In the early 1980’s, I wrote one concert of original chamber music per year for four years.  Invocation for Piano and Percussion was written for Chamber Concert No. 2 which took place on May 18, 1982.  The work was written for my colleague, William Wanser, principal percussion with the Phoenix Symphony.  I played the piano for this work.   

Invocation was meant to portray an imaginary earth rite.  The work starts soft and builds to a frenzy and then returns, as if regaining its composure.  Invocation uses a notation I used for the first chamber music concert, a linear succession of repeated patterns.  I have been interested in Shamanistic rituals throughout my career, and have used them as the basis for a number of works.

About the Notation – The music for Mobiles consists of a series of repeated patterns.  These patterns are started, stopped, or changed one by one throughout the piece. . . . . (Read more)