Give us this day

Eric Griswold

General Info

Year of Published: 2014
Publisher: Title Publisher
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Duration: c.
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Movements

5. Punch of the Day

Instrumentation

Player 1: Tambourines & Wood Block
Player 2: Bongos & Wood Block
Player 3: Bass Drum & Tom Tom & Wood Block
Player 4: Tambourines & Wood Block

Program Notes

Give us this day (GUTD) combines orchestral percussion, found objects, and toy instruments in an exploration of deep grooves, driving rhythms and meditative sound textures. There is an ebb and flow throughout the five movements: interlocking patterns and syncopations in “Rise up” give way to slow pulsing cycles in “Breathe;” hypnotic rhythms and biting metallic tones in “Cold steel” yield to the plaintive mood of “Alone;” while “Punch the sky” combines drums, tamborines, cymbals and toy melodicas in an exuberantly funky romp.

The musical ideas for GUTD came together quickly. I was focused on creating a sense of immediacy, of being “inside” in each sound texture, and also creating a seamless flow from one idea to the next. As I was composing, the phrase “give us this day” popped into my head. I was intrigued at the way in which - taking the phrase out of context – it seemed to suggest not only a prayer, but a call to action.

Review

"The piece begins stately and processional (more Java than Bali) then moves through sections of quite different sonorities as is common with Griswold’s work. Not all percussive, at one stage Griswold’s much loved melodicas are introduced along with bowed cymbals to develop a beautiful tonespace of slowly overlapping chords. With the percussion the playing is sometimes soft and gentle, allowing the sound of touching skins with hand or beater to dominate the resonant boom of the drum, giving a percussion that is as much about touching and manipulating a surface as it is about dividing time into predictable chunks. Give us this day is very much a work that refines earlier concerns and demonstrates the continuing maturation of Griswold’s distinctive voice."

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo Percussion

Hypnotic Strains
Entanglement
Stars of Ours

Percussion Duet

Simple Addition

Percussion Trio

Nostalgic Strains

Percussion Quartet

Give us this day

Percussion Sextet

In the dream
String Attached