to wait; dreaming is a percussion quartet written for and dedicated to the Kairos Percussion Quartet. This piece explores unconventional performance practices and approximate notation for the quartet, in an effort to create a reactive aggregate sound with an inhuman, yet distinctly vocal quality. This piece is heavily inspired by the dream sequence in The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft.
Premier performance: 6 June, 2026 at Open Ears Festival by the Kairos Percussion Quartet
Program notes
Throughout this piece, inspired by the classic story of The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft, you will hear the unsettling sounds of a dreamscape; the creaking of wood and metal, scuttling, hissing, and then: “a voice that [is] not a voice; a chaotic sensation which only fancy could transmute into sound…”[1] A glimpse into a world where our understanding of physics and nature are no longer able to explain what we are certainly witnessing. The ancient, unshakable nightmare arises from the Pacific.
This piece is dedicated with utmost respect and admiration to the Kairos Percussion Quartet: Bevis Ng, Nikki Huang, Thomas Li, and my brother Andrew Busch.
Summary
Sacred / Secular
Composer: Nicholas Busch
Ensemble: Percussion Quartet
Instruments required: Concert bass drum, low timpani, China cymbal, crotales at A4, C5, C#5, E5, thunder sheet (sub. tam-tam), piano.
Engraving style: Graphic notation