Your Name and LU Student ID Number:
Name and Date of the Concert or Recital you attended and are reviewing
here (for example: LU Symphony Orchestra, October 31, 2019): Liberty
University Percussion Ensemble, November 21, 2023
Today’s Date: November 22, 2023
Now type in/paste and copy your review (at least 750-800 words):
LU Percussion Ensemble consisted of ten musical compositions.
The first was “Sizzle” composed by Nathan Daughtrey. It was played by
three families of percussion instruments, which are membranes (including
bongos, snare drum, toms, and bass drum), metals (including suspended
cymbals, China cymbal, and hi-hat), and woods (including claves,
woodblocks, temple blocks, log drums, and slapstick). Also, a fourth family
was created by the voices of the players whispering different syllables
variated from the word “Sizzle.” The piece is primarily 4/4 and 6/8, including
the occasional 5/8 and 7/8.
The second was “Rhythmic Ceremonial Ritual” composed by Zachary Cairns.
The tambourine ensemble was beginning “in the round,” surrounding the
audience, with one player positioned in the center of the concert hall. The
center player acted both as a leader for some of the call-and-response and
also a focal point for the listeners. As the piece proceeded, a variety of
unison figured surrounding the audience, and the rhythmic patterns were
passed around the entire performance hall. It contained various and unique
playing techniques such as knee-fist playing and the thumb rolls.
The third was “4/4 for Four” composed by Anthony Cirone. A measure with a
“4/4” meter has four quarter-note beats. And “Four” refers to the members
of players in the piece, also known as a quartet. The composer utilized all
membranophones with a wide range of frequencies, highlighting key
musical
elements of groove, melody, and texture. Throughout the piece, players
alternated soloist and soli passages to build intensity in a climactic ending.
The fourth was “Fanfare for Tambourines” composed by John Alfieri.
Fanfare
is a short musical composition which intended as an introduction for
someone or something of great importance. This piece is for the
tambourine’s great importance, highlighting the many possibilities of sounds
of tambourines. The structure alternates between ensemble and soli
passages between two groups: three players with tambourines and three
players with tambourines on drums.
The fifth was “Mosaics” composed by Jared Speares. A mosaic is a piece of
art created by the arrangement of a combination of small pieces of single or
multiple materials. Similar to that, the composition is an arrangement of
melodic and rhythmic themes. It was performed by two families of
instruments, which were membranophones and idiophones. The composer
created his colorful mosaic with two main themes in the middle of the
ensemble. The first theme, low-low-low-high-low, was expressed by timpani,
toms, and the woodblock, while the second theme – a retrograde-inversion –
was performed varying rhythmic durations.
The sixth was “William Tell’s Canned Overture” composed by Murray
Houlliff. The overture is in four parts, and the last one titled “Finale: March
of the Swiss Soldiers” became famous as a theme of the TV show, The Lone
Ranger. However, its version for tin cans is not familiar with many people
because maybe the composer never composed it. He arranged the beloved
theme in a fun and hilarious setting.
The seventh was “Identity Crisis” composed by Michael Aukofer. “Identity
Crisis” refers to the own struggle of the composer as a result of learning
contrasting compositional styles. When completing his D.M.A, he was
pushed to explore a dramatically different compositional style which focused
on making sounds instead of creating musical lines which he had learned
before. The piece is a distinct result of the compositional “identity crisis”
that the composer experienced during the time. Flowing melodic lines are
often interrupted by short sections of music focusing on sounds such as pots,
log drums, brake drums, a Flexatone, bird whistle, ribbon crasher and
gurgling.
The eighth was “Jovial Jasper” composed by George Hamilton Green. During
the early 1900s, ragtime music was the most popular form of music in
America. The composer was deemed the world’s greatest xylophonist,
bringing the instrument from novelty to one of nobility. Xylophone rags gave
way to the improvisatory nature that would later be deemed “jazz.” Rags
maintain a two-beat march-like pulse, have a sectionalized form made up of
two thematics “strains,” and a trio that modulates to a new key and features
the third theme. Xylophone rags were performed by ensembles consisted of
two to thirty performers.
The ninth was “Slap Shift” composed by J.B. Smith. The piece is an homage
to traditional conga rhythms from Cuba set in a 12/8 meter. All three types
of conga drums – the quinto, conga, and tumbadora – were performed in the
composition. The term “slap” refers to a technique to achieve a high-pitched
sound on a drum. The various Cuban rhythms played by the performers
which incorporate a slapping sound and the sound is passed from player to
player. The listener could focus on both the beauty of each rhythm as well as
the beauty created.
The final was “The glory and The Grandeur” composed by Russel Peck. This
one-movement concerto for percussion trio and orchestra became the
composer’s most popular work at concerts. One reason that he composed
the piece intending the sight of the percussionists playing and moving
among their many varied instruments to be part of the structure and appeal.
Of course, the recording tries to capture the pieces at their best, but the
composer said, “you haven’t lived until you’ve heard them live.”
The percussion ensemble of yesterday would be the most impressive and
memorable concert in my life. From the very first piece, it sharply caught my
attention. To be honest, I did not have many expectations about the
“percussion” concert because I thought that it would be just beating few
kinds of drums, and not that interesting. However, all of the pieces have
their attractions and remarkable characteristics. For example, when I
listened to “Identity Crisis” – which is also a subtitle for the concert – it was
totally new because it contained various sounds such as bird whistle and
gurgling. At that time, I thought that it expressed a fairytale or illusional
story. Though, it indicated the composer’s complex internal conflict.
Therefore, I also realized it was important to know the background of the
composing or the composer in order to totally understand and feel the
specific piece. Also, it was interesting that most of the students were able to
play several kinds of percussion such as tambourine and bass drum and
performed them very well. Even, some of them played two instruments at
the same time. I could imagine how hard they practiced hard to perform
various kinds of musical instruments. Besides, I could fully feel the passion
and enthusiasm about the music of the director, Mr. Jay Ware. How much he
loves his students, music, and instruments was conveyed through the
command and the music itself. It was such an honor to attend the upper-
level concert during my freshman year, and I would like to attend other
concerts in the future, not only at Liberty University.
