Product Description
POPCOPY (Rated Teen) is a work in three movements inspired by catch phrases and modern teen culture in America. McAllister composed this work partly because of the demand for younger bands wanting to perform the original POPCOPY written in 2007, but because of the technical difficulties of the original it is out of reach of many of these ensembles. Rather than compose a “lighter” version of the original POPCOPY, McAllister decided to compose a brand new POPCOPY for this ensemble.
Commissioned by:
Central Oklahoma Directors Association
for the 2013 CODA Symphonic Band
1. Bieber Fever
Bieber Fever is inspired by the teen craze of Justin Bieber. The use of the six note motive from Bieber’s Baby song is manipulated and repeated hundreds of times during this movement emulating an almost trance-like and annoying (for some) journey. The More Cowbell movement of the original POPCOPY uses the constant annoyance of the cowbell and Bieber Fever does the same with the Baby theme.
2. Molly on the Floor
The Second movement Molly on the Floor is about the dangers of a growing drug problem in the teen and college culture of the drug Molly. This serious movement uses the tune from Percy Grainger’s Molly on the Shore, which is augmented at a very slow tempo and eventually makes its way into a five-part canon.
3. #Twerk
#Twerk is a type of dance in which an individual dances to popular music in a provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low squatting stance. Though the term seems to be of uncertain origin with common assumptions suggesting it is a contraction of "footwork" and combination of the words "twist" and "jerk". There is evidence that the term began as street language in New Orleans with the rise of the local hip-hop music known as Bounce. Since the late 1990s, twerking was associated with Bounce music and was disseminated via mainstream hip hop videos and popular video-sharing sites since the mid 2000s. #Twerk emulates this technique many times by doubling the tempo of the hip-hop groove. In the middle of the movement a brief reoccurrence of Bieber Fever interrupts the music and the end of the work Bieber Fever, Molly on the Shore and #Twerk all join together.