The Heroes Around Us
General Info
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Year of Published: 2024
Duration: 00:09:00
Difficulty: Medium Advanced
Cost: $68.00
Instrumentation
Player 1: Glockenspiel & Crotales
Player 2: Vibraphone 1
Player 3: Vibraphone 2
Player 4: Vibraphone 3
Player 5: Chimes & Xylophone
Player 6: Marimba 1
Player 7: Marimba 2
Player 8: Marimba 3
Player 9: Marimba 4
Player 10: Timpani (4 drums), Sizzle Ride Cymbal
Player 11: Ocean Drum, Hi-Hat, Bongos, Suspended Cymbal
Player 12: 4 Concert Toms, Mounted Djembe, China Cymbal
Player 13: Concert Bass Drum, Multi_Bass Drum, Tam-Tam [shared]
Player 14: Tam-Tam [shared], Bell Tree, Claves, Sleigh Bells
Player 15: 2 Triangles, Shaker [shared], Tambourine [shared]
Player 16: Concert Bass Drum, Tambourine [shared], Shaker [shared]
Program Notes
My relationship with the Mt. Lebanon Percussion Program dates back to May 2008 when I flew out to work with the group on my first large percussion ensemble work “Limerick Daydreams.” I was blown away by the level of talent and artistry from a high school ensemble. I returned in May 2010 as a guest soloist performing David Gillingham’s “Concerto No. 2 for Marimba & Percussion Orchestra, which we also performed at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the MTL Percussion Program, I was commissioned to write “The Dreamers of Dreams” and came up for the premiere in May 2014. I am deeply honoured to have been asked once again to compose a piece for the 40th anniversary and grateful for such a fruitful and rewarding friendship. The Heroes Around Us draws inspiration from a poem by artist/writer/philosopher Kai Skye (formerly Brian Andreas):
once you begin to see the heroes around you, the ones that stand quietly and love the world with everything they are, it is hard to miss that you are bigger because of them & don't be surprised if one day you choose to stand up, too & show what happens when you live that kind of life.
For a program with such a storied history, heroes can be found in everyone – from leaders & teachers to students & parents. I wanted to capture the positivity of this poem with an expansive opening that allows us to take a few deep breaths, reflecting on the ways we have been affected by others in our lives. You will hear fragments of the primary “celebration” theme in the marimbas, asking you to breathe in, immediately followed by falling chords in the metallic keyboards, asking that you breathe out. Elsewhere in the background texture, you hear gentle swells of the ocean dim and occasional quiet heartbeats in the drums, hinting at driving rhythms to come.
What follows is a rousing celebration with memorable melodies and toe-tapping rhythms. This is the first time we hear the “celebration” theme in its entirety, first in the glockenspiel & vibraphones, then in the marimbas. The “breathing out” theme is now presented in faster syncopated presentation. The piece continues to alternate presentations of these two contrasting themes in fresh ways, always leaning into forward motion and positivity. Just for fun, I have hidden a few subtle nods to the piece I wrote for the program’s 30th anniversary.
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Vibraphone Solo
Encantada
No One is Alone
Penelope
The Place Where Lost Things Go
Marimba Solo
Burned
Mountain Paths
The Giving Tree Variations
Multiple Percussion Solo
Mallet Ensemble
- Immortal Dream - Mallet Septet
- Spun - Mallet Octet
- A Yuletide Celebration
- Azul
Small Ensemble
- Almost Beyond
- Blaze - Percussion Septet
- Black Rainbow - Percussion Octet
- Ellipsis - Percussion Octet
- Fever Dream - Percussion Quartet
- Fidget - Percussion Octet
- Lost Souls - Percussion Quintet
- Mercury Rising - Percussion Septet
- Power Struggle - Percussion Octet
- StarDancer - Percussion Octet
- Sunward/Onward - Percussion Nonet
Medium Ensemble
- Adaptation - Percussion (11)
- Chasing Infinity- Percussion Ensemble (13)
- Edge of the World - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Firefly (Nathan Daughtrey) - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- Jötenheim - Percussion (13)
- Legacies - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Limerick Daydream - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Luminescence - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- The Cry - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- The Dreamers of Dreams - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- Till the Stars Come Down - Percussion Ensemble (10)
- Topsy Turvy - Percussion Ensemble (12)
- What Lies Within - Percussion Ensemble (10)
Large Ensemble
- DrakenVuur - Percussion Ensemble 20+
- Luna, Luna - Percussion (15)
- The Heroes Around Us - Percussion (16)
Flexible Ensemble
Aftershock
Drums of Moria
Fallen Stars
Prism Schism
Sea of Tranquility (Full Percussion Ensemble Version)
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
Be That of the Wind - Percussion Octet with Wind Quintet
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