The Armed Man

Andrew Ford

General Info

Year: 2004
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Australia
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Multiple Percussion: snare drum, 5 tom-toms, sizzle cymbal, hi-hat and bass drum

Program Notes

First performance by Claire Edwardes
Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, 14 August 2005

The Armed Man was composed at the request of the percussionist Claire Edwardes and it is dedicated to her. Claire's suggestion was for a solo drumming piece, and my initial response was to attempt to compose her something for snare drum alone. In fact this drum remains the characteristic sound of the The Armed Man, but as I was working on the piece I found myself adding other instruments, until, to all outward appearances, I ended up with a work for drum kit. The title is borrowed from a song (possibly of Middle Eastern, even Islamic origin), popular in Europe during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The melody was often used by composers to form the structural underpinning of their settings of the Mass. As I composed the piece in August 2004, against a background of news reports of continued war in Iraq, the title took on a new significance.

Claire Edwardes played the first performance of The Armed Man during a solo recital at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on 14 August 2005.

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

A Walk to the Japanese Garden - Vibraphone; Voice - Soprano
After the Ball Was Over - Percussion Quartet
Alchemy (Ford) - Marimba Quartet; Bass Clarinet
Boat Song - Marimba; Bass Clarinet
Composition in Blue, Grey and Pink - Multiple Percussion
Getting Blue - Vibraphone; Alto Saxophone
Jouissance - Vibraphone; Trumpets (2)
Mondriaan - Multiple Percussion; Flute
Palindrome: Jesus Meets St Veronica - Multiple Percussion; Clarinet; Bass
Soave sia il vento - Percussion Duo - Marimba/Vibraphone
Tattoo - Percussion Sextet (12 Timpani); 4 Pianos
The Armed Man - Multiple Percussion
The Art of Puffing: 17 elegies for Thomas Chatterton - Multiple Percussion; Bass Clarinet or Alto Saxophone
The Crantock Gulls - Percussion Duo
War and Peace - Marimba; Violin
Winterreise - Multiple Percussion - Sleigh Bells Solo
You Must Sleep, but I Must Dance - Multiple Percussion; Viola