Madrigal
General Info
Year: 2014
Duration: c. 0:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00 | Score Only - $0.00
Instrumentation
Female Voice & Percussion Quartet
Percussion Instrument Distribution
Player 1: Vibraphone
Player 2: Steel Drums (double seconds), 3 Temple or Wood Blocks (3 Pitches), Large Tam-Tam or Gong (shared with Player 4), Rainstick
Player 3: Marimba (5 Octave), Caxixi, Melodica
Player 4: 3 Temple or Wood Blocks (3 Pitches), 23"Timpani (or 14" Rototom), Clave (on trap table), 2 Bongos, Tam-tam or Gong, Chimes
Program Notes
Madrigal is a short study in words and music. I wrote the text and music together (as a singer/songwriter might) to allow a negotiation between the melodic line, harmony, and words, rather than setting a pre-existing immutable poem. In this sense the text becomes partly an orchestrational decision made by shaping the singer’s mouth. The choice between a word with a long O sound versus one with a long A sound is like deciding between a trumpet and a clarinet. This process also afforded me with occasions to use text to reinforce ad hoc and asymmetrical rhymes in the harmony and vice versa.
Another aspect of the study nature of Madrigal is the consistent 3-voice harmonic texture. The voice sings only the top line of the harmony played by the vibraphone. This practice of using instruments to cover vocal parts was common in 16th-century madrigals as well.[1]
—Steven Mackey
Review
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Recent Performances
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Works for Percussion by this Composer
Busted - Multiple Percussion
It is Time - Percussion Quartet
Jango - Marimba, Guitar Quartet
Madrigal - Percussion Quartet, Soprano Voice
Micro-Concerto - Multiple Percussion, Mixed Chamber Quintet
No Two Breaths - Marimba, Violin, Percussion Quartet
See Ya Thursday - Marimba
Time Release - Multiple Percussion, Orchestra
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References