Rhythms and Rituals

composer:	Nancy Galbraith (1995)
genre:	piano & woodwind quintet
length:	1 movement, 10:00 minutes
orchestration:	solo pno; fl, ob, cl, bn, hn (opt. 2 perc; cb)
publisher:	Subito Music Publishing (ASCAP) 60 Depot Street, Verona, NJ 07044 mail@subitomusic.com • 973-857-3440
audio/video:	(live)
world premiere:	15 April 1995 Renaissance City Winds • Patricia Prattis Jennings, piano Antonian Theater, Carlow College; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
program notes:	"Rhythms and Rituals" was commissioned by the Renaissance City Winds of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1995 for the ensemble's 20th Anniversary concert.
	The composer added string bass and two percussion parts for later performances by the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
composer's notes:	"Rhythms and Rituals" opens with percussive piano in combination with rhythmic figures layered in gradually by the percussion and woodwinds. The piano often serves throughout as a minimalistic rhythmic base over which lyrical melodies in the winds are often heard. These piano patterns, which begin as percussive and accented, eventually transform into warm and subdued in the middle section. Following a brief recapitulation of the opening, the work reaches its climax, and breaks into a piano pattern that gradually becomes fragmented until it fades into a close. —N.G.
press bytes:	An example of the kind of piece that should be 'the sound of classical music' on today's radio stations. — Chamber Music Magazine
	Carnegie Mellon University composer Nancy Galbraith's "Rhythms and Rituals" is a splendid post-minimalist movement for winds, piano, bass and percussion. Two attractive and infectious melodies flow out of its rhythmically charged accompaniment, including a buoyant second theme first stated by the bassoon. For all its minimalist trappings and accompaniment, the work contained expressive color and deftly used dynamics, all within a comprehensible structure that approximated sonata form. — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
	It has her characteristic clarity, precision, proportion and charm. — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

recording:		Nancy Galbraith | Four Chamber Works ÉLAN Recordings • 1999 • CD 82414 Renaissance City Winds • Patricia Prattis Jennings, piano
source:	nancygalbraith.com

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