Encounter XII, for harp and percussion (2003)

Encounters XII was written in 2003 and premiered August 12 of that year at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on the summer series of concerts of the Music Academy of the West. The remarkable soloists were David Herbert, percussion, and Alison Bjorkedal, harp. The title/pun is meant to combine the character of the Encounters Series (battles, duo-confrontations). with the character of the piece, which, to me, is reminiscent of the gentle music of Gabriel Faure. Generally, the Encounters Series, now numbering 13, features solo percussion with another instrument. Exceptions are Encounters VII for two percussionists and narrator, and Encounters XIII for solo percussion and woodwind quintet. Encounters XII was a unique challenge because of the delicacy and vulnerability of the harp. At the same time, it was a wonderful opportunity to bring out the delicate and poetic side of percussion.
 
For that reason, the percussion instruments involved are: Vibraphone, Marimba, Seated (Temple; Prayer) Bell (also called Bowl and Cupped Gong), Almglocken or Tuned Gamelan Gongs, Crotales or Glockenspiel (a misnomer for Orchestra Bells), Graduated Drums (Western or Asian), Sizzle Cymbal and Large Tam-Tam. The drums, which can, of course, be played quite forcefully, are never used that way. Rather, when they are utilized, they are played with sponge-headed mallets, which I had made for soft sounds.
 
I like to term the musical language American Impressionism, though the much respected critic Mark Swed calls it Abstract Expressionism and goes on to say that I paint with percussion. I like that. The first movement opens with harp playing the same pitch in many different ways: B-flat A-sharp B-flat as a harmonic, A-sharp as a harmonic, and then moves into a discrete interplay with vibraphone and marimba. But more than that, I would rather not describe the music; music is meant to be heard. - William Kraft

Douglas Rioth, harp
Louis Siu, percussion

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