Arlington by Russell Hartenberger

Arlington (2020) is for solo snare drum with percussion ensemble accompaniment. The piece is framed around two rhythms that are used in combination with one another. One is a drum beating that is played in funerals at Arlington National Cemetery and was played at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. The second outlines the rhythm of a drum beating that was performed as an invocation at the opening of the World Drums concerts at Expo 86 in Vancouver by First Nations drummer Marc Aliskaswa. The snare drum part also incorporates timeline patterns from West African drum ensemble music as well as traditional North American rudimental drumming styles. There is a concept in West African music called melorhythm in which rhythms suggest melodies; this is how many of the melodic figures in Arlington are derived. Some of the other melodic and harmonic elements are references to music by J. S. Bach and Steve Reich. Arlington was commissioned by Ryan Scott as part of his 21stC Canadian Snare D