Hartenberger-Black Coyote-P - Product Information
Black Coyote is a multi-percussion solo by Russell Hartenberger scored for two suspended cymbals, bongos, two tom toms, and a small, muted bass drum. The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Morris Palter and is the first work of Hartenberger's to be published via Liquidrum Publishing.
Program notes from the composer about the work:
Black Coyote is a translation of the name of Arapaho Chief Wa-ton-gha. The Oklahoma town of Watonga lies within the former Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation that was opened for non-Indian settlement in the land run of April 19, 1892. Watonga was named for Chief Wa-ton-gha and is the town where I was born and lived until I was nearly seven years old.
Black Coyote represents a return to my roots on several levels. In addition to the connection to my birthplace, the piece is a return to solo multi-percussion composing and performing for me. My first composition was a multi-percussion solo with similar instrumentation to Black Coyote; it was a lesson assignment from one of my percussion teachers, Tom Gauger, when I was fifteen. Mr. Gauger encouraged his students to compose just as he was inspired by his teacher Paul Price, an early champion of composition for percussion.
In my first year as a student at the Curtis Institute, I performed Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat. It was the first chamber piece I played that used a multi-percussion set-up, and I have since performed it many times. It is still my favorite chamber work that includes percussion, and there are several references to the L'Histoire percussion part in Black Coyote.
I also use some non-Western rhythmic elements in Black Coyote. There are some structural techniques borrowed from South Indian rhythmic theory that were taught to me by Ramnad V. Raghavan and Trichy Sankaran. There are also West African rhythms and techniques that I learned from the great Ghanaian master drummer, Abraham Adzenyah. The tempo changes are inspired by the beautiful tempo variations in gamelan music that I learned while playing in a Javanese gamelan directed by Prawotosaputro.
- Russell Hartenberger
Additional Information:- Number of players: 1
- Difficulty: Advanced
- Instrumentation: 2 suspended cymbals, bongos, 2 tom toms, small bass drum (muted)
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