Extended performance techniques and compositional style in the solo concert vibraphone music of Christopher Deane.

Vibraphone performance continues to be an expanding field of music. Earliest accounts of the presence of the vibraphone and vibraphone players can be found in American Vaudeville from the early 1900s; then found shortly thereafter in jazz bands as early as the 1930s, and on the classical concert stage beginning in 1949. Three Pieces for Vibraphone, Opus 27, composed by James Beale in 1959, is the first solo concert piece written exclusively for the instrument. Since 1959, there have been over 690 pieces written for solo concert vibraphone, which stands as evidence of the popularity of both the instrument and the genre of solo concert literature. Christopher Deane has contributed to solo vibraphone repertoire with works that are regarded as staples in the genre. Deane's compositions for vibraphone consistently expand the technical and musical potential of the instrument. Performance of Deane's vibraphone works requires a performer to utilize grips and specific performance techniques that are departures from standard performance practices. Many of the performance techniques needed to successfully execute these pieces are not routinely found in either percussion pedagogy courses or performance ensemble situations. As a result, most percussionists are not familiar with these techniques and will require additional assistance, instruction, or demonstrations. The impetus of this document is to present explanations and solutions for performance areas that require extended performance techniques, to offer recommendations on the creation, choosing, and manipulating of special implements, and to propose varied choices related to artistic interpretation of three of Deane's vibraphone pieces: Mourning Dove Sonnet (1983), The Apocryphal Still Life (1996), and Dis Qui Etude (2004).