Dancing on the Edge of the World for percussion quintet
                    (2006; 10')

           Click button to view or download the score (please let me know if you decide to perform this!)

     Dancing on the Edge of the World was commissioned by percussionist Rob Power, my friend and colleague at Memorial University, with assistance from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, and was premiered at the 2006 Newfoundland Sound Symposium by The Scruncheons. Although there are periodic changes of musical character, for the most part I was thinking of this as a light-hearted, somewhat exotic, and occasionally funky work. The section in the middle that features the drum kit was inspired by the notorious (among percussionists) "Amen break," a 4 bar drum-solo from the song "Amen, Brother" performed by the 1960s funk/soul band, The Winstons. Its notoriety derives from the fact that it has arguably become the most widely-sampled and copied drum break in hip-hop and other popular music. I did not actually use the "Amen break," however; I listened to it several times and finally decided it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it led me to explore numerous other drum breaks on the Internet, and the one I settled on was from Aretha Franklin's 1971 hit, "Rock Steady" which I transcribed.
           The title is meant to reflect the dance-inspired character of the above, as well as the sense I sometimes get that we in Newfoundland are living on the edge of the world.

©Clark Winslow Ross