Maxim Shalygin

Program note

Over the years of working with percussion instruments, this is perhaps the first piece written for a more or less standard setup: glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, and tape. At the same time, the strange way of mixing these instruments gives an unusual timbre effect, which came as a surprise to me. The shape of the piece surprised me as well with its development. It combines fast, slow materials and their combinations, while the overall meter is always the same. From one side, the title can be considered literally at the level of visual perception, when the performer, like an octopus, reaches out to the extreme registers of the instruments. From the other side, the sound material can hint at deeper emotional connections and associations.