Apparitions of Malacandra
Chamber Music - Sheet Music

Percussion sextet Percussion Sextet (high conga, low conga, concert bass drum, brake drum, bongos, 2-tone log drum, 4-suspended cymbals, 4-triangles, snare drum, medium tom, tam tam, vibraslap, low tom, high tom, claves) - Level 3

SKU: IP.E-JS-APP

Composed by Joshua Smith. Score and set of parts. Duration 4 minutes, 25 seconds. Innovative Percussion #E-JS-APP. Published by Innovative Percussion (IP.E-JS-APP).

8.5x11 inches.

Composer's notes: The three "musical" apparitions occur at specific places in the work and correspond with specific portions of text from Lewis" novels. The first occurs at m. 28 and is meant to represent the description of being "translucent and difficult to see." With each new note played by the bowed cymbal players, place the supporting finger closer to the edge, which will produce a higher pitch each time. Take care not to let the rhythms on the cymbals overpower each other when played with brushes (or mallet ends). The second apparition begins at m. 50, which is "a tornado of sheer monstrosities such as darting pillars with eyes, lightening pulsations of flames, and billowy masses of what suggested snow volleying through cubes and heptagons into an infinite black void." While this section of music is meant to sound "busy-, players 3 and 6 should perform in a way that their lines are heard above the rest of the ensemble. For the third apparition, beginning at m. 69, Malacandra and Perelandra took on forms that Ransom could understand. They are described as possessing "Pure, spiritual, intellectual love shooting from their faces like barbed lightening-. This third apparition culminates in a central rhythm heard for the first time in mm. 100-101. This rhythm is meant to represent the look on Malacandra's face, describes as "The look of one standing armed in ceaseless vigilance . . . his eyes ever roaming the earth-ward horizon whence his danger came long ago . . . eyes that are impregnated with distance." This rhythm, and its simplified variations that occur before, should be treated as the central theme of this section: the theme that binds the rest of the music together.

Inspiration for this work came from the space trilogy written by the English writer C. S. Lewis. In these novels, one of the human characters, named Ransom, makes contact with both the presiding angels of Venus and of Mars, respectively named Perelandra and Malacandra. During this meeting, the angels attempt three times to make themselves visible to Ransom. During these apparitions, Ransom witnesses a broad spectrum of images, which I have attempted to represent musically in this work.

"In this programmatic work for percussion sextet, each player has a small multiple-percussion setup of commonly found instruments including congas, log drums, toms, bass drum, cymbals and various accessory instruments. According to the composer, the inspiration and subsequent program for the work came from the Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis. In Lewis's work, one of the human characters makes contact with the presiding angels of Venus and Mars, Perelandra and Malacandra. During the angels" three attempts at visualizing themselves for the human, he witnesses a spectacle of images. Each of the three "apparitions" is treated musically by changing textures or rhythms associated with the evocative images. The composer explores various timbres of the instruments by asking players to mute drums with their hands or play on the rims, bow cymbals (creating higher and higher overtones by placing a finger at the edge of the cymbal), and use various implements on all instruments (brushes, fingers, ends of mallets, etc.). At times, instruments are used in consorts that create interesting textures. For instance, the third "apparition" consists of four triangles playing intricate sixteenth syncopated rhythms with various combinations of open/muted tones. The rhythmic language of "Apparitions of Malacandra" is mostly simple, generally sixteenth- and eighth-note based rhythms that would be challenging, but accessible to a high school percussion ensemble. The strength of the work lies in the composer's creative use of the instruments." - John Lane Percussive Notes, August/September 2009.