Fantastic Night
by Steve Fitch
Percussion Ensemble - Sheet Music

Percussion Ensemble Percussion Trio (Percussion 1 (Solo), Bass Drum, 3 Toms, Bongos, 4 Cymbals, 4 Triangles, 5 Temple Blocks, Shell Chimes, Percussion 2, Concert Bass Drum, 2 Concert Toms, Slit Drum (6 tones), Medium Suspended Cymbal, Large Bamboo Chimes, Percussion 3, Pedal Bass Drum, 2 Con) - medium difficult

SKU: CN.15090

Composed by Steve Fitch. Percussion Music. Score and parts. Duration 10:00. Published by C. Alan Publications (CN.15090).

Fantastic Night is a work in eight parts for multiple percussion solo and percussion duo accompaniment. The solo part has several opportunities for improvisation allowing the soloist to make this piece their own.

Fantastic Night is a work in eight parts for multiple percussion solo and percussion duo accompaniment. In the solo part, improvisation plays an important role in parts five, six, and eight, and the soloist is given these opportunities to make this piece his or her own. In parts five and eight there are 5/8 and 6/4 vamps, respectively, with and against which the solo player works, creates, and bounces off the accompaniment. There are also two free sections (section six and the very end of the piece with brushes) where the soloist works alone. In all of the improv sections, any number of optional instruments, selected by the soloist, may be incorporated along with the formal set-up to introduce additional colors not yet heard up to this point. Some ideas might be dampened metal sounds, a pedal bass drum, congas to blend in with the bongo timbre, hi-hat, just to name a few. These improv sections can be as long or as short as the soloist wishes. There is plenty of previously played thematic material upon which to draw for these improvised sections and Fantastic Night will have more musical impact, the more the soloist draws upon previously heard ideas and orchestrates them in an inventive manner. There is ample room for technical bravado, as well as for more contemplative soundscapes. The vamps provide the soloist with the space to experiment with metrical shifts and juxtapositions - to play 'in' or 'out,' that is, with or against the accompaniment. Even accelerandi and ritardandi can be exploited (the accompaniment remaining steady), depending on the solist's fancy. This will challenge the accompanists' concentration and provide for some wonderful friction between the two forces. Dynamic and implement shifts are also welcome in these sections, whereby the accompanists should interact sensitively with the soloist. A few suggestions for improv ideas have been included in the performance notes, bet these are by no means mandatory. A fermata over a note - usually in a cadenza-like passage, simply means that there is no predetermined duration between this note and the next one. Fantastic Night is the second of three fantasias for percussion instruments (for three players), Streams and Convergences (both trios) comprising numbers one and three. Each of these pieces is dedicated to the memory of a great German-speaking author of the 20th century.