Psalm 104

Brian Blume

General Info

Year: 2009
Duration: 00:08:00
Difficulty: Advanced
Publisher: Tapspace
Cost: $15.00

Instrumentation

Drums: Piccolo Snare Drum & Kick Drum & 4 Tom toms] & Firecracker Drum & Bongos
Cymbals: Sizzle Cymbal & Splash Cymbal & 2 Crash Cymbals

Program Notes

Psalm 104 is a vigorous new multiple percussion solo by composer Brian Blume. Using a tight configuration of only drums and cymbals, the soloist navigates a series of complex melodic lines requiring rhythmic dexterity between hands and feet. Demanding power, sensitivity, precision, and restraint, Psalm 104 will draw audiences in while the soloist expresses both reverence and intensity.

Review

“Psalm 104” is a multiple percussion solo set in four contrasting sections. It has a fairly large setup of four toms, piccolo snare drum, kick bass, bongos, and four varying cymbals. The performer is required to use double-sided sticks (wood/felt) and wire brushes.

Blume states that “Psalm 104” was written to depict some God-like characteristics through the use of drums and cymbals, and he identifies the sections of the psalm that were used as the impetus for the varying sections of the solo.

After a stunning opening statement, the piece subsides into a melancholy section that quickly progresses into a powerful allegro section. Here, a continual bongo ostinato rhythm is sporadically interrupted with fast, virtuosic fills that require good coordination between the hands and bass drum foot. After a brief fermata, the piece transitions into a flowing, gentle section that asks the performer to execute a dichotomy between the two hands: One hand decrescendos while the other hand crescendos. This section slowly dissipates into a “freely” section with ad libitum brushes swells and swishes. The piece concludes with a brief presto section with fast sixteenth-note figures dispersed throughout all of the instruments.

“Psalm 104” is an exciting multiple percussion solo that is appropriate for advanced high school or intermediate university students.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Marimba Solo

Like a Burden too Heavy
Stretch
Three Pieces for Marimba (Blume)
Unforced Rhythms
Winterludes

Snare Drum Solo

Kids These Days
Strands of Time

Multiple Percussion Solo

Psalm 104

Mallets Duet

Songs of Eden
Winterludes for Two

Percussion Ensemble

Alarm!
Black Racer
Detour
Friction
Hit It!
Persistence
Scenes from the Woods
Take Two
Under the Influence
West Winds