SpencerHall

100032789
ConcertReview
FormyconcertreviewIattendedaperformanceoftheUBCpercussionensemble.The
performerswere:JaelemBhate,SeanBuckley,JuliaChen,ElleryFerguson,JohnMaxwell,Will
deSousa,GraemeTofflemireandSimeonWesteteijn.
ThefirstpieceontheprogramwasBicksa,composedbyThomHasenpflug.Composed
in1991,itfeaturedfourpercussionistsplayinganassortmentofdrums,auxiliarypercussionand
evenutilizingtheirownvoiceforanaddedtexture.Thispiecehadalargesenseofdramawith
largedynamicchanges.Ialsofoundthatthispiecehadaverymelodicandcallandresponse
aspecttoit.Thecallandresponseaspectwasrealizedbyaphrasebeingstatedonahigher
tuneddrumandthenbeingansweredbyacomplementaryphraseonalowertuneddrum.Ialso
foundthatthispiecehadadeepsenseofgroovethatIwasnotfullyexpecting.Ifindthat
sometimesinpercussionpiecesthecomposerwilltendtohavelessfocusonadeepgroove
andbemorefocusedonaexplorationandtexture.Howeverinthispiecethegroovewasdeep
andearthy.Thiswasalsoavisuallyinterestingpiecetowatchastheperformerswereinacircle
facingeachother.Thisallowedthemtocommunicatedynamicsandtexturemoreeasily
amongsteachother.Ibelieveitcontributedtotheoverallgrooveofthegroup.
ThesecondpiecewastitledTrio.WrittenbyJosephTompson,itutilizedsnaredrumand
bassdrum.Theuseoflongsnarerollswasaprominentfeaturethatwasusedthroughoutthis
piece.Asthepiececontinuedthetexturebecamemuchmoredenseandswirlingmuchlikethe
techniquethatmanyminimalistcomposersuse.
ThirdlywasOgounBadagariscomposedin1976bychristopherrouse.Doingsome
researchaftertheconcert,IdiscoveredthatthepiecewasbasedonvariousHaitiandrumming
patternsandfocusingonthosepresentedinJubaDance.OgounBadagisoneofthemost
ruthlessandviolentdeitiesandcanonlybetemporarilythwartedbyhumanbloodsacrifice.
Readingthis,Ifeltthatthecomposerwasreallyabletoarticulatethisfeelinginhismusic.This
pieceseemedtobemoresubtlethanthepeicespreviousontheprogram.Thisseemedtobean
aspectoftheorchestrationoftherhythmaroundtheensemble.Thereneverseemedtobeavery
densemomentinthepiece.Howevertherewerewillmanyinterestingpolyrhythmsthatoccurred
butitnevermanagedtoseemdenseortoostrained.
GeorgeHamiltonGreen'sCharlestonCaperswasthenextpieceontheprogram.Itwas
originallywrittenin1926butthenadaptedforfivexylophonistsin1978bybobbecker.Thiswasa
quitelivelypiecethatseemedquitehardtoplay.Mymainproblemwiththispiecewasnotreally
thepieceitselfbutrathertheprogrammingoftheshowwiththispiece.IfoundthatItstylistically
didnotseemtobeinthesamemoodandmindframeasthepreviouspieces.AsalistenerI
foundittobequiteastrangeswitchandIbelievethatitnecessarilydidnotworkaspartofthe
program.
ThefinalPiecewastitledFourCaribbeanSouthAmericanEnsemblesbyStephen
Primatic.Thispiececontainedfouriconicgrooves:joropo,bossanova,salsaandmerengue.I
foundthispiecetobenicebutIwaslongingforsomeoftherhythmicaspectstobealittleless
squarelyperformed.However,thosetypesaremusicareextremelydifficulttoplaystylistically
accurateandIthinkthattheperformersdidagoodjob.
OverallIquiteenjoyedthisprogram,itreallybroughtpercussioninstrumentstothe
forefrontofcontemporarymusic.ThisisnotatexturethatisalwaysusedbutIbelievethatthere
isalotofinterestingtextureandmelodythatiscouldberevealedifthistextureoccurredmore
often.
Bibliography:
"ChristopherRouseComposerOgounBadagris."ChristopherRouseComposer.
Boosey&Hawkes,n.d.Web.02Boosey&HawkesDec.2013.
<http://www.christopherrouse.com/ogounpress.html>.