To the Earth – Rzewski

Rzewski, Frederick

To the Earth

Solo Percussion

4 Flower Pots

Lyrics from Homeric Hymn, Rzewski works to use the percussionist on many angles. From a very elementary angle the percussionist plays the flower pots as if they are typical concert percussion instruments. On top of this the percussionist must recite the “To the Earth”, text coming from a traditional Homeric Hymn. This work presents beauty in simplicity, to perform To The Earth the performer as well as the audience might have to re-evaluate what they find important and necessary in order to find the true brilliance in this “multi-percussion” “solo”.

 

Annotated by Nate Tucker

Cold Pressed – Hollinden

Dave Hollinden

Cold Pressed

Solo Percussion

snare drum, two tom toms, bass drum with pedal, bongos, tambourine, three cowbells, two woodblocks, two temple blocks, two crotales, splash cymbal, crash cymbal, ride cymbal

 

The term “cold pressed” refers to the method of extracting olive oil which results in the most robust and full-bodied flavor. Syncopation, contrasting timbres and rock-influenced style are blended together in music which is vivid, spicy and obsessively persistent.

-Dave Hollinden

 

Annotated by Nate Tucker

 

Zyklus – Stockhausen

Stockhausen, Karlheinz

Zyklus

Solo Percussion

marimba, vibraphone (motor off), 4 toms, snare drum, guiro (use several guiros if necessary), 2 African log drums (each producing 2 pitches), 2 suspended cymbals (of differing sizes), hi-hat, 4 almglocken (suspended, clappers removed), a suspended “bunch of bells” (preferably Indian bells or tambourine mounted on a stand), at least 2 high pitched triangles, gong (with raised boss in center), and tam-tam.

Approx. 10 minutes

Written in 1959 for a Percussion Competition in Darmstadt, Zyklus is of an early wave of percussion solo compositions in the middle 20th Century of which use a the vast quantity of instruments in the percussionists field to their advantage. Zyclus is written for over 20 instruments and is designed to be played with the possibility of the score facing multiple directions. The spontaneity of this composition as it is to be performed adds contrast to the density of the composition itself, leaving the listener many possibilities for interpretation and experience.

Annotated by Nate Tucker

Rebonds – Xenakis

Xenakis, Iannis

Rebonds A/B

for Solo Percussionists

Bass Drum, Bongos, Conga, Toms, Woodblocks

Approx. 15minutes

It could be considered Xenakis’ Late Period, as a development of the percussion repertoire. Though his early works often featured percussion, Pithoprakta’s Xylophone and Woodblock part could hardly compare to the level of depth within Rebonds and several other percussion pieces written within only a few decades of each other (including, Okho, Psapha, Komboi, etc).

Be prepared to attempt or witness attempts at the impossible when experiencing Xenakis’ percussion compositions. On the page these works are often considered beautiful works of architecture but when translated into actual practice the performer must be prepared to push the limits of their own capabilities while knowing the end may not actually be in sight.

 

annotated by Nate Tucker

Omphalo Centric Lecture (1984) – Westlake

Westlake, Nigel

Omphalo Centric Lecture

4 players

4 Marimbas

Approx. 10minutes

 

Piece written by an Australian composer commissioned by percussion group Synergy in 1984.

“The title comes from a painting by Paul Klee – the direct & centred simplicity of which was an inspiration to me during the writing of this piece” — Composer’s note.

Annotated by Nate Tucker

Okho – Xenakis

Xenakis

Ohko

3 Percussionists

3 Jembes

12minutes

 

 

One of the most prestigious composers for the percussion solo and chamber repertoire, particularly his two solo percussion works Psapha and Rebonds. Xenakis has relatively little music training especially early in his life. After World War II which forced him to seek exile in France, of which he stayed the rest of his life, Xenakis’ primary income was in engineering and later working as an architect under Le Corbusier. In this piece you can hear connections between his architecture and the way he develops Okho as a performance piece for 3 jembes including the subtle playing techniques nessesary as well as the rhythmic development within the piece.

 

Annotated by Nate Tucker

Syncopation for the Modern Drummer, Ted Reed

This is the go-to book of rhythms.   Each lesson introducs one measure rhythmic cells that culminate in a short etude combing elements from the lesson.   Lessons start with quarter notes and half notes, then gradually move to eights, sixteenths, triplets, dotted figures, and accents.  This book offers no text explaining a particular educational or technical theory.   Rather, it serves as a generic template for a player to work  out his or her own ideas or problems.   It also is a good beginning book for drumset players to build basic jazz and latin vocabulary and four way coordination.

Annotated by Jonathan Hess

Scraping Song, David Lang

“Scraping Song” was written for my friend Steven Schick. In some way it is meant to be a lyrical companion to my piece “The Anvil Chorus,” which I also wrote for Steve, and it comes directly out of two musical memories I have of him.

The first memory is from right after we met, in graduate school in 1978, when I watched Steve audition many different guiros for a performance of Stockhausen’s “Zyklus.” Steve treated each guiro as if it were a violin, drawing from each an expressive range I never realized a percussion instrument could have.

The second memory is more recent, from Bang on a Can’s arrangement of Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports.” In the recording session I asked him to scrape a brake drum slowly around its rim. The resulting sound was so rich that I knew I would write a solo work about it.

– David Lang

Duration 9′

Annotated by Mike Daley

Masterworks for Mallets-Beth Gottlieb

“Masterworks for Mallets” ia a collection of 50 transcriptions and arrangements of classical masterpieces from composers such as Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, and more. Beth Gottlieb has compiled this 117 page collection and adapted them for xylophone and marimba. Perfect for audition and festival repertoire and great material for those wishing to improve their sight-reading skills.

Annotated by Ivan Wan

Mallet Technique- Vic Firth

Vic Firth’s method book – Mallet Technique develops precisely one thing – TECHNIQUE . It is designed to assist the beginner by familiarizing him with the mallet keyboard, the intermediate player by further developing his speed and control, and the advanced or professional player by helping him to maintain and solidify his present technique while further developing sound, touch, endurance, and speed. The studies in this book employ major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads (all keys), as well as dominant seventh and diminished seventh chords to apply a study of theory as well.

Annotated by Ivan Wan