and numberless quotidian happenings…

solo bass drum (2021)

Program Note

I originally planned to compose a snare drum solo for my colleague Tom Goldstein, whose imagination for all things percussion has been a source of inspiration and joy for the 20 years we’ve worked together at UMBC. But in our sessions together trying out ideas, we began talking about the extraordinary bass drum part in Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps and then began experimenting with different approaches to that drum as a solo instrument, including making it “breathe.” In the end, the bass drum seemed a better pairing with Serena Hilsinger’s epic poem Salvage, her reflections on time as expressed in the geology and people of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, where I composed the piece. I am grateful for her permission to quote passages from the opening of that poem throughout the score.