Balkan Sun | Colin Shaw

This is a piece inspired by Bulgarian pop music, which I heard on a recent trip to that country. All parts are very important to the complete performance (including the triangle solo!), but the tuned parts should shine!
The tune and accompaniment is shared out equally between the three instruments – use hard sticks. There are sections for body percussion, and a chance to shout some Bulgarian words! One of the interesting devices I learnt from some of these pop songs is that the traditional 8-bar phrase is augmented by one more bar to introduce the next section.
Tip: How about getting some younger players to step in with xylophone sticks to do the glissandi?

“A performance of Balkan Sun should get everyone dancing, or at least tapping their feet, and coming away with the tunes on their mind!” Colin

Balkan Sun played by the Norwich School Percussion Ensemble

Instrumentation:
1. Xylophone, Wood Block
2. Vibraphone, Cow Bell
3. Marimba, Ride Cymbal
4. Percussion 1: Bongos, Roto-toms, 3 X Toms
5. Crash Cymbal (optional)
6. Percussion 2: Tambourine, Triangle, Crash Cymbal
7. Drum Kit
8. Timpani x 3
9. Bass Guitar