Winning (2023), is a piece for two percussionists by Julian Saint Denis, commissioned and premiered by Arnor Chu and Jeff Sagurton. Dedicated to Kyle Brightwell.
“When we first approached Julian about writing a piece for my final recital in Boston, I envisioned this work to encompass elements from my experiences thus far as a percussion student at the collegiate level. In our field, ‘Winning’ a certain job title is seen as the apex of one’s career, and consequently, ‘how to win the job’ becomes the focal point of many young aspiring percussionists. In our quest to find new and innovative ways to elevate our playing, whether it be through new techniques, new equipment, or interpretation-nothing, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, is out of the question, so long as it achieves the desired effect. To an outsider looking in, many of the things we do and discuss may seem to be anywhere from overly dogmatic, to overly whimsical, even comical at times-and this is the perspective from which we approached our performance. We threw a lot of wild ideas at Julian, and although he was apprehensive at first to implement them, we believe he did a fantastic job in realising our vision in this piece and are extremely proud to be the first ones to perform it.” -Arnor
Julian Saint Denis (Composer): juliansaintdenis.wordpress.com/
Movements:
0:00 Part I: Warm-Up
3:47 Part II: Waiting...
8:17 Part III: Moving
Instruments, in order of appearance:
Ted Atkatz Snare Drum Sticks (The Persimmon)
Pearl Philharmonic Snare Drums (14x4 Brass and Maple)
Zildjian K Symphonic Cymbals
Target Good & Gather Mini Cucumbers (Non-Organic)
Adams Concert Bass Drum
Adams Artist Series Glockenspiel (3.3 Octave)
Adams Concert Xylophone (4 Octave)
Adams Artist Classic Marimba
Some Grover Tambourine
Steinway D (New York)
Performed live at the Boston University College of Fine Arts on 22 April, 2023.
#Cucumber #Percussion #Duo #HowToWinTheJob