Etched in Sand
General Info
Year: 2013
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: Advanced (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: PeerMusic
Cost: Score and Parts - $59.95 | Score Only - $0.00
Movements
Instrumentation
Player I: Sixxen[A], glockenspiel, prayer bowl, bass drum
Player II: Vibraphone, lower-octave crotales, wing gong [or similar]
Player III: 4-octave marimba, prayer bowl, triangle
Player IV: 5-octave marimba, glockenspiel, prayer bowl, triangle
Player V: Vibraphone upper-octave crotales, suspended cymbal
Player VI: Sixxen [C], prayer bowl, syspended cymbal
Program Notes
Commissioned by Sixtrum percussion ensemble, read Jan. 30, 2013, Sixtrum Percussion Composer Lab, Montreal, QC
To etch is to cut, carve, or engrave a text or design onto a surface (traditionally metal, glass, or stone). This process leaves a permanent design on the original surface. I recall going to the shore as a child and spending hours etching designs in the wet, hardened sand at the threshold of beach and sea. With the sun on my back I would revel in the glory of these beautiful and ephemeral pieces of art that I created using the sand as my canvas and a stray seashell as my stylus. As evening encroached, the tide would slowly come in, its regular cycles of crashing waves a whispering reminder of the passing of time. The gently lapping water would inevitably creep towards my etchings, and as it neared I waited, in tense anticipation, for the arcs of water blindly reaching up the beach. As the first finger of water washed over my design, the image began its transformation into a subdued echo of itself. For a short time - an eternity - I would solemnly watch my day's work gently fade into the original blank canvas. Etched in Sand was written for Sixtrum percussion sextet as part of their young composer workshop centered around the instrumentation of Philippe Leroux's work De l'itération. Etched in Sand was premiered on December 7, 2013 at Salle Bourgie in Montreal, QC.[1]
Review
Errata
Awards
Commercial Discography
Online Recordings
Recent Performances
University of North Texas, Percussive Arts Society International Convention - Friday, November 14, 2025 // 10:00 a.m. // Indiana Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom // Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec. 7, 2013 by Sixtrum, Salle Bourgie, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
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Works for Percussion by this Composer
Etched in Sand - Percussion Sextet
Remains - Percussion Duo, Piano (2)
Additional Resources
References