By: Brian Aguilar
Time:  4:50
Grade:  3
Price:  $575.00

A Nation Divided was inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s final monologue from “The Great Dictator.” Although this movie was made almost 80 years ago, this powerful speech from Chaplin (who is ironically best known for his silence) has a strange and profound resonance with contemporary issues in our country, as well as our world. Fear, hate, greed, and anger are some of the tools of manipulation used to keep the nation divided. Overcome these obstacles and unite!

Although not a necessity to successfully do this show, A Nation Divided was written with the idea of using voice overs (either sampled, or spoken by performers) from this monologue. The typewriter parts are Morse code rhythm for “fear,” “hate,” “greed,” “anger, and “unite” and may be performed on an actual typewriter (amplified), or on a keyboard that has that sound as an option, or on a sampler.

A Nation Divided was composed for Mr. Tim Decker and Rancho Cotate HS Winter Percussion (Rohnert Park, CA).

A Nation Divided MP3        A Nation Divided Score Sample

Instrumentation:

Voice Cues
Snares
Tenors (Quints)
Bass Drums (5)
Marimba 1, 2
Xylophone
Vibraphone 1, 2
Glockenspiel
Bass Guitar
Auxiliary Percussion 1, 2, 3