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Wagon-Wheeling

for piano and percussion

premiered 11/3/12, Bridges Hall of Music
Aron Kallay, piano; Yuri Inoo, percussion

The "wagon wheel effect" is an optical illusion often seen in films, when a wagon wheel seems to be spinning impossibly slow, or even moving backwards. The relationship between the speed of the wheel and the frame rate of the film is responsible for the effect. Wagon-Wheeling plays with the relationship between two or more rhythmic passages, which in some combinations can create similarly paradoxical effects on our experience of tempo. At times the listener might have the impression of speeding up and slowing down at the same time. Not incidentally, the piece sometimes takes on the loping gait of galloping horses, and briefly breaks into an exuberant country waltz. Wagon-Wheeling was written for Aron Kallay, whose musical artistry and indefatigable energy are inspiration for al.

 

-Tom Flaherty


Percussion:
3 Cymbals: small, medium, large
Triangle
3 Toms: small, medium, large
Bass Drum
Vibraphone