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Three Pieces for Five Timpani, Five Roto-Toms and Orchestra was commissioned by Stanley Leonard and the Eastman School of Music and was premiered on December 8, 1990 by the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra.  The soloist on that occasion was John Beck, and the conductor was David Effron.  Each of the work’s three movements has been given a descriptive title that succinctly describes either the movement’s structure or its character.  The title of the first “piece” in the set, “Chaconne,” may be somewhat misleading, however.  In actuality, this movement is isorhythmically constructed and is comprised of two simultaneous and overlapping taleae – a talea being a repeated rhythmic pattern, an ostinato of sorts, which may have a melodic/harmonic component as well.  The first of these is played only by the roto-toms, while the other is fragmented among the high instruments – upper woodwinds, trumpets, horns and mallet percussion.  The solo timpani and the low instruments do not participate in the ostinati, but rather challenge and provoke one another as they form into a solid third element.

The second movement is scored exclusively for percussion.  As its title, “Diphona,” implies, it consists of alternating dialogues between temple blocks and woodblocks on the one hand and between two antiphonal sets of timpani on the other.  The music of the movement is restrained and quiet throughout and provides a much-needed foil to the more boisterous outer sections.

The pitch materials for the third movement, “Lament,” are derived almost entirely from permutations of the five-note row that serves as the basis of Igor Stravinsky’s In Memoriam Dylan Thomas for Tenor Voice, String Quartet and Four Trombones.  Stravinsky selected as text for the “Song” (the principal section of his work) the poem Dylan Thomas composed to the memory of his father (Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night).  In my own movement, there appear two modified quotes of the “Song’s” brief refrain – that portion of Stravinsky’s music written to the words, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”  This third “piece” is scored for the full ensemble and is the dramatic and structural climax of the complete work.

Claude Baker

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