Download Lonely City Suite by Jason Baker Written for solo concert snare drum

Lonely City Suite by Jason Baker
Written for solo concert snare drum, Lonely City Suite is a three movement work driven
by extreme dynamics and a need for careful technical proficiency. The first movement,
"Another Day in the Back Bay,” fuses standard orchestral technique with modern groove.
The second movement acts as a mixed meter funeral march, and is named after novelist
Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”. Finally, "Last One Out," concludes the piece in a
short rondo form.
Dr. Jason Baker currently serves as Instructor of Percussion at Mississippi State
University, drumstick and mallet artist for Innovative Percussion, and President of the
Mississippi Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. Dr. Baker completed a Doctor of
Musical Arts at the University of North Texas; he holds a Master of Music degree from
the New England Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the
University of Connecticut.
Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra by Paul Creston
"The marimba has its limitations as a solo instrument, but Mr. Creston wrote well within them.
He is, moreover, a composer with ideas and invention." - Howard Taubman, New York Times
Completed in March 1940, the Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra was commissioned
and dedicated to Frederique Petrides (1904-1983), a pioneering woman conductor and
founder of the West Side Community Concerts in New York. Though designed to
demonstrate the capabilities of the marimba as a solo instrument, there are no isolated
cadenzas to reveal the virtuosity of the soloist. As a whole, the composition affords
numerous opportunities to display this phase. The work will be performed this evening
with piano accompaniment.
The first movement is based on two main themes: a strongly rhythmic one and a lyric
one. These two themes are introduced in the piano part, and further development occurs
in the solo part, with various rhythmic patterns incorporated within the triple meter.
The second movement is marked "Calm", presents the main theme in the solo voice with
four mallets. A feeling of tranquility is retained throughout, except for a minor climax
developed
toward
the
middle
of
the
movement.
The last movement, ''Lively'', is a combination scherzo and finale in compound meter.
Lyric and dramatic elements are interspersed between various rhythmic ideas, the chief
objective of this movement.
Entirely self-taught with the exception of piano and organ lessons in his youth, Paul
Creston pursued studies in theory, composition, literature, and philosophy. As a
composer, his style is void of any particular school of thought or influence. Rhythm is
consistently a cornerstone of his work, often emphasizing shifting subdivisions of regular
meters. He is the author of Principles of Rhythm written in 1964, and Rational Metric
Notation written in 1979. Creston was the recipient of many awards and honors including
a Guggenheim Fellowship and the New York Music Critics' Circle Award for his
Symphony No. 1.
Wind in the Bamboo Grove by Keiko Abe
"In the early morning haze as I stood in the middle of a bamboo grove, I became
enwrapped in a rich medley of sound. Listening to the bamboo leaves rustling against
each other in the occasional whip of the breeze, I seemed to hear the song of the wind...I
sensed the dynamic and powerful nature of life forces. I took out of my pocket a marble
and threw it into the grove. The blue marble disappeared into the morning haze, leaving
behind it beautiful echoes as it rebounded from stalk to stalk." – Keiko Abe
The highly atmospheric Wind in the Bamboo Grove is written for five octave marimba. It
is a reflection on her connection to nature, and draws inspiration from sounds from her
memory and past. Time and space, dynamics and approach blend to create a captivating
yet peaceful solo composition.
Born in Tokyo, Keiko Abe began playing the marimba at the age of 12. She attended
Tokyo Gakugei University, earning degrees in percussion and composition. Shortly after,
Abe was sought by the Yamaha Corporation for assistance in marimba design in 1964.
Her ideas for the desired sound of the instruments guided Yamaha's design, and the new
instruments were produced in the 1970s. Nearly three decades later, Abe was the first
woman to be inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, and the first player
to develop six-mallet technique. She is currently a professor at the Toho Gauken School
of Music in Tokyo.
EDGE (Corrugated Box) by Bruce Hamilton
Bruce Hamilton was born near Philadelphia in 1966, and grew up in New Jersey. He
holds degrees in Composition and Percussion from Indiana University, where he received
the Performers Certificate, the Dean's Prize in Composition and the Cole Porter Memorial
Composition Scholarship. Hamilton has received honors and awards from ASCAP, Alea
III, the American Music Center, the Barlow Endowment, and the Society for ElectroAcoustic Music in the US (SEAMUS). Hamilton is currently Assistant Professor of
Music at Western Washington University, where he teaches music theory, composition,
and electro-acoustic music. Hamilton’s large body of compositions includes works for
chamber orchestra, wind ensemble, piano, and percussion.
EDGE (Corrugated Box) is a multi-percussion piece dedicated to percussionist Brian
Mount, who in 1991 premiered the piece at Indiana University. The piece is divided into
many large sections marked by changes in tempo. Dialogue between the soloist and tape
present the main themes of the piece after the introduction. Increasing tempi and intensity
leads to a series of climactic gestures as the piece progresses. A final frenzied exchange
between the soloist and tape signal the end of the work. Cyclical treatment of musical
material, liberal use of polyrhythm, and rock and jazz nuances further characterize the
piece. The tape part was realized on a Tascam 388 (8-track) tape deck using various
synthesizers, live percussion and effects, and was mastered at the Center for Electronic
and Computer Music at Indiana University.
To The Gods of Rhythm by Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic
“The drum is a heartbeat of creation, and represents our connection with the mother, the
source...and with our own mother, the echo chamber of the womb. With mother earth, and the
beat of the sea. The pounding surf, the crack of lightning, the wing beats of migrating birds. The
turning of the seasons, the sound of our own breath.” – Paul Pearson
To the Gods of Rhythm is a mixture of musical traditions from Africa and Eastern Europe.
The essence of the piece is found in the sound of rhythm and chant from the Balkans,
whose melody is based on a Serbian Orthodox Church song. The extreme energy comes
from probably the most fascinating African drum – the djembe.
Drum of the Mandinka people, the origins of the djembe date back to the Mali Empire of
the 12th century. The djembe has become extremely sought after in the Western world,
and is regarded as the most popular of all African drums. Although similar in cultural use
and significance to many countries and tribes on the African continent, it has minute but
significant differences. African goatskins from Mali are the most suitable for covering the
playing surface of a djembe, and undoubtedly provide the best sound for the drum.
Hailed by the critics as one of the most unique and expressive artists in the field today, a
composer and performer Nebojsa Zivkovic is recognized as one of the worlds top
marimba and percussion soloists. Zivkovic completed his master’s degrees in
composition, music theory and percussion in Mannheim and Stuttgart, Germany. He tours
extensively throughout Europe, and performs frequently in the USA, Japan, Taiwan,
Korea, Latin America, Russia and Scandinavian countries. Other works by Zivkovic
include works for chamber ensemble and orchestra, including two concertos for
percussion. The music of Zivkovic receives approximately two hundred performances
annually.
Afta-Stuba! by Mark Ford
Mark Ford is the coordinator, marimba specialist, and director of percussion activities at
The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, one of the largest percussion programs
in the United States. Also the Immediate Past-President of the Percussive Arts Society,
Ford has been recognized as a leading percussion educator and his university percussion
ensembles have won national honors from the Percussive Arts Society. Mark Ford
represents Dynasty Percussion, The Zildjian Company, Evans Drum Heads, Latin
Percussion and Innovative Percussion Inc. as performing artist and clinician. As a
composer Mark Ford has written several popular works for solo marimba and percussion
ensemble including Head Talk, Polaris, Kingdom Lore Fanfare, Stubernic, Heads Up!,
Nightwatch and Standup Shadow.
Written for three players on one marimba, Afta-Stuba! is a sequel to the 1988
composition Stubernic. The piece requires both technical skill and agility in order to
execute the tightly-written, closely coordinated, three-part counterpoint that characterizes
the work. Each player performs in every register of the instrument at different times,
calling for the players to alternate positions behind the marimba and at times play it from
the front edge. The piece was premiered at the Percussive Arts Society International
Convention (2000) in Dallas, Texas.
Recordame by Joe Henderson
“Earlier on, I started writing tunes. When I was about fourteen or fifteen years old, I wrote my
first composition. That tune was recorded on a Blue Note record, the very first record I did. It's
one of the tunes that I get the most recognition for and it's called Recordame.”– Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson made his initial reputation in Blue Note Records' “second classic phase”
in the early 1960s. Henderson was one of the players at the core of that development,
both as a leader and in recordings as a sideman with artists Lee Morgan, Larry Young
and Horace Silver, among others. Henderson's firm grasp of the root idiom combined
with his experimental nature made him an ideal exponent of the new style, which did not
abandon jazz structures in as radical a fashion as the free jazz movement. Henderson was
never a “flashy” player, and rarely called attention to himself by displays of athletic
technique or gimmicks. His playing was controlled, thoughtful, at times even austere, but
above all intensely musical.
His debut recording session in April, 1963, was on a record by trumpeter Kenny Dorham,
and included one of his best-known compositions, Recordame. The work is described
with a freshness and innovation in character, matching his razor-sharp instrumental
proficiency
and
tone.
Goodbye Samba by Christopher Lunsford
My (?) year journey of percussion study began with the concert snare drum, and
eventually found its way to the steel drum. When planning the program for my recital, I
felt it necessary to include a piece for both instruments. However, I did not want to end
the program with a steel drum standard, but instead to perform one of my own
compositions, as both performance and composition for percussion instruments have
shaped me into the musician that I am today.
Originally written for piano, I found inspiration for Goodbye Samba through the music of
Harold Arlen, Ben Folds, and the musical traditions of Brazil, most notably the samba.
The piece fuses jazz and samba elements, and the use of the surdo creates an
authentically Brazilian feel. Orchestration consists of steel drum, piano, bass, and
triangle. I am privileged to premiere this piece with some of my closest friends, also
percussionists, and share a moment of musical creativity with them. I can only hope that
they have learned from me at least half of what I have learned from them.
I would like to dedicate this piece to my parents, Charles and Elaine Lunsford, for their
constant support and love throughout my musical career.
“The drum heals our connection with each other when we play it together. It brings to our
attention what works between us and what doesn't. It shows us exactly where and how we
harmonize and where we don't. It makes us attune to the invisible world of the energy between us:
this becomes more important than what we think we see, what we wish for or regret. What's real
is happening right now, in the moving moment. And when it's gone, we have only to look for the
next to get back on; this time we ride.” – Anon.