Nico Muhly’s Ta and Clap, written for Line C3.
Chris Thompson, John Ostrowski, Haruka Fujii, Sam Solomon
Recorded at Oktaven Audio, 2013
Ryan Streber: Audio
Molly Yeh: Cameras
Sam Solomon: Audio and Video Editing
This project is supported by New Music USA’s CAP Recording Program, made possible by endowment funds from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and with funds from The Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.
Ta-ing and Clapping is a method of teaching rhythms wherein all beats are accounted for, resulting in a fully-rendered moto perpetuo that only implies empty spaces naturally found in a rhythmic pattern. In Ta & Clap, scored for percussion quartet, I wrote dense marimba music and then subjected this music to several processes of subtraction, resulting in a rhythmic cycle that is sometimes presented in its entirety, sometimes filled with holes, and sometimes completely rendered out such that there are no holes at all. Although there is a lot of math at work, Ta & Clap is meant to be fun to play and challenging to learn. It is scored for 2 marimbas and any number of assorted percussion instruments at the discretion of the performers. Ta & Clap is dedicated to Line C3 (comprising Chris Thompson, Haruka Fujii, John Ostrowski, and Sam Solomon), with gratitude for the patience and good rhythmic sportsmanship.
-Nico Muhly