Michael Burritt: Fandango 13

If percussion doesn’t fit into your paradigm of classical music, you might need a bigger paradigm. After all, banging on things that resonate is probably one of the oldest forms of music-making (along with singing). Percussion is important in virtually all musical styles.

From my perspective in the French Horn section, percussionists were the relatively benign trouble-makers in the back who always seemed to be having more fun than the rest of us. Even when they stop making trouble, they still seem to have the most fun.

The video below moves quite some distance from Haydn and Mendelssohn (earlier selections in this series). Michael Burritt is a contemporary composer and percussionist. His Fandango 13 showcases the variety and subtlety of sounds that percussion can achieve. Here’s how he describes the piece:

The percussion sextet Fandango 13 is a re-working of an earlier piece for keyboard percussion quartet and from a larger work commissioned by the West Point Academy titled Four Points West. I had thought for sometime that expanding the instrumentation to include several additional keyboards, hand drums and tom toms would make for a more dynamic piece and could stand alone outside the context of its original place within a three-movement work.

Since Burritt has appeared with the Dallas Wind Symphony and written a work commissioned by the West Point Band (both organizations have strong ties to Professor Carol), it seems only right to include him here. Besides, Professor Carol has a soft spot for percussionists.