Silent Sister
for percussion solo

[Recording available at www.harukafujii.com]

[view score]

Silent Sister for solo percussion was written for Haruka Fujii and is scored for vibraphone, six temple bowls, and six “bells” of different characters. The title comes from Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain and refers to a thermometer without markings or degrees that can only be read by those possessing a ruler to measure its otherwise secret data. Mann’s protagonist likens this "stumme Schwester" to time itself, and this image provided me with the conceptual springboard for the piece. The work is arranged as a quasi-dialogue between a variety of differing musical materials, some of whose rhythmic structures are strictly notated and metered and others whose precise durations, tempi, and patterning are more or less left to the performer.