For two percussion, includes two scores. Maximum enjoyment from minimal music! Two percussionists, with two drums each, engage in a rhythmic study based on an Indian tala. Duration: ca. 8'
Print size: Legal (8.5 x 14")
Review from Percussive Notes:
Variations on an Indian Tala
David Shrader
“Variations on an Indian Tala” is an open instrumentation duet (though two differently pitched
drums for each performer is suggested) written in 1969. The music consists of a single page of rhythmic musical notation and performance instructions that guide performers through the roughly 8-minute work. The composer provides detailed instructions for how to interpret the piece. Musical notation is a single page with seven lines of music (an initial line with options A and B, and then musical lines labeled 1 through 6). I will avoid a play-by-play of all the directions for performance in this review.
While the instructions provide a vision for this work, a better option might be just providing performers with a framework for a piece, and allowing them to create their own work utilizing these tools. Given the open instrumentation and general musical notation, a more liberal interpretation of this piece could make way for not only a variety of percussion duets, but even utilized as a framework for percussion ensemble performances with flexible instrumentation.
With the current COVID-19 epidemic in our world, pieces for open instrumentation that could be recorded remotely by performers utilizing a simple metronome pulse in their ear can be quite useful. Students and teachers looking to gain experience with concepts of Indian music may be interested in looking at this piece as an undergraduate recital work, or as a piece for ensemble that has the potential to work remotely.
—Brian Nozny, 2020
