Side By Side (1989) by Michio Kitazume (b. 1948)
Side by Side, by Japanese composer Michio Kitazume, was originally written for orchestra and percussion in 1988 and then arranged for multi percussion in 1989. There is a ‘side-by-side’ arrangement of the drums in the multi setup, along with the arrangement of the percussion instruments next to the orchestra in the original version. Kitazume provides the performer with considerable freedom throughout the piece through variables in regards to repetitions, drum choice, and tempi. In turn, each performance of Side by Side results in an individualized interpretation which showcases that performer’s creativity and musicality. Kitazume polyrhythmic patterns develop throughout the work and create motivic saturation. - Abby Fisher
Purity (2020) by Molly Joyce
Purity seeks to play with the pure sound of the vibraphone and specifically through prepared notes with foil which gradually enter. The vibraphone has traditionally been one of my favorite percussion instruments to write for in chamber and large ensemble contexts, however this was my first time writing it for a solo player. I thus wanted to highlight my love of the vibraphone’s pure, pitched sound but also explore the varying additional timbres it offers, such as with the sustain pedal and with preparation of aluminum foil under and/or around the keyboard bars. Therefore through incorporating, I hope to add a visual element to vibraphone playing of the seen/ unseen and the sound one expects to hear from such, as well as truly amplifying and distorting such pure sound to new possibilities.
- Molly Joyce
Purity was commissioned by Bang on a Can with support from Raulee Marcus, and written for and dedicated to David Cossin.
unconformity (2019) by D. Edward Davis (b. 1980)
Deposited sediments form layers of rocks that, taken together, reveal a geological record of time. An ‘unconformity’ occurs when one or more of these layers are missing—when strata that “shouldn’t” touch are found in close proximity. unconformity pairs a percussionist playing tones and noise with an electronic track playing tones and noise. Each of these four layers recur in shifting combinations, generating a record of time—or perhaps exposing occasional gaps in the record. - D. Edward Davis
unconformity was written for Abby Fisher, in friendship and with gratitude
Remember, Marimba (2009) by Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958)
Before starting this piece, I spent some time considering the history of the marimba. I decided to try to imagine- and to try to capture- some of the secrets and ghosts of this marvelous instrument's origins.
The piece typifies my love of rhythmic and melodic patterns that weave together in often asymmetric ways, all the time keeping in mind the centuries' journey of wood. Towards the end of Remember, Marimba, I take and extend a theme (played on the marimba) from the second moment of my Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, thus continuing the notion of memory and recollection to the history of my own music. - Errollyn Wallen
Correspondence (2018) by Andrea Mazzariello (b. 1978)
Correspondence (2018) was composed for solo speaking percussionist, and is dedicated to Abigail Fisher, Katelyn King, and Alexv Rolfe, who banded together to commission it and who will all, I’m sure, have wonderfully different takes on its performance.
The instrumentation is built from a collection of wooden and metal objects, as well instruments from the drum set, all curated by the performer in order to create an idiosyncratic and personal sound world. I notated patterns that I think of almost as breakbeats; the stripped-down drum set drives much of this, but I also wanted to fold in the different textures and timbres that emerge from woods and metals. I hope that performers, by choosing how those instruments fit together, will feel like collaborators in the process of learning and performing the piece.
A non-musical collaboration also drove the piece’s genesis. I thought a lot about my father, about a writing project we’d begun years ago as a way to understand each others’ very different politics. We wrote letters back and forth, struggling to articulate our disagreements as well as the many things we shared. These are some of my most cherished conversations, and I am grateful for his willingness to struggle together with me to find the words. I imagine this piece as another letter in the stack, in which we realize that we have come to the same point of view, and reflect on the cost of and trigger for that shared understanding. - Andrea Mazzariello
Silence Must Be! (2002) by Thierry De Mey (b. 1956)
Howie Kenty, electronic track
Silence Must Be! (2002) is a sort of sequel piece to Musique de Tables, where the apparatus of sound making is removed, creating an ethereal, magical plane. Rather than a ballet of the hands, this is a ballet of the air: a single figure creates various gestures, mostly moving in silence but eventually evoking the once-imagined sounds. Moving from gestures of a conductor to balletic figurations in the air, De Mey eventually fuses his visual vocabulary with speech, spelling out the piece’s name (an anagram for long-time collaborators Ictus Ensemble) on a flat plane for the audience to read.- The Percussion Collective
Side by Side, by Japanese composer Michio Kitazume, was originally written for orchestra and percussion in 1988 and then arranged for multi percussion in 1989. There is a ‘side-by-side’ arrangement of the drums in the multi setup, along with the arrangement of the percussion instruments next to the orchestra in the original version. Kitazume provides the performer with considerable freedom throughout the piece through variables in regards to repetitions, drum choice, and tempi. In turn, each performance of Side by Side results in an individualized interpretation which showcases that performer’s creativity and musicality. Kitazume polyrhythmic patterns develop throughout the work and create motivic saturation. - Abby Fisher
Purity (2020) by Molly Joyce
Purity seeks to play with the pure sound of the vibraphone and specifically through prepared notes with foil which gradually enter. The vibraphone has traditionally been one of my favorite percussion instruments to write for in chamber and large ensemble contexts, however this was my first time writing it for a solo player. I thus wanted to highlight my love of the vibraphone’s pure, pitched sound but also explore the varying additional timbres it offers, such as with the sustain pedal and with preparation of aluminum foil under and/or around the keyboard bars. Therefore through incorporating, I hope to add a visual element to vibraphone playing of the seen/ unseen and the sound one expects to hear from such, as well as truly amplifying and distorting such pure sound to new possibilities.
- Molly Joyce
Purity was commissioned by Bang on a Can with support from Raulee Marcus, and written for and dedicated to David Cossin.
unconformity (2019) by D. Edward Davis (b. 1980)
Deposited sediments form layers of rocks that, taken together, reveal a geological record of time. An ‘unconformity’ occurs when one or more of these layers are missing—when strata that “shouldn’t” touch are found in close proximity. unconformity pairs a percussionist playing tones and noise with an electronic track playing tones and noise. Each of these four layers recur in shifting combinations, generating a record of time—or perhaps exposing occasional gaps in the record. - D. Edward Davis
unconformity was written for Abby Fisher, in friendship and with gratitude
Remember, Marimba (2009) by Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958)
Before starting this piece, I spent some time considering the history of the marimba. I decided to try to imagine- and to try to capture- some of the secrets and ghosts of this marvelous instrument's origins.
The piece typifies my love of rhythmic and melodic patterns that weave together in often asymmetric ways, all the time keeping in mind the centuries' journey of wood. Towards the end of Remember, Marimba, I take and extend a theme (played on the marimba) from the second moment of my Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, thus continuing the notion of memory and recollection to the history of my own music. - Errollyn Wallen
Correspondence (2018) by Andrea Mazzariello (b. 1978)
Correspondence (2018) was composed for solo speaking percussionist, and is dedicated to Abigail Fisher, Katelyn King, and Alexv Rolfe, who banded together to commission it and who will all, I’m sure, have wonderfully different takes on its performance.
The instrumentation is built from a collection of wooden and metal objects, as well instruments from the drum set, all curated by the performer in order to create an idiosyncratic and personal sound world. I notated patterns that I think of almost as breakbeats; the stripped-down drum set drives much of this, but I also wanted to fold in the different textures and timbres that emerge from woods and metals. I hope that performers, by choosing how those instruments fit together, will feel like collaborators in the process of learning and performing the piece.
A non-musical collaboration also drove the piece’s genesis. I thought a lot about my father, about a writing project we’d begun years ago as a way to understand each others’ very different politics. We wrote letters back and forth, struggling to articulate our disagreements as well as the many things we shared. These are some of my most cherished conversations, and I am grateful for his willingness to struggle together with me to find the words. I imagine this piece as another letter in the stack, in which we realize that we have come to the same point of view, and reflect on the cost of and trigger for that shared understanding. - Andrea Mazzariello
Silence Must Be! (2002) by Thierry De Mey (b. 1956)
Howie Kenty, electronic track
Silence Must Be! (2002) is a sort of sequel piece to Musique de Tables, where the apparatus of sound making is removed, creating an ethereal, magical plane. Rather than a ballet of the hands, this is a ballet of the air: a single figure creates various gestures, mostly moving in silence but eventually evoking the once-imagined sounds. Moving from gestures of a conductor to balletic figurations in the air, De Mey eventually fuses his visual vocabulary with speech, spelling out the piece’s name (an anagram for long-time collaborators Ictus Ensemble) on a flat plane for the audience to read.- The Percussion Collective