The Year BeforE Yesterday Los Angeles Percussion Quartet FORE! - William Kraft 1. First Round - 7:12 2. Second Round: Farnsworth Park at Twilight - 2:48 3. Third Round - 2:45 4. THE YEAR BEFORE YESTERDAY - Shaun Naidoo - 9:16 Give us this day - Erik Griswold 5. Rise Up - 4:05 6. Breathe - 5:22 7. Cold Steel - 4:39 8. Alone - 3:18 9. Punch the Sky - 3:32 10. Mallet Quartet - Joseph Pereira - 8:23 11. blindnesses - Isaac Schankler - 8:07 12. Lullaby 5 - Nicholas Deyoe - 12:52 Total Time: 72:19 FORE! - William Kraft Mallet Quartet - Joseph Pereira The title “Fore!” was first put on the title page as a temporary title, but the alliteration in the different spellings: I have always found it fascinating to discover ways to manipulate sound--how notes are played and more fore, for, four, gradually gained prominence in my thinking. “Fore for Four” engaged my sense of humor and importantly what happens after you play them and how they resonate or speak in different ways. My Mallet wouldn’t let go. Quartet (2013), written for the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, for two vibraphones and two marimbas, attempts to consider all elements of sound on these instruments. Each pitch is considered on its own as a Since so much of the emphasis was in the keyboard instruments – vibraphone, marimba and chimes – I scale, of many timbral particles waiting to be examined. For the most part the focus is on the resonances, thought of the piece as chamber music rather than one for percussion. With the wealth of pitches and the huge the attacks, and the overtones. Whether it’s the playing technique used or simply the natural sounds of the range of pitches, I was able to explore large extended harmonics. Much of the chordal aspect can be traced instrument, these can all be exposed and manipulated in different ways, depending on the register they are to pianists from the “progressive” of “Bebop” era, e.g., Bill Evans, Bud Powell, and more recently, Miles Davis, in. For example, an sfz chord played with a sharp attack has two distinct elements to its fundamental sound. as well as to those sophisticated pianists we find in upscale cocktail lounges. Of course, Ravel is the ultimate The first is the percussive unpitched attack, which on marimba in the lower register may have a sound similar to a wood plank or a woodblock in the upper register. On the vibes, there are more obvious metallic spectral source. overtones, which with hard mallets can be as obvious as the fundamental pitch, especially at louder dynamics. The first movement features a solo percussionist playing on a set of graduated drums, from bass drum to A sharp attack becomes a dead stroke, and/or a muffled tone, naturally implying some sense of space between bongos, supported by the three keyboard instruments, marimba, vibraphone and chimes. The part for the solo sounds, and can be filled by a particular resonance or even the use of silence. A fast run can be given shape in percussionist is made up of short ideas placed within individual cells. Thus, the resultant structure is created the traditional melodic way, but can also be echoed by different kinds of glissing. One of the timbral techniques FORE! - William Kraft by the soloist. Fortunately on this recording, the soloist, Cory Hills, is also a composer. requires the player to play a “ricochet” on the frame of the instrument with the rattan handles of the mallets- producing an echo effect of unpitched glissando from low to high. Some other notable devices are the use 1. First Round - 7:12 “Farnsworth Park at Twililght,” the second movement, refers to the park of that name near my home. The idea of hand muffling, which naturally bends the pitches to quarter tones and then with more pressure, transforms 2. Second Round: Farnsworth Park at Twilight - 2:48 reflects my affection for the short, attractive work “Central Park in the Dark” by Charles Ives and, indeed, there pitches into unpitched sounds. There is also the use of harmonics on the vibraphone as part of the normal is a short quote from that work. That quote is a chord made up of four notes separated from each other and playing technique and the use of bass drum mallets to expose the vibrato “beats” of the lowest notes of the 3. Third Round - 2:45 moving in parallel motion. An identical fragment is found in the second movement of Bartok’s Second Piano marimba. Concerto. By constantly drawing parallels between all the particles of sound, I was able to develop multiple scales of 4. THE YEAR BEFORE YESTERDAY - Shaun Naidoo - 9:16 material to structure the piece as a whole. The introduction contains all the elements of the piece. From here Drums dominate the third movement. A short two-note figure begins the movement and is passed around the on, all sections are to be developed, layered and woven onto and over each other. They often appear either four players. These two notes are the seed that informs the entire movement. clearly developed or completely disguised, dependent on the varied dimensions applied to their appearance. Give us this day - Erik Griswold This idea of using a 3 dimensional approach to sound, which on one hand goes towards unpitched sounds, and on the other hand digs deeper beyond the fundamental tones into the natural overtones, constantly creates 5. Rise Up - 4:05 THE YEAR BEFORE YESTERDAY - Shaun Naidoo a shifting focus of tension. Pivoting between this axis of sound appearance creates an endless spectrum for 6. Breathe - 5:22 While composing this music, Shaun kept the software’s default title of “song” at the top of the score, and chose each pitch used, relating back to all the elements of creating structure though a total consideration of sound. 7. Cold Steel - 4:39 to officially title the piece only when it was time to print and hand us the parts. He remarked that song was The playing techniques, the pitch structure, and the timbres are all of equal importance, not one dominating indeed a fair reflection on how directly and clearly the music came to him. This work was one of the last that the other. 8. Alone - 3:18 Shaun, our longtime friend and collaborator, completed, and we remember him fondly with each performance. 9. Punch the Sky - 3:32 blindnesses - Isaac Schankler Give us this day - Erik Griswold Knowing someone well can mean agreeing not to see parts of them, and in some sense Blindnesses is about 10. Mallet Quartet - Joseph Pereira - 8:23 Give Us This Day (GUTD) combines orchestral percussion, found objects, and toy instruments in an exploration the absences that this mutual understanding contains. Four vibraphonists perform a delicate choreography that of deep grooves, driving rhythms and meditative sound textures. requires each performer to be intimately, meticulously aware of the actions of the other players around them. Here, the vibraphone acts almost like a synthesizer at times, incorporating techniques like pitch bending and 11. blindnesses - Isaac Schankler - 8:07 There is an ebb and flow throughout the five movements: interlocking patterns and syncopations in “Rise Up” envelope shaping through bowing. Meanwhile, the electronic accompaniment, at times barely present, other give way to slow pulsing cycles in “Breathe;” hypnotic rhythms and biting metallic tones in “Cold Steel” yield to times aggressively glitchy, reflects back distorted shards and discarded fragments of the live performance’s the plaintive mood of “Alone;” while “Punch the Sky” combines drums, tamborines, cymbals and toy melodicas musical material. 12. Lullaby 5 - Nicholas Deyoe - 12:52 in an exuberantly funky romp. The musical ideas for GUTD came together quickly. I was focused on creating a sense of immediacy, of being Lullaby 5 - Nicholas Deyoe “inside” in each sound texture, and also creating a seamless flow from one idea to the next. The immersive We can’t change the world around us. recording approach of Sono Luminus captures these qualities perfectly. We can never truly change ourselves. As I was composing, the phrase “give us this day” popped into my head. I was intrigued at the way in which - We can only learn to tune the relationship we have with our surroundings. taking the phrase out of context – it seemed to suggest not only a prayer, but a call to action. Lullaby 5 (composed for Los Angeles Percussion Quartet) is the final piece in my series of Lullabies, each GUTD was commissioned by the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet and Early Warning System, with generous of which explores a different aspect of memory, nostalgia, confused emotions, and changing perspectives. support from the Australia Council for the Arts. It was my great privilege to work with LAPQ and the Sono Each player’s setup in Lullaby 5 is a modified imitation of the other three in the quartet. This is designed to Luminus team on this recording. Their creativity and professionalism made this project a pleasure from create a homogeneous ensemble sound, but with subtle individual differences. Each player is given material beginning to end. to differentiate himself while also blending into the whole. As energy is dispersed through the ensemble, it transforms itself, eventually becoming a flawed memory of its origins. No thought or gesture between two people is truly understood in the same way by both parties. Even identical material is inevitably different, down to the two vibraphones that are slightly out of tune with each other. Since 2009, the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, or LAPQ, has forged a distinct identity as a world-class contemporary chamber music ensemble who is dedicated to commissioning and presenting new works for percussion quartets.