• John Luther Adams
  • Sauyatugvik: The Time of Drumming (orchestra version) (1995)

  • Taiga Press (BMI) (World)


Unavailable for performance.

  • 2+pic.3.3.2+cbn/4.3.2+btbn.0/timp.4perc/2pf/str
  • timp.4perc/2pf
  • 11 min

Programme Note

For the Inupiat and Yup’ik Eskimo people of Alaska, the cold, dark months of winter are a time of singing, dancing and celebration. From the Arctic Ocean to the Bering Sea they call this “The Time of Drumming”.

Sauyatugvik: The Time of Drumming is inspired by the powerful rhythms and ecstatic spirit of Eskimo drumming and dancing.

The work was originally written for symphony orchestra and composed in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Anchorage Sym-phony Orchestra, through the “New Residencies” program of Meet the Composer. It was premi-ered by that orchestra in February 1996. This version for chamber ensemble and pianos came one year later and received its premiere by the Shepherd School of Music Percussion Ensemble (Rice University), conducted by Richard Brown.