Moving Moonlight
Atayal Tribe folk song
Arr. by Chien-Hui Hung
This piece originated from the Atayal Tribe folk song ‘watching
the moon’ in Taiwanese aborigines’ songbooks. Because the
beauty of rhythm, the composer specially arranged this piece
and tended to have it performed with four Marimbas representing
soft and wonderful sound, aiming to enrich this piece with
exquisiteness and touchiness.
The
Romping Golden Pheasants (Gong-Drum Music from Tu Jia
Tribe)
Arr.
by Tian LongXin / Li Zhengui
This piece is divided into five
sections: "The Spring in the Mountain," "Joyful
Way Home," "Playing along the Stream," "Encounter
with Adversary," and "The Triumph." The Composer
vividly depicts Golden Pheasants playing around on their way
home from the mountain. The arrangers use the touba cymbal,
erba cymbal, and other Chinese percussion instruments to present
the complicated rhythm and diverse timbres.
Persona
Toshimitu Tanaka
Written
in1984 by one of Japan's great composers, this piece for marimba
solo and Japanese Ohtaiko, Persona, was composed in
the style of the Gosin Gyotaiko a musical tradition from Nigata
County in the Noto Peninsula, in which a number of performer
play the taiko simultaneously.
This
work creates a dramatic effect through the competition of
one group of roto tom-toms (marimba plays a leading role)
tuned to 12 different pitches with another group of masked
taiko drummers playing and shouting spontaneously.
Composing Persona marked the culmination of six years
of field research on Japanese folklore by Mr. Toshimitu Tanaka.
José-beFORe JOHN 5
Aurél Holló
The basic idea of José came from the composer’s listening to
the recording Oriental Bass by the contrabass-player
Renaud Garcia-Fons. The composer was inspired to present Garcia-Fons’
Spanish style with Arabic and Gipsy effects in an original
percussion composition instead of an adaptation.
Besides Garcia-Fons’s recording, the composer also used a theme by
Paco de Lucia. Marimba has the lead through in this short
but stylish piece: two players standing face to face play
virtuosic complementary motives. Most of these figures are
based on the traditional xylophone music of Africa, yet the
scale is typically flamenco. These motives are enriched by
the other two players who make many interesting and exciting
sounds with the Spanish cajon or the favourite instrument
of Gipsy folk music, the simple sheet-iron can to name a few.
This piece is dedicated to the composer’s
friend, Josep Vicente, artistic leader of the Amsterdam Percussion
Group.
Head Talk
Mark Ford
This is a quintet for 13 drumheads with different sizes and
materials. Performers sitting on the floor carry different
mallets and adopt different striking techniques—hitting, turning,
rolling or tossing. The floor is used as part of the instruments.
The five players need to pay close attention to each other
to show the essence and fun of the music. This piece is published
by Innovative Percussion, Inc..
Jim’s Diner
Jim Riley
The composer chooses a unique way to combine
the percussion instruments such as timpani, Jazz drums, bass
drums and middle-sized drums with the cooking utensils in
the banquet such as plates, cups, spoons and pots. In this
piece, the two groups of “instruments” marvelously compliment
with and compete against each other. The interesting forms
and the especial sounds remind people of the party spirit,
cheerful and exciting. It is a rare work.
Dancing Rhythm
Hong-Chi Ho
Any object can be a form of percussion instrument as long
as sounds are created through beating and hitting. For example,
“Human body” is actually an excellent percussion instrument.
We can use mouths, hands, feet and other parts of bodies to
create various sounds easily. Music shows emotions of the
sounds, while dancing speaks for the body expressions. In
this piece, the performers use striking, clapping, stepping,
and padding to create wonderful rhythms and tempos, showing
how music flows from human bodies.
Children of Sanchez
Chuck Mangione /arr. by Brian Mason
This popular Chuck Mangione tune is a perfect fit for percussion
ensemble. The intro is a beautiful Chorale section, featuring
the mallet keyboards. The drumset introduces the feel for
the body of the tune, with a hypnotic drum cadence.
As the tune builds, there are mallet, hand percussion and
drumset solos, finishing with an exciting climax.
