Thunder Drum (Preview)

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Programme Note I Elegy for a Lost World II Games III Reconstitution From the composer: Although the music of Thunder Drum’s outer movements are reminiscent of 19th century Western European music and more recent epic film soundtracks, the underlying theme is informed by a vision of human prehistory expounded by the American mystic Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) related to the shifting fortunes of what has been traditionally known as the “red race”, the native inhabitants of the north and central regions of the American continent. A great and lasting influence in my thinking and artistic imagination, Edgar Cayce had mentioned in several of his trance utterances that the antediluvian world we know through legend as “Atlantis” was an advanced civilization dominated by the “red race”, which had reached knowledge and technological heights comparable to our own. It fell spectacularly, having pushed its unquenchable thirst for ever increasing energy and power to ecological havoc, as our current civilization too is in danger of reaching with an exponentially increasing likelihood. The first movement, Elegy for a Lost World, is a musical meditation on this loss, which is traumatically felt by our collective psyche as deep seated memory, in spite of the absence of any external evidence for the existence and loss of such an advanced civilization in our collective past. Beginning and developing along 19th century European common harmonic and melodic practice (another vanishing world), the music is a vague reminiscence of a two-theme classical sonata form. The melodic/harmonic discourse is gradually overtaken by denser chromaticism and accompanying musical tension, exacerbated by the technological “fly by” sound effects of the playback audio which are becoming ever more prominent. Games, the second movement, is a great leap to the present moment. The industrial-like “quantized” loops in the playback audio, with their unexpected twists and turns, are combined with pre-recorded samples of Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq. This sonic background constantly challenges an agile orchestra to technically rise to its unpredictable rhythmic demands, a task increasingly frustrated by metric modulations and other devices of rhythmic complexity. Without any pause, Reconstitution, the third movement, begins quietly with a timid thematic development of the aggressive modal gestures that concluded the previous movement. The music once more picks up pace and energy and, this time around, it ends in an epic, triumphant but also hollow ending with the opening theme of Thunder Drum modulating to an altered major-like mode. In the aftermath of this triumphant conclusion, however,
the two modes, the major and the minor are constantly alternating, suggesting an ambivalence and incompleteness that needs to be mediated upon in a future compositional essay. Performance Notes The electronic component of the music is provided as a NI Kontakt 5 sample library to be performed from a MIDI keyboard. The Cue Track below the keyboard part offers only vague information about the sound of the samples for purposes of coordination with the orchestra. Durations in the keyboard part should be maintained at indicated length. Longer durations than indicated will not affect the music but shorter durations will truncate the samples. In measures 4 and 8 of Elegy for a Lost World, the “fermata” tempi are calculated so that each sample peaks on the fourth beat of the measure. The conductor can use this fact as an aural guide to restart the music. H (Hauptstimme) — denotes the most important melodic line in the music. N (Nebenstimme) — denotes the second most important line in the music. # denotes the end of Haupstimme or Nebenstimme. • Harmonic glissando. Lightly slide finger over open string indicated by name. The sweeps should be continuous and not coordinated among players lasting until the end of the wavy line. • Bass drum rim shots (in Games): The rhomboid noteheads indicate a hit on the rim and (very lightly) on the skin of the drum. • Double bass (in Games): Strike the strings with the bow (col legno battuto) and slam the strings with the fingers of the left hand against the fingerboard so that you hear an “audible dampening” effect. • Strings (in Games): random portamento. Begin somewhere in the lower range of any string and randomly cascade towards the high end of the instrument’s range playing with great speed and intensity.
Page 1: CHRISTOS HATZIS Thunder Drum Orches
Page 6 and 7: • Strings (in Reconstitution): Cl
Page 8 and 9: & & & ? q = 60q = 96 ∑ ∑ q
Page 10 and 11: & & & q = 96 ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó. Œ
Page 12 and 13: œbœNœ œb œ œbœbœb œb
Page 14 and 15: & ˙ . .œ# œnœ#œn œ. ˙ œb
Page 16 and 17: Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~ # Ÿ~~~ Ÿ~~~
Page 18 and 19: & & & & & & ? ? ∑ ∑ Œ Œ
Page 20 and 21: & & ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
Page 22 and 23: & œb ‰ Œ Œ J & œb ‰ Œ Œ J
Page 24 and 25: & & & & & B ? ? ˙ ‰ j œ
Page 26 and 27: & œ - œ ≈ œb - œ J . f
Page 28 and 29: > œ# J & ‰ ‰ œ#œ#œ œ
Page 31 and 32: & 4 & q = 150 4 ∑ ∑ Ó Œ œ
Page 33 and 34: 4 & & & & & & 4 4 4 4 4 ? 4 ?
Page 35 and 36: ã 4 3 4 12 œ ‰Œ Ó Œ ‰ ‚
Page 37 and 38: & & ? ã & & & & & & B B B ? ? ?
Page 39 and 40: ˘ œ# & J ‰Œ ƒ Ó ? ∑ ? Ó
Page 41 and 42: & & & & & & ? ? ∑ ∑ j‰Œ
Page 43 and 44: & & & & ? ? & & & &
Page 45 and 46: & 4 & & & & ? ? 4 4 4 4 4 4
Page 47 and 48: & & & & & & & & & &
Page 49 and 50: & & & & & B ? Ó Ó ∑ ∑
Page 51 and 52: & œ & . œ . œ . œ˘ Œ œ .
Page 53 and 54: & & & & ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ œb fl ‰
Page 55:
~~ n œ Ÿ~~~ œb Ÿ~~~ Ÿ~~~
Page 58 and 59:
? ? ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
Page 60 and 61:
& & & & & & ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
Page 62 and 63:
& & & & & & ? ? ∑ ∑ ∑
Page 64 and 65:
& & & & & & ? ? ∑ Ó œ œ
Page 66 and 67:
& & & & & & B ?
Page 68 and 69:
œ> œ#œ œbœ œnœ œ œ#œ œ
Page 70 and 71:
& & ∑ ∑ Œ Œ œ œ œ œ π
Page 72 and 73:
e e q 150 œ# œ# œ œ# œ>
Page 74 and 75:
& & œb œ œb ‰ Œ œ œb œb
Page 76 and 77:
ã ˙. æ Í & ? ˙. ∑ ˙. æ ˙
Page 78 and 79:
.ḃæ b & œbœ œ#œ œb
Page 80 and 81:
& & B B ˙# œ# ˙ œ ˙ . ?
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Thunder Drum (Preview)

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