SOLO PERCUSSION MUSIC by Michael Udow

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ACOUSTIC COMPOSITION # 1 (1973) Difficulty: V-VI $45.00
(1 - 5 perc. + stereo cassette tape) [13 Minutes]
Logical instructions provided to assist in the interpretation of graphic, spatial and proportional notations, specific instructions presented to encourage the design of new sound sources, the use of found objects and/or the use of standard percussion instruments; ideal for a professional concert or degree recital. Premierd by the Blackearth Percussion Group. [V - VI]
ACOUSTIC STUDY # 1 (1973) Difficulty: III-V $17.00
(suggested 8 - 10 minutes)
Logical instructions provided to assist in the interpretation of graphic and spatial notations, specific instructions presented to encourage the design of new sound sources, the use of found objects and/or the use of standard percussion instruments; ideal for an introduction to these notational forms and concepts while also appropriate for a professional concert or degree recital. Premiered by Michael Udow.
APPARITION for Solo Timpani & Percussion Ensemble (2004) Difficulty: VI $44.00
(Timpanist 5 – 8 drums, + 6 perc.) [11 minutes] (EQ81 Footprints CD)
You Tube – Dan Karas, Soloist.
You Tube – Brian Jones (excerpts)
While the composer prefers the implied harmonic clarity when 5 or 6 timpani are employed with extensive inside drum pedaling, it is possible to use as many as 8 drums and as such the virtuosity shifts to extended physical arm reaches. This work, was commissioned by Jonathan Haas for his Peabody Conservatory Percussion Ensemble with Ed Zaryky, soloist, who successfully performed the work with 8 drums. Apparition begins with a five note theme based on Dimitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11. The work also pays homage to Johann Sebastian Bach's contrapuntal genius, quoting four successive intervals from The Art of the Fugue. These two thematic motives are intertwined throughout the work. This composition would work well on a percussion ensemble concert featuring a guest artist or on a student recital. My university colleague and timpanist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Brian Jones, who incorporated five drums for his performance, brilliantly realized the first performance of this work in Michigan.
APPARITION for Solo Timpani, Piano and Two Percussion (2005) Difficulty: VI $32.00
(Timpanist 5 – 8 drums) [11 minutes]
You Tube – Ya–Chi Cheng (excerpts)
This version of Apparition was arranged at the request of Ya-Chi Cheng, at the time a MM and DMA student at the University of Michigan. Kindly view the compositional description in the percussion ensemble version of the work for more details. This version of the composition would work well on a student recital or community concert series presentation.
APPARITION for Solo Timpani and Orchestra (2006) Difficulty: VI $326.00
RENTAL
(Timpanist 5 – 8 drums) [11 minutes]
2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, Clarinet in Bb, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in Bb, Trombone, Bass Trombone, 2 Percussion, Violins I., Violins II., Violas, Celli, Contrabasses

Kindly view the compositional description in the percussion ensemble version of the work for more details. This version of the composition, premiered by Carl Topilow and his National Repertory Orchestra, Ed Zaryky, soloist, is intended to serve as a virtuoso vehicle for a concerto soloist. The orchestration is imaginative and colorful while being pragmatic and straightforward with smooth page turns in all parts so that it is possible to perform the work with limited rehearsal time for the ensemble.
BARN BURNER (1976) Difficulty: IV $9.00
(solo or with bass trombone & piano) [2 1/2 minutes]
2 tomtoms and footpedal bass drum or foot-pedal woodblock. This high energy fortissimo work focuses on cross-rhythmic hemiola 3/4 - 6/8 metrics within each solo part and between the parts if performed as an ensemble. Premiered by the Barton Workshop - James Fulkerson, Stephen Montague, Michael Udow.
BLACK SHOGUN II (2006) Difficulty: VI $44.00
(Solo Multi-percussionist & 3 percussionists + background sound track) [16 minutes] (EQ 90 Timelines CD)
You Tube – David Alcorn, Soloist
You Tube excerpts – Ian Ding, Soloist
This work was expressly composed for my university colleague, Ian Ding, Associate Principal Percussionist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The solo part includes Chinese Cloud Gongs, 5 Korean Tam Tam, 5 Chinese Paiku Drums (substitue bongos and congas), and a Frame Drum (with suggestions for substitute instruments as necessary) and integrates the instruments into a logical instrumentarium in both the physical configuration as well as the notation of the part.

This work grew out of my reflections about both the Samurai and Shoguns during the Edo Period in Japan and the people of Africa who were enslaved and brought to the Americas to work the plantations. There is no attempt to equate the two cultures in a direct way. It is the observations during the journey on the pathway of life, the michi – the path, that takes on personal meaning as one allows an attempt at making connections and sense out of ones life and history. Black Shogun II would be an appropriate feature work on a professional chamber music concert, a student recital or a percussion ensemble concert.
BOG MUSIC (1978) Difficulty: V-VI $71.00
(solo perc. and 3 percssionists) [15 minutes] (EQ 01 Shattered Mirror CD)
You Tube
Three movement work; soloist:
    Mvt. I: vibraphone,
    Mvt. II: timbrepad of 12 standard idiophones,
    Mvt. III: 12 tom toms;
The other 3 percussion parts consist of small multiple percussion set-ups and are also challenging; changing meters, intricate rhythmic interlocking of weaving timbres between the performers; appropriate for a professional concert or degree recital; this work won the Percussive Arts Society's 1st Prize Award for composition for percussion ens. Premiered by Karen Ervin & Tintabulum.
CHARM, THE (2005) Difficulty: IV – V $44.00
(Soloist – large drum, + 6 percussionists each playing 1 chime tube & 1 Actor) [7 minutes] (EQ 81 Footprints CD)
You Tube
The Charm was commissioned by Jonathan Haas for his unique seventy-four inch Monster timpano, (substitute: – O-Daiko, Large Chinese Bass Drum, huge Bass Drum, etc.), speaking voices and 6 chime tubes, each played by an individual performer.

The first time I saw a picture of Jonathan's monster drum, 'Scene I' in 'Act IV' of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, came to mind. This famous scene, set in a cavern where in the middle stands a boiling cauldron with three witches hovering over it, seemed to be a logical springboard. The English art of church bell ringing includes a practice known as change ringing and requires a bell ringer for each bell. Change Ringing has its origins in the late 16th and early 17th century. Shakespeare, ringing changes, tubular bells, a cauldron, but this time with a velum stretched over the top. I recently performed this work in Korea with the Akademie Percussion Ensemble with the cast costumed and staged in theatrical lighting. A professional actress who delivered the text was miked with voice processing through a phase-shifter, which was quite dramatic.
CONCERTO FOR A PERCUSSIONIST & STRINGS (1971) Difficulty: IV $42.00
[11 minutes]
Solo Perc. & String Quartet or String Ensemble
    Mvt. I: chimes, glock., 3 dobaci (rin), 2 brake drums, large tam tam,
    Mvt. II: marimba, bass drum, bamboo wind chimes,
    Mvt. III: Vibraphone, pair of finger cymbals, "d3" crotale, snare drum
COYOTE DREAMS Difficulty: V $69.00
(for marimba - 5 octave - and 3 percussionists) [18 minutes](EQ 25 Christopher Froh, EQ33 Mayumi Hama, EQ78 Linda Maxey CDs)
Commissioned by Ron Samuels, President, Marimba One, for Katarzina Mycka, 1996 winner of the World Marimba Competition-Stuttgart, and 1995 winner of the Luxembourg International Marimba Competition. The premiere will take place at the 1997 Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Aneheim, CA the third week of November. Instruments include 5 octave marimba, shimedaiko (bongos), taiko (congas), O-daiko (bass drum), musical saw, cymbal on timpano, amplified cymbal, idiophones which may include log drums, piccolo wood blocks, metals, etc., wooden box. This is a powerhouse tonal high energy work with mix meters and cross-rhythmic interlocking rhythms. The middle section has a lyrical choral which develops into a highly contrapuntal extended harmonic "Bachian Invention". Not for the faint of heart!
CYCLE, RETRACE, PROGRESS, BE STILL (1978) Difficulty: IV $9.00
[2 minutes]
Solo for Piano, Marimba, Vibraphone or other Keyboards
Originally written for piano with dancer, this fugue can also be performed on vibraphone (with a few minor transpositions); stick dampening along with pedal dampening adds a further technical dimension towards a musical end; with a concert context this could be a nice cameo transition piece after an intense or extended work. Premiered by Michael Udow, piano; Nancy Udow, dancer/choreographer.
DINOSAUR DANCE (1991) Difficulty: V $58.50
[6 minutes](EQ 81 Footprints CD)
This work for solo timpanist and percussion quartet (4 or 5 timpani, vibraphone, glock, chimes, metals) demands a high level of interlocking inner pulse skills with across the bar-line phrasing. Timpani tuning is reasonable and logical; appropriate for public performance and recital repertory. The percussion quartet parts are equally challenging. Premiered by Jonathan Haas and Drumfire with Benjamin Herman, timpanist.
FRACTURE (1973) Difficulty: IV $21.00
[7 minutes]
This is intended as a piece for one hand & two feet though two hands can also be used, the percussionist sits on a stool with one foot on the vibe damper pedal and the other foot on a bass drum pedal; the hand(s) play vibraphone, crotales (c – b), glass & bamboo wind chimes, sizzle cymbal and tam tam. The work, though relatively easy for an undergraduate percussionist, does utilize at times three staves; employs mixed meters, vibraphone harmonics & clusters, as well as smooth mallet changes Premiered by Stacy Bowers.
MOON SHADOWS (2009) Difficulty: VI $37.00
(Multiple Percussion Solo and Wind Ensemble) [25 minutes]
You Tube
A series of main melodic themes based on ten Japanese haiku about the moon are unveiled throughout the composition. Contrapuntal lyrical lines were then superimposed over those initial melodies. The overall orchestration is intentionally transparent, reflecting the clarity of the haiku form. Subtle shifts in timbre further "reflect" and "amplify" the meaning of these "Pierrotesque" images. Yet, the depth within the orchestration is, at times, rather cloudy an ominous.

The essence of Japanese haiku seems to have a parallel sensibility with many of the smaller gardens I have visited while touring throughout Japan over the past three decades. In particular, the tiny gardens within the very small Daisenin Temple located in Kyoto remind me of the purity of this poetic form. The orchestration in Moon Shadows is intended to reflect this sensibility in ways similar to that of a graceful branch of a Yew on a moonlit night, reflecting upon a pond, then further transformed with shifts in the direction and intensity of the evening breeze as Koi, unaware of "the pure essence of the moment" unabashedly swim by. Premiered by the composer with the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Michael Haithcock, conductor.
6 X 6 SCANNING (1977) Difficulty: I-VI $10.50
[1 - 3 minutes]
This work for 6 unspecified percussion timbres explores the visual systems of a work by visual artist and co-composer, Chris Watts; it may be utilized as an introduction to reading music or as an introduction to the relationship of visual cues to musical systems, but it also may be interpreted by an advanced performer (in a Webern meets Mighty Mouse scenario or as Morton Feldman embraces The Bhuda). Premiered by Michael Udow.
THRENODY (1985) Difficulty: V      IN PREPARATION  
(solo perc. & cassette tape) [8 minutes]
Utilizing a vibe, 4 toms, bongos, pedal bass drum, 3 woodblocks and other assorted idiophones, this composition is an adaptation from the dance and percussion duos "Oh My Ears and Whiskers" and "Over the Moon"; it opens with aggressive solo drumming winding down into a lyrical vibraphone solo, and ending with a wild bass drum woodblook duet for one player in 22/8 time. Premiered by Michael Udow.