︎︎︎Info
Title
Humble Servant
Inventory
perc
Year
2014
Duration
8’30”
Commission
Collin Boltz
McKenzie Camp
Matt Evans
Andrew Meyerson
Katie Rife
Ian Rosenbaum
McKenzie Camp
Matt Evans
Andrew Meyerson
Katie Rife
Ian Rosenbaum
Publisher
Recording
Premiere
July 18, 2013
Bang On A Can Summer Festival Mass MoCA
North Adams, MA (US)
Matt Evans, perc
Bang On A Can Summer Festival Mass MoCA
North Adams, MA (US)
Matt Evans, perc
︎︎︎Detailed Inventory
Vibraphone
One crotale (Eb5 written, Eb7 sounding)
Four suspended sizzle cymbals
Four soft mallets
One bending rubber mallet wrapped in moleskin (for pitch bends and crotale)
Four quiet vibrators (Hex Bugs or electric toothbrushes)
Duct tape to attach the vibrators to the cymbals
︎︎︎Note
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." (Marx)
I wrote 'Humble Servant' as a eulogy for Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist, who died in 1995. She had spent weeks in solitary confinement in room 174 at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, FL, her physical and mental well-being in steady decline, when she was finally allowed to see a doctor. But it was too late, and she died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. She was 36. 'Humble Servant' is part of a trilogy — the monodrama 'Lisa', and the 'The Royal Scotsman' (recorded by Synthetic Love Dream on Galtta 020) — inspired by the subject. The music is a labyrinth of short phrases and melodies whose bittersweet qualities remind me of Lisa, or at least the Lisa I would have liked to know.
Vibraphone
One crotale (Eb5 written, Eb7 sounding)
Four suspended sizzle cymbals
Four soft mallets
One bending rubber mallet wrapped in moleskin (for pitch bends and crotale)
Four quiet vibrators (Hex Bugs or electric toothbrushes)
Duct tape to attach the vibrators to the cymbals
︎︎︎Note
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." (Marx)
I wrote 'Humble Servant' as a eulogy for Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist, who died in 1995. She had spent weeks in solitary confinement in room 174 at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, FL, her physical and mental well-being in steady decline, when she was finally allowed to see a doctor. But it was too late, and she died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. She was 36. 'Humble Servant' is part of a trilogy — the monodrama 'Lisa', and the 'The Royal Scotsman' (recorded by Synthetic Love Dream on Galtta 020) — inspired by the subject. The music is a labyrinth of short phrases and melodies whose bittersweet qualities remind me of Lisa, or at least the Lisa I would have liked to know.
︎︎︎Score Excerpts
