Rooted

Brian Blume

1 Player

Advanced Percussion Solo

Instrumentation: Concert snare drum, Muted snare (w/ snares off), Glockenspiel

Rooted by Brian Blume is a contemporary, advanced percussion solo with audio track accompaniment inspired from Blume's personal reflection on life, the changes he has undergone, and the pillars that have remained constant. The piece musically embodies these concepts with recurring harmonic and melodic language along with rhythmic motifs that appear in various altered and unaltered states.

Written for two snare drums (one a muted, prepared drum) and glockenspiel, the piece marries many facets of Blume's musical upbringing. The snare drum portions of the piece undergo numerous treatments from orchestral to rudimental and sometimes something in between. This provides a rich canvas for the performer to explore interpretation, touch, and tone.

The piece begins with whimsical, orchestral snare drum playing before ramping up into a more aggressive rudimental style. The middle of the piece is constructed of three components, including an interactive glockenspiel passage with the audio track, a bold and exuberant snare drum cadenza, and a disorienting snare drum section. Finally, the piece concludes with a flurry of blended orchestral and rudimental snare drum passages that propel the piece to the end.

Rooted ships as a printed, professionally bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or tablet viewing.