Industrial Revelations

Listen to the work here!
 
Industrial Revelations is a work for percussion quartet with the following
instrumentation:
Percussion 1: Melodica, Oxygen Bells or Other Resonant Metals (1 octave G Major scale), 2 Handbells in C and F, 2 Congas
Percussion 2: Marimba (prepared with Saran wrap), Log Drum (6 pitches)
Percussion 3: Lithophone (Relative Pitches: E, F, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F#, G), Slide Whistle, Woodblock
Percussion 4: Kalimba, Bass Steel Pans, 32” Timpano (played covered like a muffled drum)
 
The music which comprises this piece combines American folk idioms and minimalist pacing with a variety of unconventional sound sources to paint a picture of the end of the world, as may be brought about by the rapid growth of industry following the Industrial Revolution. The work’s title is therefore a play on words, with the word “Revelations” referring to a theological apocalypse, although the work is not inspired by any religious stories. The calming and almost hypnotic nature of the work suggests images of a relaxing song sung around a campfire, with a post-industrial apocalyptic wasteland in the background. At that future point, when saving our planet becomes impossible, all that will be left will be to find the people that matter to us and hold on.