Five drums from the same family
Commissioned by Strange Attractions
First performance by Sue Dennis, Old Darlington School, Sydney, 5 August 1994
Published by Wise Music G. Schirmer Australia
Performance on toms by Lucas Tauzin.
This short piece for five drums of diffrent sizes from the same family is a solo version of the final movement of Mondriaan (for flutes and percussion). In scoring the piece for one sort of drum and in asking the player to maintain the same dynamic throughout (either very loud or very quiet), I hoped to create a piece in which rhythm and tempo were the only variables.
The piece has been played many times around the world – more, perhaps, than any other of my pieces – and the definition of drum has expanded to include such instruments as break drums, dinner plates (played with knitting needles) and the Basque txalaparta (see above).