MARCHING DRUMS

Description

Ensemble for accessories

by Franco Cardaropoli

“Marching Drums” was born from the simplest and oldest gesture in music: the step.
A piece for drums, stripped of ornament, with no harmony to mask it: only rhythm, attack, silence.

Drums do not merely play together. They march shoulder to shoulder — sometimes in unison, sometimes driving each other forward, sometimes breaking apart only to meet again on the downbeat. Yes, there is the usual military march, but there is also the march of those who move forward through sheer will, who hold the tempo even when breath runs short. 

I wrote this piece with the percussionist’s body in mind: the wrists, the breath, the fatigue that becomes sound. “Marching Drums” asks for precision, but above all it asks for presence. When the drums strike together on the strong beat, you feel it: this is not only music. It is movement. “Marching Drums” can be performed by multiple drums and demands precision, but above all, it demands presence. When the drums come together on the strong beat, it becomes clear that this is more than music, it is movement.