Prelude and Dragonfly Dance

The percussion works of Australian composer Ross Edwards (b. 1943) explore a similar spiritual dimension. Prelude and Dragonfly Dance (1991) was written for Evelyn Glennie and Synergy Percussion. As Edwards notes, “The Prelude is a trance-like reverie with fragmentary marimba dialogue and near-subliminal droning of Japanese temple bells. It is intended as a mind-clearing preparation for the rhythmic, darting, delicately exuberant Dragonfly Dance. The principle applied here, as in several other works of mine, is that unexpected alignments and associations may create fresh perceptions of the familiar.” The Dance opens a more extroverted chapter. Scored primarily for two marimbas and congo, the rhythms create a hypnotic background upon which steps the vibraphone, now played in traditional fashion. A new section is signaled by the sound of the raspy guiro, and the texture builds back toward a reprise of the opening.

(c) Jason Stell