Movement by Brad Hart

By Brad Hart

Movement is the culmination of a collaborative project between Johansen High School and the Modesto Poetry Society during the 2015-16 school year. The serves as a finale to a series of student written works based on poems by local poets. Movement is a representation of the Modesto community as a whole which is vibrant and full of forward momentum. It is, of course, a decidedly positive view of the community and brings together three musical themes which share certain elements. The first theme is a groove and melody that begins to have slight hints of syncopated flare. The second theme is a three-four dance trio that features soloistic work from the lead alto, clarinet, and flute parts. The third theme contains an abrupt stop in the driving pulse which is immediately followed by heavy and slow chorale section. The last section features a return to the original theme full of even quicker motion than the first iteration. The following poem served as my foundation for structuring the piece:

Movement
By Brad Hart

Not only when we walk do we move.
We spend much of our lives moving from thought to thought,
Or emotion to emotion.
Most of these times we simply continue to move on.
Once in a great while a thought comes in that causes us to cease movement.
It is what we do when movement ceases that defines us.
It is that next step that moves us forward.

Please keep in mind that this work has some wonderfully challenging parts for certain players, but it is also full of very active and fascinating parts for many inner players as well. It is also possible to adjust some of the mallet parts to make them more accessible without losing the effect of the parts. It is definitely essential to cover all the percussion parts. The final important thing I will mention is that only the third theme is to feel heavy, all other parts should remain nimble and light.

Duration: 4 minutes
Grade Level: 3