Peril of the Bells

Rick Dior

General Info

Year of Published: 2014
Publisher: Tapspace
Difficulty: Med-Advanced
Duration: 00:07:30
Cost: $50.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Vibraphone & Conga
Player 2: Glockenspiel & Marimba & Tambourine & Bongos
Player 3: Marimba & Ride Cymbal & Claves & Sleigh Bells
Player 4: Chimes & Tamborim & Bongos & Djembe & Temple Blocks
Player 5: Timpani & Crotales & Talking Drum & Headless Tambourine
Player 6: Marching Bass Drum & Surdo & Berimbau
Player 7: Concert Bass Drum & Wind Chimes & Bell Tree & Cuica & Caxixi
Player 8: Timbales & Cowbells & Agogo Bells & Wind Gong
Player 9: Field Drum & Cowbell
Player 10: Suspended Cymbal & Finger Cymbals & Triangle & Cowbells & Shakers & Triangle & Samba Whistle

Description

This is Carol of the Bells as you’ve never experienced it. Rick Dior takes creative liberties with the renowned Christmas carol, giving it a completely different character that will spice up your holiday repertoire. This percussion ensemble arrangement for 10 players contains aspects of African and Brazilian drumming along with some inventive odd-metered treatments to the mallet choir and even a crash cymbal quartet! With ample room for improvisation and crowd participation, Peril of the Bells is perfect for directors who want creativity with their Christmas.

Review

After an extended, unaccompanied rhapsodic solo from a talking drum player, the remaining ensemble members enter performing the characteristic “Carol of the Bells” rhythm (with the marimba performing the e-minor motif). This introductory section then transitions with the entire ensemble articulating a 7/4 section, which features the 4-mallet vibraphonist and the 4-mallet, 5-octave marimbist. This material is followed by passages in 5/4 and 3/4, before ultimately ending with a cool, 7/4 jazz-samba section.

One of the more difficult performance parts (of the ten) is the 4-mallet, 5-octave marimba part, which provides the harmonic underpinning of this composition. The timpani part is the second most challenging, as it also provides the bass line during several of the variations. In a subsequent climactic variation on the familiar 3/4 motif, the four crash cymbal players are featured in a brief quartet. There is also a concluding samba variation on the “Carol of the Bells” rhythm—which is transformed into 7/4.

Overall, this creative, seven-minute compositional “spin” on the familiar “Carol of the Bells” motif is quite unique and will engage both the performers and the audience. This is not an easy percussion ensemble selection, but it is rewarding and somewhat whimsical in its diverse stylistic contrasts. This could be an effective closer to a percussion ensemble concert, either with a mature high school ensemble or the expert college/university percussion ensemble.