Cowell-Pulse (SP)-P

Pulse by Henry Cowell, dedicated to John Cage and his percussion group, is scored for six players. Each player has two sets of three like instruments. Player one has woodblocks and dragon's mouths, player two has Chinese tom-toms and drums, three, rice bowls and cup gongs, four, cymbals and gongs, and five, pipe lengths and brake drums. A sixth player moves back and forth between the others, assisting them by dampening instruments or playing on one of the sets of instruments. The piece is in 7/8 time throughout.


Number of Players: 6
Difficulty: Grade 4
Instrumentation:

Player I: 3 Korean Dragon's Mouths, 3 Woodblocks

Player II: 3 Chinese Tom-Toms, 3 Tom-Toms

Player III: 3 Rice Bowls, 3 Japanese Temple Gongs (sub 3 bells)

Player IV: 3 Suspended Cymbals, 3 Gongs

Player V: 3 Pipes, 3 Brake Drums

Player VI: 3 Japanese Temple Gongs (share with player III), 3 Woodblocks (share with player I)