A World In Us

General Info

Year of Published: 2026
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Difficulty: Advanced
Duration: 00:05:30.
Cost: Score and Parts - $68.00 | Score Only - $0.00

Movements

Instrumentation

Player 1: Glockenspiel & Crotales
Player 2: Vibraphone 1
Player 3: Vibraphone 2
Player 4: Vibraphone 3
Player 5: Chimes
Player 6: Xylophone & Glockenspiel
Player 7: Marimba 1 (4-octave)
Player 8: Marimba 2 (4-octave)
Player 9: Marimba 3 (4.5-octave)
Player 10: Marimba 4 (5-octave)
Player 11: Marimba 5 (5-octave)
Player 12: Timpani & Sizzle Cymbal
Player 13: 3 Glass Bottles & Snare Drum & Hi-Hat & Ride Cymbal & Multi-Bass Drum & Ribbon Crasher & Bongos
Player 14: Sleigh Bells (shared), 4 Concert Tom Toms & China Cymbal & Suspended Cymbal & Log Drum
Player 15: Tam-Tam & Concert Bass Drum & Sleigh Bells (shared)
Player 16: Bell Tree & Egg Shaker(s) & 3 Glass Bottles (Perc. 1’s set-up)

Program Notes

Commissioned by Chris Dial and the Elkins High School Percussion Ensemble (Sugar Land, Texas) for performance at the 2025 Midwest Clinic, A WORLD IN US is a celebration of friendship. The exciting 5-1/2 minute work takes its title from the following quote from The Diary of Anaïs Nin: “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

The piece is dedicated to my friend of over 30 years and the guest conductor of the premiere, Jim Kirkpatrick. Although we both grew up in Durham, NC, we went to different high schools and didn’t meet until we were both auditioning at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in percussion. We became fast friends during our formative college years and though we went different directions with our careers, every time we reunite, whether separated by weeks or years, it is as if no time has passed. It is a friendship that endures and I am truly grateful. To celebrate our long, rich relationship, I used one of my favorite compositional tools to indeterminately create motivic material to weave our names into the work – a serial alphabet.

KIRKPATRICK: 10 8 5 10 3 0 7 5 8 2 10 (C-Bb-G-C-F-D-A-E-Bb-E-C)
DAUGHTREY: 3 0 8 6 7 7 5 4 0 (Ab-F-Db-B-C-C-Bb-A-F)

The “Kirkpatrick” pitch set may be heard in the opening bars of the piece in the metallic keyboards, creating an overlapping tapestry of sparkling accompaniment. After the introduction, the pitch set is transformed into the uplifting, celebratory primary theme of the work. The “Daughtrey” pitch set offers a contrasting “B” theme answer to the primary pitch set. Other appearances of the “Kirkpatrick” set include its chromatic inversion, fragmentation, and transforming the numbers into time signatures. Additionally, one of the primary rhythmic motives of the piece was created by naturally speaking the first line of the Anaïs Nin quote and transcribing its rhythm.

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Small Ensemble

Almost Beyond
Blaze - Percussion Septet
Black Rainbow - Percussion Octet
Ellipsis - Percussion Octet
Fever Dream - Percussion Quartet
Fidget - Percussion Octet
Lost Souls - Percussion Quintet
Mercury Rising - Percussion Septet
Power Struggle - Percussion Octet

Sunward/Onward - Percussion Nonet

Medium Ensemble

Adaptation - Percussion (11)
Chasing Infinity- Percussion Ensemble (13)
Edge of the World - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Firefly (Nathan Daughtrey) - Percussion Ensemble (12)
Jötenheim - Percussion (13)
Legacies - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Limerick Daydream - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Luminescence - Percussion Ensemble (12)
The Cry - Percussion Ensemble (12)
The Dreamers of Dreams - Percussion Ensemble (12)
Till the Stars Come Down - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Topsy Turvy - Percussion Ensemble (12)
What Lies Within - Percussion Ensemble (10)

Large Ensemble

A World In Us - 16 Players
DrakenVuur - 21 Players
Luna, Luna - 15 Players
The Heroes Around Us - 16 Players

Flexible Ensemble

Indeterminate Instrumentation

Prism Schism

Percussion Concerto

Percussion Ensemble with Other Instrument

As Above, So Below - Percussion Ensemble (12) with Piano
Be That of the Wind - Percussion Octet with Wind Quintet
Bounce (Daughtrey) - Percussion Ensemble (12) with Solo Trumpet
Coming Home - Percussion Quintet with Solo Euphonium
Spitfire II - Percussion Nonet with Solo Euphonium
Twitch - Percussion Ensemble (11) with Solo Clarinet
The Wexford Carol - Percussion Nonet with Solo Soprano Saxophone

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