Fire From Within

Andrew Houchins

General Info

Year: 1987
Duration: c. 15:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Movements

I. Largo
II. Allegro
III. Largo
IV. qn = 72

Instrumentation

Player I: Vibraphone, Marimba, Bass Drum
Player II: Bells, Congas, Brake Drum, Bass Drum, China Cymbal
Player III: Timbales, Suspended Cymbal, Agogo Bells, Cowbell, Tam-tam
Player IV: Tambourine, Snare Drum, 2 Toms, Plastic Tube

Program Notes

The Fire from Within was inspired by images created by the author, Carlos Castaneda, in his book The Fire from Within. The story is set in Mexico, where Don Juan Matus, a Mexican-Indian shaman who lives in Oaxaca, is guiding the author through a spiritual awakening. The music is not narrative, but is instead created from impressions and ideas drawn from some of the situations, characters, or the intense imagery. Sometimes don Juan would give the narrator a sharp blow on his back to shift his assemblage point and increase his awareness, and he talks about the journey as being the preparation of a warrior. The author sees beings in a stream and meets one of don Juan’s friends who is also a shaman, who created a mystical experience by dancing in a circle, as if doing a crazy version of the funky chicken. The central goal is to become aware and see the Eagle’s emanations, beautifully colored bands encompassing known and unknown dimensions, and in the end the author proves himself by leaping off a mountaintop and entering one of these other bands of emanations. The piece begins with a forte strike on the brake drum combined with a sustained soft chord on the vibes. This eventually dissolves into drumming music. A five-four funk in the second movement segues, after the brake drum motive, into ethereal keyboard percussion. The composition ends in a frantic run and jump into nothingness. - Andrew Houchins

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Duo for Clarinet and Percussion - Multiple Percussion, Clarinet
Face Off - Percussion Duo
Fire From Within - Percussion Quartet
The Big Bang - Multiple Percussion, Wind Ensemble
The Big Bang (perc. ens. version) - Multiple Percussion, Percussion Sextet
The Mad King - Marimba
String Theory: Multiverse Level 1 - Percussion Quartet, Marimba Quartet