Rule of Five, The

From Wind Repertory Project
Adam Silverman

Adam Silverman


General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 20:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Adam B. Silverman Music Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $200.00; (digital) - $100.00


Movements

1. Prelude in Black & White
2. Claptrap
3. The Loud Alarum Bells
4. Flimflam
5. Interlude in Color
6. Chatterbox


Instrumentation

Solo percussion I-II
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crotales (1 octave)
  • Cymbals (Orchestral Cymbals, Suspended Crash Cymbals, 2 Ride Cymbals, Splash Cymbal)
  • Glockenspiel
  • Snare Drum
  • Triangle
  • Xylophone
  • Vibraphone
  • Marimba


Percussion soloists instrumentation:

Solo 1: Castanets, 5 Wood Blocks, 5 Metals, Riq, Snare Drum with Hoop Crasher, Ride Cymbal, Suspended Cymbal (or multiple Cymbals), Tubular Bells, 5 High Drums + Crot-Hats, Glockenspiel.

Solo 2: Castanets, 5 Wood Blocks, 5 Metals, Performer’s Choice of Idiophone(s) or Membranophone(s), Glissando Instrument (ossia: Slit Drum), Vibraphone, 5 High Drums + Crot-Hats, Mark Tree, 5 Tom-toms.


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

An early idea for this piece — abandoned but remembered fondly — was to call it Every Good Bird Does Fly in homage to an age-old mnemonic used by those who wish to remember the notes of the lines of the treble clef; I could compose non-pitched percussion parts with each note assigned its rhythm and contour on the five-line staff, but with the instrument choice left entirely up to the percussion soloists. In the end, this name was jettisoned and instruments selected, but the five-line patterns remained, now scored for sets of five wood blocks, five metals, five small drums, five “crot-hats” (hi-hats made from pairs of crotales and springs) and tom-toms. The new title The Rule of Five refers to these sets of non-pitched instruments; it’s a name that sprang to mind without me remembering from where it came from, and a quick search revealed all sorts of meanings; this piece relates to none of them.

The composition is in six movements; not all are of equal weight, with the music created to allow flexibility in the performance of excerpted versions. The colorful movement titles were inspired by my feelings, as I composed it, that percussive melody without “true” pitches can often seem like arbitrary clickety-clacks. In that spirit, the four main movements gained titles inspired by nonsense conversation (Claptrap, Flimflam, and Chatterbox), with the third movement taking the title The loud alarum bells from Edgar Allan Poe’s evocative 1849 poem The Bells: Hear the loud alarum bells / Brazen bells! ... In the startled ear of night / How they scream out their affright! ... They can only shriek, shriek / Out of tune /In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire. The remaining two movements, scored for the soloists alone, work as introductions to the movements that follow. The first is Prelude in Black & White (“black and white” because it has no gradation of pitches as it is scored solely for a pair of castanets), and the other is Interlude in Color (since it adds “color” to the prelude by scoring the existing music for pitched instruments: tubular bells and vibraphone).

The Rule of Five is dedicated to those who commissioned the music, especially Justin Alexander and Luis Rivera of the Novus Percutere Percussion Duo, who initiated the idea and assembled a wonderful group of collaborating commissioners. I am grateful to these fine percussionists and bands, and especially to Brian Nozny, who was a constant sounding-board and percussion consultant for me as I composed the music.

- Program Note by composer


Media

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

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Michael Butler, conductor; Brian Baldauff, and Justin Alexander, percussion) – 5 December 2018
  • University of South Alabama (Mobile) Wind Ensemble (William Peterson, conductor; Luis Rivera and Justin Alexander, percussion) – 24 April 2018 *Premiere Performance*
  • Radford University (Radford, Va.) Symphony Band (R. Wayne Gallops, conductor; Rob Sanderl and Tom Marceau, percussion) - 21 April 2018


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources