Student Percussion Ensemble
Recital
Saturday, November 18th, 2 PM
Highland Recital Hall
Building 2000
Dr. Jordan Walsh
Instructor
Program
Quinn Mason
(b. 1996)
But We Have X Instead Of Y
"My friend, Del Cook, wrote a piece called 'We need B not A', which was his response to what he called 'the industrialization of the percussion repertoire' and used the same instrumentation as my piece, but with different and more militaristic rhythms. My response is a response to his response (notice a pattern?). 'But We Have X instead of Y' aims to show the wealth of ideas we have in percussion repertoire all around the world, and I incorporate inspirations from music all over the world, whether it be African rhythms, the hypnotic sounds of Steve Reich or the primitive sounds from Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'." -Mason
George Hamilton Green
(1893-1970)
Log Cabin Blues
Aiden Blankenship, soloist
"Born in Omaha, Nebraska, GH Green was a xylophonist, composer, and cartoonist who displayed his artistic talents at a young age. Already performing for audiences of 7,000 - 10,000 by the age of 22, he was quickly dubbed the 'World's Greatest Xylophonist' and became a giant of popular ragtime music in the 1920's. His recordings were distributed on what was then a massive scale, and his work can still be found used in record/antique shops around the country. 'Log Cabin Blues' is one of the eight famous rags that he recorded and distributed early in his career that were repopularized by the Nexus Percussion Group in the mid-70's. Since then, Green's Ragtime music has become a mainstay in percussion pedagogy." -Walsh
Arvo Pärt
(b. 1935)
Fratres
Dr. Jordan Walsh, soloist
Fratres (Latin for “Brothers”) was composed in 1977 and belongs to the many works (Für Alina, Cantus, Tabula rasa etc.) that were created explosively after recognising the principles of tintinnabuli music. Structurally, Fratres consists of a set of variations separated by recurring percussion motifs (in the case of instrument settings without percussion, the drum-like sound is imitated). Throughout the composition we can hear a recurrent theme that starts each time in a different octave. We can clearly recognise three voices: two melodic lines mainly moving stepwise and the central tintinnabuli voice moving on the notes of minor triad. These are accompanied throughout the entire composition by a resounding low drone of fifth. Characteristically for Arvo Pärt, the apparent simplicity of the composition is governed by strict mathematical rules that determine the movement of voices, length of the melody and phrases, time signature alternations and so much more.
Ivan Trevino
(b. 1983)
Catching Shadows
"Michael Burritt and I have become good friends and collaborators over the years, and on a recent road trip to a gig, he said 'I'm in charge of the tunes!' Honestly, I didn't know what to expect! He plugged in his iPod, and the first thing to play: Radiohead, then Dave Matthews, then Earth, Wind & Fire. That's when I discovered something cool about Mike: he's as much rock musician as classical musician. It just so happens he plays marimba. Sometimes, I feel the same way. With Catching Shadows, I thought about our road trip and decided to write a rock tune inspired by Mike's playlist." -Trevino