Something To Do With Grace
General Info
Year of Published: 2015
Publisher: Keyboard Percussion Publications
Difficulty: Advanced
Cost: $75.00
Instrumentation
Soloist
Ensemble
Player 1: Castanets
Player 2: Maracas & Snare Drum
Player 3: Djembe
Player 4: Tambourine
Player 5: Snare Drum
Player 6: Bongos
Player 7: Congas
Player 8: Tenor Drum
Description
Something To Do With Grace is for 5.0 a solo marimbist and eight percussionists that was written for James Armstrong and his All-Star High School Percussion Ensemble in Lancaster, PA, featuring soloist Grace Asuncion. With a good advanced level high school marimbist and percussion ensemble, this should be a very programmable work that audiences will find interesting and accessible.
The piece looks fairly intense for the soloist with mostly idiomatic writing in comfortable intervals but includes an aerobic section at the end. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “groovy” piece, but it has a good, energetic feel to it. It jumps around quite a bit at the end, which looks like the most difficult part. The percussion ensemble parts have fairly small setups for the most part, and some are more difficult than others. The xylophone, vibraphone and glockenspiel parts require advanced payers, as they don’t lay in patterns and will require some maturity. Both the score and individual part indicate that a 5-octave instrument is needed for the solo part, but the lowest note written is an E. In fact, most of the solo could be practiced on a 4.3 instrument.
I would imagine balance will always be an issue with this piece when pitting eight percussionists against one marimba soloist. Stout addresses that on the front page with this quote: “Instrument designations are only suggestions. Feel free to change which drums are to be used, in favor of a section-like and balanced sound!” If you are going to play this piece, your percussion ensemble will need to be sensitive and your soloist strong.
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Marimba Solo Works
Andante and Allegro – Piano; Marimba
Astral Dance – Marimba
Elegy – Marimba
Etudes for Marimba, Book III – Marimba
Five Etudes for Marimba, Book 1 – Marimba
Five Etudes for Marimba, Book 2 – Marimba
Four Episodes – Marimba
Nocturnes, op.36 – Marimba
Ode for Marimba – Marimba
Reverie – Marimba
Rivers of Wood – Marimba; Piano
Rumble Strips – Marimba
Sedimental Structures – Marimba
Triptych – Percussion Duet; Marimba
Two Mexican Dances – Marimba
Wood That Sings – Marimba
Percussion Ensemble Works
Desperate Attitudes – Percussion (11)
Eisenhower's Rondo – Percussion Quartet; Flute; Viola
Emerald Romp - Percussion Trio
Incoming – Percussion Duet; Marimba; Drumset
Laruci in the Sky – Percussion Duet; Marimba
Look Forward With Your Feet
Outgoing - Percussion Quartet; Piano
Outgoing 2 - Percussion 12
Prolific Platitudes - Percussion Quartet
Sarah's Dance
Seeking Pacific Waters - Percussion Sextet
Something To Do With Grace - Marimba & Percussion Octet
Three Movements for Marimba and Wind Ensemble – Marimba; Wind Ensemble
Marimba Ensemble Works
Endless Mountains Wooden
New York Triptych
Dream-Awakening and Dance
Sinfonietta
Wailing Song
Diptych Series
Diptych No. 1 – Multiple Percussion
Diptych No. 2 – Percussion Ensemble
Diptych No. 3 – Percussion Duet; Marimba
Diptych No. 4 – Percussion Duet; Marimba
Duo Series
Duo (Dance Song) – Marimba; Saxophone
Duo (Dance Song) – Marimba; Trumpet
Duo (Dance Song) – Marimba; Bassoon
Duo Concertante – Percussion Duet; Wind Ensemble