On Time

This piece is a series of variations on the Westminster Quarters, which is the well-known tune which plays from various clocks (most famously from “Big Ben” in London). The piece starts off by playing all five of the original variations, followed by six chimes, which would conventionally be used to indicate the hour. From there, the piece takes each of these four-note chimes and creates a melody from them, each forming a different section of the piece.




While the piece’s thematic material is very limited, the piece aims to have a wide range of styles not just for the sake of interest, but to make use of the wide range of sounds possible from a large percussion ensemble. The metal keyboards, wood keyboards, drums, and auxiliary all act as sections, passing the melody and rhythmic accompaniment back and forth.

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