Craft Beer Polka – Steve Heitzeg

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Composer: Steve Heitzeg

Instrumentation: 2-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, perc(3 players)/piano (dbl 1970s Magnus chord organ)/Harp/electric guitar/youth chorus/strings

Duration: Approx. 5 minutes

Date Written: 2019

Premiered: Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Giunta, Music Director; Heartland Youth Chorus, Sandy Miller, Artistic Director; Des Moines Civic Center Auditorium, Des Moines, IA on 10/12/2019

Additional Information:  From Symphony In Sculpture III – Kusama’s playful polka-dot pumpkin sculpture cried out for me to write a whimsical and slightly tongue-in-cheek polka.  Inspired by Strauss’ Champagne Polka, I have composed a ‘craft beer polka’. Percussionists play the usual traditional percussion instruments in a polka such as glockenspiel, triangle and bass drum, but they also play a growler bottle, a crowler aluminum can and 2 beer bottles from a variety of craft beer breweries in Des Moines—for an authentic Des Moines sound.  In the middle of the polka I have scored a vamp so that the conductor and the string principals can toast each other, the orchestra, and the audience with either a craft beer or a pumpkin spice latte before starting the polka up again.