Black Elk

Jon Metzger

General Info

Year: 2005
Duration: c. 8:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts - $48.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Narrator
Marimba 1 (5-octave)
Marimba 2 (4.3-octave)
Xylophone (High Suspended Cymbal, Chimes)
Vibraphone (Low Suspended Cymbal)
Crotales (Tambourine)
Bells (Snare Drum
Timpani (Bongos)
Percussion 1 (Tambourine, Suspended Cymbal, Slapstick, Bass Drum, Medium Tom)
Percussion 2 (2 Low Toms, Flexatone)
Percussion 3 (2 Low Toms, Ratchet, Triangle, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, Tenor Drum)
Percussion 4 (4 Toms, Castanets, Triangle, Frame Drum, Bass Drum)

Program Notes

Inspired by the book "Black Elk Speaks" by John Neihardt (an oral history of Black Elk, a Sioux medicine man or Shaman), this dramatic work for 11 percussionists culminates in narrator reciting a passage from the book:

"I looked up at the clouds, and two men were coming there, headfirst like arrows slanting down; and as they came, they sang a sacred song, and the thunder was like drumming. I will sing it for you. The song and the drumming were like this: "Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; all over the sky, a sacred voice is calling."

Recent Performances

To submit a performance please join the TEK Percussion Database

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Percussion Solo Works

Double East - Marimba
Imageries - Vibraphone
Just Ask - Vibraphone
Riversong - Vibraphone
Spiral Passages - Marimba

Percussion Ensemble Works

Batterie Diabolique - 7 to 9 Players
Elephant Walk - 2 Players
Jazz Bis - Vibraphone, 5 Players
On Verchiel's Wings - Vibraphone, 3 Players

With Other Instruments Works

Absence of Color - Percussion Sextet, Narrator
Black Elk - Percussion Ensemble (11), Narrator
Four Flights - Multiple Percussion, Flute
Moral Compass - Percussion Trio, Soprano Voice, Alto Saxophone
Stories - Percussion Quartet, voice, Piano
Zoroastrian Thunder - Percussion Octet, Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Bass