ABSTRACT
BOOm, boom, boom, tock … Boom, boom, boom, tock … Boom, boom, tock, boom … Boom, boom, tock, boom … Boom, tock, boom, boom … Arvo Pärt’s Sarah Was Ninety Years Old begins with an extremely simple percussion solo, lasting more than five minutes.1 Four quarter notes – three on big drum, one on tom-tom – followed by a fermata which lasts approximately three quarter rests before the percussion starts again (see Ex. 10.1).
