Geophone (musical instrument)
{{about|the percussion instrument|the electronic seismic recorder|Geophone}}
File:Geophonephoto.jpg, Ohio]]
The geophone, now often known as the ocean drum is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled Des canyons aux étoiles… ("From the canyons to the stars…") and later appeared in his other works. It consists of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets, and is played by swirling it around slowly so that the noise of the pellets resembles the sound of dry shifting earth.
History
Messiaen commissioned a Parisian instrument maker to construct one to his sketches, and he carried this instrument worldwide to early performances of the piece (which was given its first performance in New York City). Messiaen's wife, Yvonne Loriod, commented that when she and the composer first collected the new instrument from the maker in her car it made a "splendid crescendo" whenever they went around a corner.
It is now commonly known as the ocean drum.
Pieces featuring the geophone
- Des canyons aux étoiles… by Messiaen
- Saint François d'Assise by Messiaen
- Asyla by Thomas Adès{{cite web |title=Asyla by Thomas Adès |url=http://www.fabermusic.com/repertoire/asyla-2510 |website=Faber Music |accessdate=22 March 2019}}
- These Premises are Alarmed by Thomas Adès{{cite web |title=These Premises are Alarmed |url=http://www.fabermusic.com/repertoire/these-premises-are-alarmed-2441 |website=Faber Music |accessdate=23 March 2019}}
- Five Spells from The Tempest by Thomas Adès
- …towards a pure land by Jonathan Harvey{{cite web |title=...towards a pure land |url=http://www.fabermusic.com/repertoire/towards-a-pure-land-4593 |website=Faber Music |accessdate=23 March 2019}}
- The Sacrifice by James MacMillan
- The Sinbadventurers by Benjamin Gordon, referred to in the score as ocean drums.
- Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly.{{cite web |title=Dark Sisters |url=http://nicomuhly.com/projects/2014/dark-sisters/ |website=Nico Muhly |accessdate=23 March 2019}}
- The Compass by Liza Lim, also referred to in the score as ocean drums.{{cite web |title=Sy. 4708 - Liza Lim - The Compass |url=https://issuu.com/casaricordi/docs/sy_4708-lim-thecompass-score-a3 |website=issuu |accessdate=7 October 2021}}
- Songs of Sailor and Sea by Robert W. Smith, referred to in the score as ocean drums.{{cite web | url=https://www.windrep.org/Songs_of_Sailor_and_Sea | title=Songs of Sailor and Sea }}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book|title=Messiaen|author=Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone|publisher=Yale University Press, New Haven and London|year=2005|isbn=0-300-10907-5}}
{{one source|date=November 2010}}
Category:European percussion instruments