Crossing the Threshold-SAMPLE

CHAD HEINY

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD for percussion ensemble and piano

Crossing the Threshold by Chad Heiny © 2022 Tapspace Publications, LLC (ASCAP). All rights reserved. tapspace.com

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TSPCE22-022

PROGRAM NOTES

Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is a fascinating and universal phenomenon that the author outlines in detail in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. After reading Campbell’s book, every story I encountered (books, movies, Netflix series) felt more enthralling and, in nearly every case, aligned beautifully with the universal truths Campbell describes as the arc of a hero.

While composing Crossing the Threshold, imagery filled my mind of an object that was passed down from person to person, continent to continent, and generation to generation. That journey inspired the original title for the work: Talisman. But as I neared the finish line, I zoomed out and viewed the piece from a distance. In doing so, I realized I had written a brief soundtrack for Campbell’s monomyth. The Call was there, as were the Threshold, the Challenges, the Abyss, the Transformation, the Second Threshold, and finally the Return but with a newly enlightened spirit. The work can still represent that traveling talisman, or one can look within. Perhaps it represents a personal journey you may have taken or may someday take yourself.

Crossing the Threshold is scored for eleven percussionists and piano. It was commissioned by the Park City Education Foundation for the Park City High School Percussion Ensemble in Park City, Utah, Bret Hughes, Director.

—Chad Heiny

PERFORMANCE NOTES

• Vibraphone pedaling is indicated by slurs (beginning of the slur, pedal down; end of slur, pedal up). Any staccatos should be played with pedal up. If no slur or staccato is present, match the pedaling to the note value.

• The crotales in the Vibraphone 2 & 3 parts should be removed from their mounts, held in each hand by the fingers, and played like finger cymbals. The “secco” indication should be a sharp flat surface to flat surface smack, and the “swirl” should initiate like the “secco” but then rub the crotales together in a circular fashion.

• The tamborim should be mounted and played with two traditional tamborim beaters or timbale sticks. If the performer would like to hold the instrument and play it traditionally, feel free to ad lib slightly to accommodate and integrate finger versus stick strokes, ghost notes, and muffling.

• Both the piccolo snare drum and the field drum should be muffled with a handkerchief (slightly more than is typical for snare drum muffling) and have a somewhat “distant” presence within the ensemble.

• If the sonic energy bell isn’t projecting over the ensemble, feel free to substitute thick Tibetan finger cymbals anywhere more projection is needed.

• The doumbek should be mounted, and if a bigger sound is needed, feel free to experiment with implements like bundle sticks, thick brushes, or even thin sticks in substitution for your hands.

PLAYERS AND INSTRUMENTATION

Crossing the Threshold requires 12 players with the following instrumentation:

1. Glockenspiel

2. Vibraphone 1

3. Vibraphone 2 E & B crotales (high)

4. Vibraphone 3 + E & B crotales (low)

5. Xylophone + tamborim

6. Marimba 1 (low A) + caxixi (2)

7. Marimba 2 (low A) + claves

SUGGESTED SETUP

8. Marimba 3 (5-octave) + bell tree

9. Piano

10. Percussion 1 — small tambourine, sizzle cymbal, piccolo snare drum, bongos, small crash cymbal, 2 triangles

11. Percussion 2 — sonic energy bell, sizzle cymbal (can be shared w/ P1 or P3), tam-tam, kick drum (mounted)

12. Percussion 3 — sizzle cymbal, sleigh bells, field drum, doumbek, mark tree

V i b r a p h o n e 1

V i b r a p h o n e 2 B o t a e s ( h g h

V i b r a p h o n e 3 E & B c r o t a l e s ( l o w )

X y l o p h o n e + t a m b o r m

M a r i m b a 1 ( l o w A ) + c a x i x i ( 2 )

M a r i m b a 2 ( l o w A ) + c l a v e s

M a r i m b a 3 ( 5 o c t a v e ) + b e l t r e e

P i a n o

P e r c u s s i o n 1 s m a l l t a m b o u r i n e s i z z e c y m p c c o o s n a r e d r u m , b o n g o s , s m a c r a s h c y m , 2 t r a n g e s

P e r c u s s i o n 2 s o n i c e n e r g y b e s i z z e c y m ( s h a r e w / P 1 o r P 3 ) , t a m t a m k c k d r u m ( m o u n t e d )

P e r c u s s i o n 3 s z z e c y m s l e g h b e s f e d d r u m d o u m b e k m a r k t r e e

2 c ro t a l e s, h e l d a n d pl a ye d l i ke fi n ge r c ym s se c c o ( se e n o t e s)

2 c ro t a l e s, h e l d a n d pl a ye d l i ke fi n ge r c ym s se c c o ( se e n o t e s)