Critical Mass

Matt Moore

General Info

Year of Published: 2012
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Difficulty: Advanced
Duration: 00:10:45
Cost: $60.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Crotales & Glockenspiel
Player 2: Chimes & Xylophone
Player 3: Vibraphone 1
Player 4: Vibraphone 2
Player 5: Marimba 1
Player 6: Marimba 2
Player 7: Marimba 3 & Suspended Cymbal
Player 8: Marimba 4 & China Cymbal
Player 9: Timpani
Player 10: Medium Suspended Cymbal & Ride Cymbal & Snare Drum & 4 Concert Tom Toms
Player 11: Triangle & Wind Chimes & Suspended Cymbals (high & low) & Tam-Tam (higher pitch)
Player 12: Brake Drum & Sound Plate & Tam-Tam (lower pitch) & Kick Bass Drum (laid flat) & Concert Bass Drum

Program Notes

In nuclear physics, the term “critical mass” refers to the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The term is also broadly used in a number of fields from business to socioeconomics to software development to encapsulate similar notions, usually in regards to the stage at which a process becomes self-sustaining. Critical Mass for 12 player percussion ensemble portrays this idea as it gains, and at times loses its ability to sustain itself over the course of the piece’s three sections. Just as critical mass and a stable momentum seem to have been finally achieved in the final portion of the piece, the ensemble struggles to remain in control and finds catastrophe imminent...

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo

Downshift - Snare Drum
More of Us - Marimba
Music for Vibraphone and Electronica - Vibraphone, Electronics
PixelPop - Marimba
Quad Damage - Solo Tenor Drums
Sad Marimba & Mysterious Marimba - Marimba
Spicy Jam - Marimba
Surface - Marimba
Uma Para Ela - Marimba

Ensemble

​Aquarium (Saint-Saens) - Percussion Sextet
​Christmas Time is Here (Guaraldi) - Percussion Sextet
Cohesion - Percussion Duo
Critical Mass - Percussion Ensemble 12
Enchantment - Percussion Quintet
Imminent Launch - Percussion Quintet
OnRush - Percussion Quintet
Rocket Science - Percussion Sextet
Rogue Agent - Percussion Sextet
Seeing the World - Marimba Quartet
Stealing the Sandblade - Marimba Quartet
Symphony No. 5: Scherzo (Prokofiev) - Percussion Ensemble 12
Three Paintings for Marimba and Snare Drum - Percussion Duo
Together (Moore) - Marimba Quartet
Under Attack! - Percussion Quintet
Vector - Percussion Octet, Keyboards, Electronics
You Can Can-Can Too (Offenbach) - Percussion Octet