Charon's Dance
Kevin Lau
Ensemble: Wind Ensemble
Solo Instrument: Percussion Quartet
Duration: 10:30
Commissioned by: Ontario Provincial Honour Band
Premiered by: TorQ and the Ontario Provincial Honour Band (Donald McKinney, conductor)
Date of Premiere: November 7, 2015
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Piccolo
Flutes 1,2
Oboes 1,2
Bassoons 1,2
Bb Clarinets 1,2,3
Bb Bass Clarinet
Eb Alto Saxes 1,2
Bb Tenor Sax
Eb Baritone Sax
Bb Trumpets 1,2,3
F Horns 1,2
Trombones 1,2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion 1 (Triangle, Tam-tam, Snare Drum, Mark Tree)
Percussion 2 (Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Slapstick, Bass Drum)
Percussion 3 (Tubular Bells, Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Triangle)
Solo Percussion 1 (Congas, Bongos, Marimba, Wind Chimes, 2 Cowbells)
Solo Percussion 2 (5 Toms, Suspended Cymbal, Sizzle Cymbal, Cloud Gongs, Talking Drum, Crotales)
Solo Percussion 3 (Timbales, Waterphone, Rain Stick, Flexatone, Maracas)
Solo Percussion 4 (Bass Drum, Crotales, Tenor Drum, Glockenspiel, Thunder Sheet)
Commissioned by TorQ and the Ontario Provincial Honour Band with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Program Notes:
The title refers to "Charon" -- Pluto's largest moon -- and was inspired partly by the NASA expedition to Pluto during the summer of 2015. I was drawn to the idea writing a concerto for a group of professional soloists and a high school-level wind ensemble -- a relationship rich in metaphor. As the piece grew in my imagination, I eventually drew inspiration from the dynamic between Pluto and Charon, which (unlike Earth and its moon, for example) are almost equal partners. Charon is one-eighth the mass of Pluto; as such, it does not so much orbit Pluto as it dances with it, both bodies orbiting a point outside of one another's diameters. Similarly, although the percussion quartet is far smaller than the wind ensemble, it exerts tremendous influence upon it; musically, this is reflected in the way it initiates and sometimes redirects the majority of musical events throughout the work.
The title also references the Charon of Greek mythology, the boatman who ferries the dead across the River Styx. This somewhat grim imagery casts a shadow over the spirit of the piece in the form of a musical quotation: the ancient Dies Irae, adopting an increasingly oppressive presence as the piece unfolds. Throughout this churning voyage, the music is dragged forward like a heavy barge, gaining momentum as it goes until the work's fiery climax. Only then does Charon's ferry finally arrive at calmer shores, suggesting the promise of both death and transcendence at the end of a journey.
(Kevin Lau)
