Saturday, May 20, 2017 • 3:00 P.M. PERCUSSION SHOWCASE & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Michael Kozakis, director DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Saturday, May 20, 2017 • 3:00 P.M. DePaul Concert Hall PERCUSSION SHOWCASE & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Michael Kozakis, director PROGRAM Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) Rebonds (b) (1988) Christian Hughes, multi-percussion Eric Sammut (b.1968) Ameline (2010) Sarah Weddle, marimba Jacob Druckman (1928-1996) Reflections on the Nature of Water (1986) II. Fleet Leo Taylor, marimba Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Sonata No. 1 for Solo Violin in G Minor, BWV 1001 II. Fugue Carley Yanuck, marimba David Lang (b. 1957) Anvil Chorus (1991) Mark Linley, multi-percussion Paul Lansky (b. 1944) Three Moves (1998) I. Hop(2) Christian Moreno, marimba Casey Cangelosi (b. 1982) Theatric No. 6 “Hiding in Plain Sight No. 2” (2009) Thomas Farnsworth and Miyu Morita, percussion PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • MAY 20, 2017 PROGRAM Steve Reich (b. 1936) Music For Pieces of Wood (1973) DePaul Percussion Ensemble INTERMISSION David Skidmore (b. 1982) Ritual Music (2004) DePaul Percussion Ensemble Rebecca Laurito, guest ensemble coach Alexej Gerassimez (b. 1987) Piazonore (2014) Yulia Block, vibraphone & Girogi Samadalashvili, piano Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (pub. 1802) III. Gavotte en rondeau Rebecca Laurito, marimba George Tantchev Sr. (b. 1969) Intro and blues in 11 (pub. 2004) George Tantchev, marimba Marc Mellits (b. 1966) Black (2008) Ian Ding and Michael Kozakis, marimbas David Maslanka (b. 1943) Crown of Thorns DePaul Percussion Ensemble PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • MAY 20, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) Rebonds (1988) Duration: 6 minutes Xenakis’ Rebonds is a stochastic work, which means that its compositional process was dictated very much in part by the entering of logarithms into a computer. Unfortunate on behalf of the performer is that this created a number of technically impossible passages within the music. Thus, the performer is tasked with creating a uniquely idiosyncratic performance practice in his decisions of leaving out certain notes or playing at certain tempos, for instance. However, in the case of Rebonds, one should not be fooled by this method of composing; a number of factors - tempo, dynamics, and most importantly instrumentation - allow the piece to emit an essential, almost primal feel. Notes by Christian Hughes. Eric Sammut (b.1968) Ameline (2010) Duration: 5 minutes Born in 1968 in Toulouse, France, Eric Sammut began his musical journey on the piano, eventually transitioning to percussion. In 1989, Sammut became the Principal Percussionist at l’Opera de Lyon, and after years of study and success, developed a passion for the marimba. He has since become one of the most notable composers of marimba solo repertoire. Ameline is a fairly recent work of Sammut’s, written in 2010. Alternating between 7/8 and 4/4 time signatures, the piece explores Latin and improvisatory-like styles. Notes by Sarah Weddle. Jacob Druckman (1928-1996) Reflections on the Nature of Water (1986) Duration: 2 minutes The second movement, entitled “Fleet,” starts with the element of an open fifth permutation as its main motivic material. This permutation gesture, which is played with a mallet sticking order of 4 – 3 – 1 – 2, is idiomatic of marimba technique and facilitates fast tempos. This permutation gesture is used throughout the entire movement. This initial gesture is then followed by another motive: a stream of continuous thirty-second notes on the same pitch. The shape of the permutation gesture is used as a basis for most of the rest of the movement. -Notes by I-Jen Fang, doctorate dissertation, University of North Texas, 2005. PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • MAY 20, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Sonata No. 1 G Minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1001 Duration: 5 minutes J.S. Bach wrote the six violin sonatas and partitas, six cello suites, and the Brandenburg concertos between the span of 1703-1720 when he was under the employment of the Duke of Weimar. These works demonstrate Bach’s thorough understanding of the string instrument and today are still highly respected pieces of music. Never performed in Bach’s lifetime due to lack of publication, they are widely played today on almost every instrument. The six violin sonatas and partitas were published in 1802 and contained various mistakes, some that have permeated into later editions, like the absence of bar 87 in the G minor fugue. The G minor fugue is the second movement of the Sonata No. 1. The sonata contains four movements in the slow-fast- slow-fast pattern of the Baroque Sonata de Chiesa (Church Sonata), with the first two movements paired as a prelude and fugue. The fugue was later reworked by Bach as part of the Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 539 and for lute in the Fugue, BWV 1000. Although written for violin, I will be performing this movement on marimba. Playing Bach on a modern instrument comes with different challenges and I have re-worked some passages due to instrument constraints. Notes by Carley Yanuck. David Lang (b. 1957) Anvil Chorus (1991) Duration: 8 minutes From the composer: “...how could several blacksmiths hammer on a single piece of metal without getting in each other’s way? Smiths solved this problem by singing songs together which would control the beat patterns of the hammers. There was a different song for each number of participating blacksmiths — obviously, a song that allowed for three hammer strokes would be confusing and even dangerous if used to coordinate four smiths. My solo percussion piece The Anvil Chorus also uses a “melody” to control various beat patterns. The “melody” is played on resonant junk metals of the percussionist’s choosing, and, by adding certain rules, it triggers an odd accompaniment of non-resonant junk metals, played both by hand and by foot.” - David Lang PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • MAY 20, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Paul Lansky (b. 1944) Three Moves (1998) Duration: 4 minutes Hop(2) is a musical voyage in both groove and harmonic complexity. Composed for the 5 octave marimba, this work explores the entire range of the instrument with its extreme leaps in register and its challenging intervalic motion. Hop(2) is riddled with colorful melodic gestures and rich jazz-based chromaticism, lying upon a foundation of bold and syncopated accompaniment, with heavy importance placed upon the moving bass notes. This piece was inspired by Paul Lanky’s Hop, which was written for Nancy Zeltsman’s violin-marimba duo, Marimolin, with Sharan Leventhal. The original work ended with an enticing groove section, and upon request by Zeltsman, was developed and molded into the solo you are hearing today. Notes by Christian Moreno. Casey Cangelosi (b. 1982) Theatric No. 6 “Hiding in Plain Sight No. 2” (2009) Duration: 6 minutes Theatric No. 6 “Hiding in Plain Sight No. 2” was written in 2009 by Casey Cangelosi. This piece is a duet written for two players to play facing each other and on the same drums. Cangelosi writes intricate, fast rhythms and trading off notes. This piece contains themes where one player echoes the notes of the player before them and parts of each players part making up composite rhythms. Cangelosi even writes in fake notes in each players part. The instruments in this piece are a bass drum, tom tom, and two bongos. Notes by Thomas Farnsworth and Miyu Morita. Steve Reich (b. 1936) Music For Pieces of Wood (1973) Duration: 9 minutes In the summer of 1970, Steve Reich traveled to the West-African country of Ghana to study its elaborate musical traditions - particularly its drumming traditions. Reich returned to the U.S. a few months later and brought with him a number of fascinating musical concepts that had yet to be witnessed in much of the West, especially within the sphere of classical music. Although music for pieces of wood is by no means a direct transcription of African drumming patterns, one can certainly hear its influences in the individual polyrhythmic clave rhythms, the dense layering of related clave patterns on top of each other, and the ambiguity of downbeat placement on behalf of the listener. All of these factors culminate to create a dynamic whole that brings remnants of the African tradition to the modern concert hall. Notes by Christian Hughes. PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • MAY 20, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES David Skidmore (b. 1982) Ritual Music (2004) Duration: 5 minutes David Skidmore is a percussionist, composer and founding member of Grammy award-winning group Third Coast Percussion. In addition to performing and teaching with the group, David’s works are frequently performed across the country. From the composer: “Ritual Music (variations on the numbers 2 and 4) was written for the Chicago dance company Raizel Performances and was premiered in collaboration with that group in the spring of 2005. As the title suggests, I used the numbers 2 and 4 to bring order to the primeval timbres and violent counterpoint of the piece. The pitches in the marimba, the rhythmic motifs and the structure of the phrases were all determined numerically. As such, a friction is created between the mechanical simplicity of the structural elements and the abandon with which the instruments shout, shriek, groan and wail. The ritual is tightly controlled with respect to its numeric foundations, yet it is also an incantation of things far more frantic and powerful. Thus the piece can act as a sort of “overture” for percussion.” -David Skidmore Alexej Gerassimez (b. 1987) Piazonore (2014) Duration: 5 minutes Composed in 2014 as a unique jazz vibraphone/piano duo, Alexej Gerassimez’s Piazonore is a five-and-a-half minute, single-movement composition.