Of Wind and Water
General Info
Year: 1992
Duration: c. 11:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan
Cost: Score and Parts - $18.00 | Score Only - $0.00
Movements
Instrumentation
Program Notes
Chapter Two, verse 67, of the Bhagavad Gita suggests that the movement of our senses among the sense objects is similar to the wind carrying a ship across the waters. This image resulted in the spacious and tranquil material in the piece.
The verse goes on to suggest that the object to which the mind is joined takes away one's discrimination. This concept is reflected compositionally by grabbing hold of thematic elements as points of departure and elaboration.[1]
Review
Those in attendance at Michael Burritt's PASIC '92 performance heard his interpretation of a new work for solo marimba written by Hollinden on a commission by Burritt, who also programmed it on his recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. This reviewer, having some acquaintance with Hollinden's work, had every expectation of finding in Of Wind and Water a product of considerable intellectual and musical acumen. To this end I was not disappointed.
Hollinden's music derives movement from the juxtaposition of placid, serene sections, such as those that begin and end the work, with sections that are marked, to use the composer's directions to the player, "restless," "animated--excited," "increasingly agitated" and "impassioned." Explaining the derivation of the placid, serene portions, Hollinden cites the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita that "suggests that the movement of our senses among the sense objects is similar to the wind carrying a ship accross the waters. This image," he explains, "resulted in the spacious and tranquil material in the piece."
Like all good composers, Hollinden knows how to build a large structure from simple, brief musical ideas by the process of variation and development. The result of his effort is a composition that is fused into an organically unified whole, not one that is merely the sum total of a series of unrelated, disjunct events. In the development process Hollinden uses rhythmic variety to maximum effect. His score is quite idiomatic for the marimba. It is written for a low-E instrument; an optional version is notated if played on a low-F marimba.
This is superb literature for a mature college-level marimbist. Unlike some of the contemporary literature for that instrument now being published, there is as much in Hollinden's work for the musician as for the technician.
John R. Raush, Percussive Notes, October, 1994[2]
Errata
Awards
Commercial Discography
Slender Beams by Dave Hollinden and Andrew Spencer
Shadow Chasers by Michael Burritt
Recent Performances
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Works for Percussion by this Composer
A Different Drummer - Multiple Percussion
Alchemy - Percussion Duo
Boundary Conditions - Multiple Percussion; String Quartet
Cold Pressed - Multiple Percussion
Dusting the Connecting Link - Multiple Percussion
Flux - Marimba; Flute; Clarinet; Alto Saxophone
Immersion - Percussion Quartet; Saxophone Quartet
In Time to Come - Marimba; Alto Saxophone
Lead - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Of Wind and Water - Marimba
Percussion Quartet No. 2 (Hollinden) - Percussion Quartet
Platinum - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Reckless - Percussion Octet
Release (Hollinden) - Percussion Octet
Six Ideas for Snare, Bass, and Cymbal - Multiple Percussion
Slender Beams of Solid Rhythm - Multiple Percussion
Surface Tension - Percussion Duo
The Whole Toy Laid Down - Percussion Quartet
what clarity? (with perc. ens. version) - Multiple Percussion; Percussion Ensemble (11)
what clarity? (with strings version) - Multiple Percussion; Orchestra
Additional Resources
References