Program Notes
Places to Play In and Pray In is a setting, for four percussionists, of a short text by American naturalist John Muir. The text is as follows:
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."
The rhythms of the piece are based on the rhythms of this text as spoken, and the players are also asked to speak during the performance. The text is broken into four phrases, each of which becomes the basis for a section of the piece. The first section features a soloist on the toms and all four players speaking short fragments of the text. The second section is for four pairs of claves. The third section features an improvising soloist on hand drums and another player speaking the text phrase by phrase. The final section is played on nothing but drums, with one player as soloist on timbales.
The instrumentation of this piece is drawn from the variety of percussion instruments made out of wood, bamboo, gourd and skin (drums). The metal instruments were excluded in order to accomplish a naturalistic sound that would reflect the earthy nature of the text.
The piece was premiered and recorded by the Talujon Percussion Ensemble.