The Titanic Days

Christopher Deane

General Info

Year of Published: 2025
Publisher: Musicon Publications
Duration: c.
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Cost: Score and Parts - $50.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Solo

Snare Drum (Marching; COncert; Piccolo)

Ensemble

Player 1: Vibraphone 1
Player 2: Vibraphone 2
Player 3: Marimba 1
Player 4: Marimba 2
Player 5: Timpani
Player 6: Chimes & Tam Tam & Bass Drum
Player 7: Piano

Program Notes

The Titanic Days – Rhapsody for Snare Drum and Percussion Ensemble by Christopher Deane is an octet for percussion ensemble featuring keyboard percussion instruments, amplified piano, timpani, percussion and a featured soloist who plays three snare drums of various dimensions. The title is borrowed from a painting by the Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte. The Titanic Days does not attempt to represent in music what Magritte painted, however it does borrow a kind of dark energy that is depicted in that painting.

The music also draws on the lessons learned from the tragic sinking of the famous cruise liner (The Titanic). The solo snare drum part contains a brief musical quote of the traditional rudimental snare drum solo, The Downfall of Paris.

The Titanic Days was written upon the request of Professor Jon Lee, Director of the Southern Methodist University Meadows Percussion Ensemble, in honor of retired SMU faculty member and former Principal Percussionist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Doug Howard.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Mallet Percussion Solo Works

Dis Qui Etude – Vibraphone
Etude for a Quiet Hall – Marimba
In the Sea of Clouds – Marimba
Mourning Dove Sonnet – Vibraphone
Sea of Clouds – Marimba
The Apocryphal Still Life – Vibraphone
The Process of Invention – Marimba
Three Shells – Marimba

Timpani Solo Works

Prelude I – Timpani
Prelude II – Timpani
Prelude III – Timpani

Solo with Ensemble Works

The Titanic Days - Snare Drum; Percussion Septet

Ensemble Works

Almost Perpetual Torque - Mallet Trio
Arcanical Plains - 12 Players
Marimba Quartet No. 2 - Sensing the Coriolis - Percussion Quartet - Marimba Quartet
Scavenger Music – 3 Players
The Manes Scroll – 10 Players
Vespertine Formations – Percussion Quartet - Marimba Quartet