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The six players also represent the six hexagram lines. The changes of their rhythmic structures and instruments are governed by the changes of the hexagram structures during the Yin-Yang interaction. The rhythmic ideas are primarily taken from Ghana drumming and Chinese village festive drumming patterns.
Yiu-kwong Chung’s music, which has won large and enthusiastic audiences all over the world, is distinguished by its profound Chinese philosophical background and expressive range. Chung, currently a professor of the National Taiwan University of the Arts in Taipei, teaches composition and percussion.
Moving Moonlight
Atayal Tribe folk song
Arr. by Chien-Hui Hung
This piece originated from the Atayal Tribe folk song ‘watching the moon’ in Taiwanese aborigines’ songbooks. Because the beauty of rhythm, the composer specially arranged this piece and tended to have it performed with four Marimbas representing soft and wonderful sound, aiming to enrich this piece with exquisiteness and touchiness.
The Romping Golden Pheasants (Gong-Drum Music from Tu Jia Tribe)
Arr. by Tian LongXin / Li Zhengui
This piece is divided into five sections: "The Spring in the Mountain," "Joyful Way Home," "Playing along the Stream," "Encounter with Adversary," and "The Triumph." The Composer vividly depicts Golden Pheasants playing around on their way home from the mountain. The arrangers use the touba cymbal, erba cymbal, and other Chinese percussion instruments to present the complicated rhythm and diverse timbres.
Persona
Toshimitu Tanaka
Written in1984 by one of Japan's great composers, this piece for marimba solo and Japanese Ohtaiko, Persona, was composed in the style of the Gosin Gyotaiko a musical tradition from Nigata County in the Noto Peninsula, in which a number of performer play the taiko simultaneously.
This work creates a dramatic effect through the competition of one group of roto tom-toms (marimba plays a leading role) tuned to 12 different pitches with another group of masked taiko drummers playing and shouting spontaneously.
Composing Persona marked the culmination of six years of field research on Japanese folklore by Mr. Toshimitu Tanaka.
José-beFORe JOHN 5
Aurél Holló
The basic idea of José came from the composer’s listening to the recording Oriental Bass by the contrabass-player Renaud Garcia-Fons. The composer was inspired to present Garcia-Fons’ Spanish style with Arabic and Gipsy effects in an original percussion composition instead of an adaptation.
Besides Garcia-Fons’s recording, the composer also used a theme by Paco de Lucia. Marimba has the lead through in this short but stylish piece: two players standing face to face play virtuosic complementary motives. Most of these figures are based on the traditional xylophone music of Africa, yet the scale is typically flamenco. These motives are enriched by the other two players who make many interesting and exciting sounds with the Spanish cajon or the favourite instrument of Gipsy folk music, the simple sheet-iron can to name a few.
This piece is dedicated to the composer’s friend, Josep Vicente, artistic leader of the Amsterdam Percussion Group.
Head Talk
Mark Ford
This is a quintet for 13 drumheads with different sizes and materials. Performers sitting on the floor carry different mallets and adopt different striking techniques—hitting, turning, rolling or tossing. The floor is used as part of the instruments. The five players need to pay close attention to each other to show the essence and fun of the music. This piece is published by Innovative Percussion, Inc..
Jim’s Diner
Jim Riley
The composer chooses a unique way to combine the percussion instruments such as timpani, Jazz drums, bass drums and middle-sized drums with the cooking utensils in the banquet such as plates, cups, spoons and pots. In this piece, the two groups of “instruments” marvelously compliment with and compete against each other. The interesting forms and the especial sounds remind people of the party spirit, cheerful and exciting. It is a rare work.
Dancing Rhythm
Hong-Chi Ho
Any object can be a form of percussion instrument as long as sounds are created through beating and hitting. For example, “Human body” is actually an excellent percussion instrument. We can use mouths, hands, feet and other parts of bodies to create various sounds easily. Music shows emotions of the sounds, while dancing speaks for the body expressions. In this piece, the performers use striking, clapping, stepping, and padding to create wonderful rhythms and tempos, showing how music flows from human bodies.
Children of Sanchez
Chuck Mangione /arr. by Brian Mason
This popular Chuck Mangione tune is a perfect fit for percussion ensemble. The intro is a beautiful Chorale section, featuring the mallet keyboards. The drumset introduces the feel for the body of the tune, with a hypnotic drum cadence.
As the tune builds, there are mallet, hand percussion and drumset solos, finishing with an exciting climax.
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