Valor Day
for percussion ensemble
Valor Day by Tom Rarick was composed for the Vandegrift High School Percussion Ensemble to honor the life and legacy of the school’s namesake, Lieutenant Matthew Vandegrift, who was killed in Iraq in 2008 while serving in the United States Marines 5th Battalion. “Valor Day” is observed at the school every April in his honor.
Drawing on the number five and the phrase “Second to None” (both borrowed from Lt. Vandegrift’s battalion patch which features five stars along with the phrase “Second to None” inscribed in Latin), the piece features rudimental snare drum, the intervallic relationship of a second, and the reliance on rhythmic groupings of five.
There are in fact three snare drums — a rope drum, a concert snare drum, and a piccolo snare drum, all shared by two players — that provide the focus of the piece. Various drum and cymbal combination setups provide support and color the snare material, while harmonic textures are provided via piano and vibraphone. Rarick’s clever and efficient scoring yields an impressive amount of color and attitude with relatively few players.
Valor Day blends militaristic and modern percussive influences in celebration of Vandegrift High School’s history and commemoration of Lt. Vandegrift’s sacrifice.
Valor Day ships as a fully bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for either printing or tablet viewing.
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- Vibraphone
- Crotales
- 29” timpano
- Piano
- Drums—piccolo snare drum, 2 concert snare drums, field/rope snare drum, bongos, 2 congas, 4 concert toms, bass drum
- Cymbals—hand cymbals, sizzle cymbal, 2 suspended cymbals, 2 cymbal stacks (low/high), splash cymbal, China cymbal, hi-hat, ride cymbal
• Accessories—2 wood blocks (medium/high)
Reviews
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Joshua D. Smith –
This five-minute work for percussion ensemble is chock-full of time signature changes, metric modulations, melodic and rhythmic swells and retractions, and recurring moments of climactic impact points. Written to honor Lieutenant Matthew Vandergrift, after whom the Texas Vandergrift High School is named, this work incorporates several “symbolic” elements that are connected with Matthew Vandergrift, including the number five and the phrase “Second to None,” which is represented by a recurring idea of a major-second melodic interval.
Fans of the marching arts will immediately connect with the composition style of this work, in that the aggregate is made up of multiple scenes or sections that each have a distinctive style and character. These sections vary in their scope, as some feature piano and vibraphone punctuations, some are propelled by highlighting two snare drummers performing a combination of militaristic and modern rudiments, and some are anchored through lines of rhythmic hemiolas, shifting accents, and figures that deliberately emphasize uniquely away from the written time signature. As with WGI and DCI presentations, the climactic moments change as frequently as the overall character and mood shifts.
From a technical standpoint, the piano part could be played by a percussionist who is familiar with four-mallet front ensemble marimba parts; the two featured snare drummers need to be comfortable with blending, balancing, and shifting through a wide spectrum of rhythmic treatments of the beat. Equally, everyone in the ensemble should be adept at performing music that rapidly shifts through multiple time signatures at a fast tempo. This is not a piece where some members of the group can “fake it till they make it” with regards to fitting their part in with others in the room; this will require complete rhythmic commitment from all involved if they want to effectively communicate the end result to an audience.
—Joshua D. Smith
Percussive Notes
Vol. 63, No. 3, June 2025