This Is the Drum

Andrew Boysen, Jr.

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General Info

Year: 2013
Duration: c. 7:15
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This Is the Drum was commissioned by the Japan Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference and is dedicated to the memory of Morton Gould. The inspiration for the piece comes from an interview Gould gave to Bruce Duffie in 1988. As I read the interview, I was struck by how much I agreed with Gould's words. He was discussing what makes some pieces succeed and others fail, and he spoke of the way that certain works seem to have a visceral impact on the listener. He said, "This is the drum," referring to the ability of drums to immediately connect with us.

I have chosen to honor Morton Gould by attempting to create a piece which makes that visceral impact and features the drum in many ways. The basic material for the piece comes from the opening motive of Gould's most famous work, American Salute. The piece also includes the use of a marching machine, famously used by Gould in his Symphony for Band.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Hikarigaoka (Aichi, Japan) Girls' High School Band (Yasuyuki Kagawa, conductor)
Audio CD: West Chester University Wind Ensemble (Andrew Yozviak, conductor) - 2017

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Concert Band (Lancaster, Penn.) (Andrew Yozviak, conductor) – 21 April 2018
Tsuruoka (Yamagata, Japan) Minami High School Wind Orchestra (Akira Takoi, conductor) - 4 May 2013

Works for Winds by This Composer

Alchemy (2008/2013)
All the Pretty Little Horses. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Ancient Runes (2017)
Apples (2018)
Branden's Rainbow (1997/2002)
Bright Sunny Days (2013)
By My Side (2018)
Casus Belli (2018)
Celebration In Brass (1995)
Concerto for Percussion (as transcriber) (1994/1997)
Conversations with the Night (1994)
Dance, from All Hail the Power
December Dance (2005)
Diamond Jubilee Suite (2018)
Distorted Images: A Jazzman's Nightmare (1989)
A Fallen Leaf (2004)
Fanfare: In Memoriam (2015)
Fantasy on a Theme by Sousa (2003)
Frenzy (2010)
The Four Horsemen (1989)
A Glimpse through the Trees (2014)
Grant Them Eternal Rest (2003)
Havener Fanfare (2012)
Heirloom (2009)
I Am (1990)
John Henry (1990)
Joyride (2003/2008)
Kinetic Energy (1994)
Kirkpatrick Fanfare (1999)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2006)
Metamorphosis (2013)
Old Ben's Farm (2016/2019)
On the Merrimack (2010)
Ovations (1995)
Phoenix (2020)
Poor Wayfaring Stranger. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Relentless (2000)
Scarborough Fair. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Scherzo (1995)
Scherzo No 2 (2013)
Shades of Ivory (1996)
Simple Song (1995)
Snowflakes Dancing (2012/2016)
Song for Lyndsay (2005)
Song for My Children (2013)
Song for My Parents (2020)
Song of Loudest Praise, A (2010)
Song of the Sea Maidens (1994)
Stamp, from A Jack Stamp Suite (2017)
Star-Crossed (2013)
Symphony No. 1 for Winds and Percussion (1997)
Symphony No. 3 (1999)
Symphony No. 4 (2006)
Symphony No. 6 (2012)
Symphony No. 8 (2015-2016)
- Winter of the World
Symphony No. 10 (2019)
This Is the Drum (2013)
Thoughts of You (1998)
Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger (2007/2012)
- All the Pretty Little Horses (as arranger) (2014)
- Scarborough Fair (as arranger) (2013)
Time Streams (After Tricycle) (2011)
To Break Earth's Sleep (2015)
Tricycle (1997)
Twilight of the Gods (2010)
An Uncommon Man (1993)
Unraveling (2006)
Urban Scenes (1993)
The Vikings (2015)

Resources

Andrew Boysen Jr. Website Accessed 21 April 2018