Little Toy Thunder
for solo snare drum
While I was doing some reading, I came across a treatise written by Luis Bunuel in 1922. The unique style of this treatise caught my attention, as Bunuel describes each instrument for what it is (as a noun) rather than what they sound like or how to write for them (as an adjective). Here are some examples:
“Violins - Pretentious young ladies of the orchestra, insufferable and pedantic. Jagged mountains of sound.
Violoncello - Murmurs of sea and woods. Serenity. Deep eyes. They have the conviction and the grandeur of Jesus' sermons in the desert.
Trombones - A slightly German temperament. Prophetic voice. Succentors in an ancient cathedral with ivy and a rusty weather vane.
Xylophone - A child's game. Water of wood. Princesses knitting in the garden, moonbeams.
Cymbals - Light shattered into fragments.
Timpani – Skins filled with olives.
Snare Drum – Little toy thunder. ‘Somewhat’ menacing.”
I felt like the snare drum was boxed into somewhat of a corner here and I tried to write four different movements that created four different nouns of what I think a snare drum can be.
This piece was premiered by Corey Robinson in September of 2013 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
“Violins - Pretentious young ladies of the orchestra, insufferable and pedantic. Jagged mountains of sound.
Violoncello - Murmurs of sea and woods. Serenity. Deep eyes. They have the conviction and the grandeur of Jesus' sermons in the desert.
Trombones - A slightly German temperament. Prophetic voice. Succentors in an ancient cathedral with ivy and a rusty weather vane.
Xylophone - A child's game. Water of wood. Princesses knitting in the garden, moonbeams.
Cymbals - Light shattered into fragments.
Timpani – Skins filled with olives.
Snare Drum – Little toy thunder. ‘Somewhat’ menacing.”
I felt like the snare drum was boxed into somewhat of a corner here and I tried to write four different movements that created four different nouns of what I think a snare drum can be.
This piece was premiered by Corey Robinson in September of 2013 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.