If You Don't

Julie Spencer

General Info

Year: 1988
Duration: c.
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Norsk
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

3 amplified Voices
2 amplified Marimbas
1 amplied Vibraphone

Program Notes

If You Don’t is a kind of postmodern medieval chant. Pure vocal tones improvised in sporadic chordal formations swell above the tapestry of water-like sounds that float out of the marimbas, with the special sound effect of rolling handfuls of sticks back and forth across the wood. Distant melancholic interjections from the vibraphone create an illusion of expanding space and time. The piece exudes an atmosphere of intense spiritual longing and reconciliation.

The title is taken from a quote by a friend, who, moved by the sound of my voice, said, “If you don’t stop singing, I’ll cry.” The metaphor of the title refers to the irony of self expression. If we resist allowing ourselves to be moved as receivers, we lose something of the creative ability as givers. The piece was written in 1988, premiered at the California Institute of the Arts in 1989, and is recorded on the Julie Spencer and Gernot Blume CD “Lost & Found.”

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

7 Souls X a Billion - Marimba with Percussion and Orchestra
After The Storm - Marimba
Almost 5 A.M. - Marimba
Ask - Vibraphone
Bamboo Leaf - Marimba
Before The Beginning - Marimba; Marimba Quartet
Brothers In Peace - Marimba
Chelsea Window - Marimba
Color Suite - Marimba
DJ Dog Demockracy - Marimba
Ecstatic Sunlight on the Mountain Snow - Marimba
Ecstatic Sunlight Suite - Marimba
The Emperors New Clothes - Marimba
Elim - Marimba
Everybody Talk About Freedom - Marimba
Fire Elves - Marimba
Glowing Horizon at Dawn - Marimba
Gomer in the Desert - Marimba
Grateful Metamorphosis - Percussion Ensemble
Ice Cream - Marimba
If You Don't - Women Voice, Marimba, Vibraphone
Hot Chai - Marimba Duet; Marimba, Bass Clarinet
Mountain Spring - Marimba
Peace of Mind - Marimba, Piano
Pink Elisa Spring - Marimba; Marimba Duet
Soulhouse Suite - Marimba
Stronger Every Day = Marimba Quartet
Summer Music - Marimba
Swirling Light in the Mist by the Sea - Marimba
Tranquility - Vibraphone
Tree Song - Marimba, Flute Duo; 2 Marimbas; Marimba, Piano
Tree Song - Marimba Duo and Orchestra - Marimba Duo and Orchestra
Tribeca Sunflower - Marimba; Marimba Quartet; World Music Ensemble
Voices for Peace - Flute and Marimba with Vibes and Percussion
Waterfalls - Marimba
Waterfalls Concerto - Marimba and Orchestra; Marimba and Percussion Ensemble
When You Hear The Soft Roar When There Is No Sound - Percussion Ensemble
White Squirrel - Marimba
Wild Heron - Marimba
Zalan-Zalan - Concerto for Percussion & Orchestra - Multiple Percussion, Orchestra