by Douglas Hertz
4 players
Instrumentation: Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Drums (1 low-mid conga, low tom, bass drum), Accessories (single crotale (A), 4 unpitched glass bottles, singing bowl* (E), blown bottle (E), seed shell shaker, singing bowl* (unspecified pitch)
*This piece calls for two singing bowls - one at an unspecified pitch and one at an E. The unspecified pitched bowl must be a bowl because it is played with the "singing" technique, however the bowl pitched at E could be replaced with a pitched piece of metal such as a bell plate or steel tube.
Douglas Hertz’s Fixtures in the Fold is a quartet for percussion that was inspired by the memoir of the famous musician and poet, Patti Smith. In it, Smith discusses the relationship between several objects she collected throughout her life and how they bring meaning to her now.
In his contmporary quartet, Hertz employs both found objects and standard percussion instruments in an intricate weaving of tight rhythmic motives and long sustaining melodies. The musical material of Fixtures in the Fold is the result of Douglas’ fascination with the relationship between an object, the memory it conjures, and identity.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
