StarDancer
General Info
Year of Composed: 2020
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Series: The IGNITE Series
Duration: 00:03:00
Difficulty: Elementary
Commissioner: Hawaii Youth Percussion Ensemble, Caden Hong
Cost: $32.00
Instrumentation
Player 1: Glockenspiel
Player 2: Xylophone
Player 3: Marimba 1
Player 4: Marimba 2
Player 5: 3 Timpani
Player 6: Triangle & Snare Drum
Player 7: Suspended Cymbal & 2 Concert Tom-toms
Player 8: Concert Bass Drum & Shaker & Tambourine
Program Notes
StarDancer is dedicated to & inspired by my 3-year-old daughter, Penelope, as she has started expressing greater interest in the moon and the stars. Nothing gets her out of bed faster in the early morning than asking if she wants to go look at the stars before the sun comes up. She also has a great affinity for dancing to anything that moves her. This usually means there are drums & hand-clapping involved. From the opening measures of the piece, sparkling sounds permeate the ensemble with high glockenspiel, xylophone, triangle, and suspended cymbal. As it evolves, the piece alternates between light-hearted, spinning dances and more raucous, foot-stomping dances. I just kept asking myself, “What would Penelope like to hear?”
Performance Notes
The piece may be performed with as few as 5 players (Glockenspiel & Xylophone & the 3 Percussion parts). If you add a 6th player, add Timpani first. If you have even more players, add Marimba 2, then Marimba 1, and then you can experiment with doubling the Glockenspiel and Xylophone with Vibraphone and Marimba, respectively. Additionally, the three percussion parts are written so they are each playable by one person or they may be split into two players each.
Recent Performance
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Mallet Ensemble
- Immortal Dream - Mallet Septet
- Spun - Mallet Octet
Percussion Ensemble
- A Yuletide Celebration
- Adaptation
- Almost Beyond
- Azul
- Black Rainbow
- Blaze
- Chasing Infinity- Percussion Ensemble (13)
- DrakenVuur - Percussion Ensemble 20+
- Edge of the World - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Ellipsis
- Fever Dream
- Fidget
- Firefly (Nathan Daughtrey) - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- Legacies - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Limerick Daydream - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Lost Souls - Percussion Quintet
- Luminescence - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- Mercury Rising - Percussion Septet
- Power Struggle - Percussion Octet
- StarDancer - Percussion Octet
- Sunward/Onward - Percussion Nonet
- The Cry - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- The Dreamers of Dreams - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- Topsy Turvy - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- What Lies Within - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Percussion Concerto
- Concerto for Vibraphone & Percussion Ensemble
- Halcyon Days
- Irish Washerwoman
- The Foggy Dew
- Water Spirits
Percussion Ensemble with Other Instrument
- As Above, So Below - Percussion Ensemble (12) with Piano
- Bounce - Percussion Ensemble (12) with Solo Trumpet
- Coming Home - Percussion Quintet with Solo Euphonium
- Spitfire II - Percussion Nonet with Solo Euphonium
- Twitch - Percussion Ensemble (11) with Solo Clarinet
- The Wexford Carol - Percussion Nonet with Solo Soprano Saxophone