Form Through Timbre and Momentum Through Contraction and Expansion in the Percussion-Only Works of Roger Smalley

As the use of functional tonality diminished in the twentieth century, composers searched for new means by which to create momentum and articulate form. This article examines some of these explorations as found in the works of Roger Smalley (1943–2015). In Smalley’s two percussion-only works, Ceremony I (1987), for percussion quartet and Music for An Imaginary Ballet (1994), for percussion soloist, momentum is often driven by processes of expansion and contraction. The use of unpitched percussion in these works elevates the importance of Smalley’s use of these processes when determining durations, tempos, density, dynamics and spatial separation. In each of these fields, expansion and contraction play important generative roles and drive the momentum. This article will also discuss their less obvious, but equally important, application in the pitch domain. To articulate large-scale form, Smalley experimented with single (or highly restricted) timbral resources within individual movements. Although each movement was thereby restricted in its timbral variety, the juxtaposition of movements with highly contrasting timbres proved to be a highly successful articulator of form.