Max Power

Daniel Montoya Jr.

General Info

Year of Published: 2017
Publisher: Tapspace
Difficulty: Intermediate
Duration: 00:06:00
Cost: $42.00

Instrumentation

Player 1-2: Glockenspiel & Xylophone & Crotales & Chimes
Player 3: Vibraphone 1
Player 4: Vibraphone 2
Player 5: Marimba 1
Player 6: Marimba 2
Player 7: Timpani
Player 8-9: 5 Concert Tom Toms & Concert Bass Drum & Tambourine & Triangle & Water Gong & Tam-Tam
Player 10-11: Hi Hat & Ride Cymbal & Egg Shaker & Shekere & Mark Tree & Impact Drum
Player 12-13: Splash Cymbal & China Cymbal & Sizzle Cymbal & Finger Cymbals & Ice-bell & Cabasa & Brake Drum & Impact Drum

Description

Daniel Montoya Jr.’s piece Max Power gets its name from the "Homer to the Max" episode of the infamous TV show The Simpsons. Montoya was inspired by a James Bond type character that Homer adopts as a way of life in the episode. Using a full complement of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments, the piece teases elements of both James Bond and Simpsons themes throughout. To generate the work’s power and groove, six auxiliary players fill out and punctuate the themes using impact drums, brake drums, a collection of cymbals, toms, and a concert bass drum. The result is a groovy, punchy amalgamation of two of our beloved entertainment icons—Homer Simpson and James Bond.

Review

As can be expected from the title “Max Power,” this work is exciting to listen to and play. It combines a myriad of instruments and a large library of sounds to create a musical adventure with elements of mystery and danger. If ever there were a percussion ensemble piece to be used in a James Bond film, this would be it (the composer does say in the program notes that the 007 character was a model for the work).

The piece is set in a AABÁ form with an introduction. The introduction kicks off with loud drum impacts and slight dissonances in the keyboards, suddenly followed by dream-like motives built off diminished harmonies, triplet rhythms, and ending in fermati. After a long, accelerating transition, we arrive at the A sections, which combine duple-based grooves in the percussion and marimbas with simple and accessible melodies in the metallic keyboards. The B Section is significantly slower and more legato in style, creating a mysterious or romantic character. After another transition, this one layering-in instruments rather than using an accelerando, we enter the Á section which is a reduction of some of the introductory and A-section material. The work concludes with a final iteration of the dream motive, then a sudden jolt to the finish.

Daniel Montoya does a wonderful job keeping the piece engaging throughout its six-minute run. His use of multiple, duple-based time signatures keeps each phrase asymmetrical enough to keep an audience o -balance, and thus curious, but not so much that they get confused. The only element that can confuse the listener are some of the iterations of the dream motive, since they seemingly come out of nowhere and cause a complete stop in the action. This contradicts the composer’s marvelous use of transitions everywhere else in the work.

This piece would be appropriate for a talented high school ensemble that can supply the necessary personnel and instruments. Aside form the two marimba parts, which require great dexterity in their use of four mallets, all the parts would be playable for students at taht level. There are logistical challenges, such as two people playing in each of the three percussion stations. However, the piece is fun enough that the students will be motivated to meet these challenges.–Kyle Cherwinski

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Max Power - Percussion 13
Mayhem - Percussion Octet
PANic Attack - Percussion Octet
Spatial Tendencies - Percussion Septet
The Canyon - Percussion 11
The Highway - Percussion Septet
The Rapids - Percussion 10
The Widowmaker - Percussion 13