk bells), I hope to encourage a sense of continued activism, constantly searching for creative solutions to those issues that we know about, and those that are to come.

Review

AS ONE WHO LOVES THE SOUND OF PITCHED METALLOPHONES, THIS PIECE IS SQUARELY “UP MY ALLEY.” HOWEVER, THE CREATIVITY OF CONSTRUCTING A METALLIC PERCUSSION SEPTET IS NOT MERELY FOR SONIC PURPOSES. THE COMPOSER WRITES ABOUT HIS TIME AT MCCALLUM HIGH SCHOOL, FOR WHOM THE PIECE WAS WRITTEN, AND THE ABILITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE. AS A RESULT, LOUIS RAYMOND-KOLKER WROTE THIS PIECE USING NO WOODEN INSTRUMENTS. HE EXPLAINS, “WE’VE MADE WONDERFUL, CREATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND SOUNDS, BUT THERE MAY BE A POINT AT WHICH WE WILL ONLY HAVE WHAT WE’VE CREATED, AND NOTHING ELSE.” SIMPLY PUT, THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL YET CHILLING CONCEPT. THE MUSIC ITSELF IS RHYTHMIC, LIVELY, AND BRIGHT. IT IS QUITE REFLECTIVE OF THE COMPOSER’S ADMITTEDLY GREAT EXPERIENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND HOW IT CAN BE A TIME OF GREAT DISCOVERY AND CREATIVITY.

SOME EXTENDED TECHNIQUES ARE REQUIRED SUCH AS BOWED VIBRAPHONE AND HOT RODS ON GLOCKENSPIEL. MELODIC MATERIAL JUMPS FROM INSTRUMENT TO INSTRUMENT, SO IT IS IMPORTANT FOR PLAYERS TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THEY ARE OSTINATO AND WHEN THEY ARE MELODY. ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE SOME SIXTEENTH-NOTE LICKS IN THE KEYBOARD PARTS, BUT IN GENERAL THEY ARE BASED IN PATTERNS THAT SHOULD BE ATTAINABLE FOR MOST STRONG KEYBOARD PLAYERS.

THIS WORK IS PERFECT FOR A HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE. GIVEN THE CONCEPT OF THE PIECE, IT WOULD WORK PARTICULARLY WELL FOR A THEMED CONCERT OR PERHAPS A LOCAL EARTH DAY CELEBRATION. ANY DIRECTOR LOOKING FOR A NEW SEPTET SHOULD ABSOLUTELY CHECK THIS ONE OUT.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo Works

Flowers and Foliage - Multiple Percussion
Restless Little Star - Vibraphone
The Shared Breath of the Earth - Timpani
Under A Hazy Moon - Steel Pan

Percussion Ensemble Works

A Vast Expanse - Percussion Duet
A World of Our Creation - Percussion Septet

Works for Percussion with Other Instruments

Numerologies - Violin & Tenor Pan
Summer Springs - Double Second & Piano