UCLA Percussion Ensemble, Spring Concert

Program Notes

Trio in a Rudimental Style by Joseph Tompkins

Trio in a Rudimental Style was commissioned in 2002 by the New York Philharmonic Percussion Section. It is written in a funk-influenced rudimental snare drumming style and features each player in turn as a soloist, backed by a groove-based snare and mounted bass drum ostinato pattern.

Percussionist Joseph Tompkins is a much sought after percussionist in New York, having performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York City Ballet and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has played in 26 different Broadway productions and has recorded soundtracks for several major films. For seven years he was a member of the percussion trio, Timetable, a group committed to commissioning and performing new works for percussion. As a composer, Tompkins has written many internationally recognized works for solo snare drum and percussion ensemble. He is currently the chair of the Percussion Program at Rutgers University.

Duende by Francisco Perez

The word “duende”, a term which is imbued with supernatural connotations, is one of those words that does not translate easily from Spanish to English. In the world of flamenco dancing, it is used to describe a state of extreme inspiration, or almost creative demonic possession, that takes over a dancer while performing. Francisco Perez has tried to capture this feeling in his piece Duende, a musical tribute to the flamenco dancing he experienced during a 2013 summer trip to Madrid. In it, he taps different musical idioms such as Afro-Cuban rhythms, flamenco, and the early minimalist style of Steve Reich to represent the essence of Duende. This piece requires intensity from the performers, who are expected to play “with tribal vigor” and relentless energy throughout. Duende premiered in November of 2017 and was commissioned by Dr. Andrew Eldridge and the University of Texas at Arlington Percussion Ensemble.

Dr. Francisco Perez is a percussionist, composer, and educator from Pflugerville, Texas. He attended Texas Christian University and the University of Kentucky. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. As an active performer, Perez has performed in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Spain, and China, and toured extensively throughout the United States, including performances at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. His catalogue of percussion compositions is extensive, often performed, and continues to grow.

Pegasus by Ben Wahlund

Pegasus, for solo snare drum and percussion ensemble, was commissioned in 2005 by Rich Ford, a longtime colleague and friend of Wahlund’s.  The challenging solo snare drum part borrows from both classical and marching idioms.  Common to Wahlund’s compositional technique is the use of perceived, but unwritten, accelerandos which gradually increases the number of notes in successive rhythmic groupings.  He also explores the timbral possibilities of the snare drum by having the performer use the rim, top head, and bottom head with snares on as playing areas.

Ben Wahlund is an internationally known award-winning music composer, educator, and performer.  He received degrees from the University of Mary in North Dakota and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.  Additionally, his compositions have won awards in the Percussive Arts Society International Composition Competitions.  Mr. Wahlund resides and works in the Chicago area.

Varesesation by David Stock

Written for a large ensemble of 13 pitched and non-pitched percussion, this work was commissioned by Hamiruge, the Louisiana State University Percussion Ensemble.  Varesesation uses the same instrumentation as the first-ever extant percussion ensemble piece, Ionisation by Edgar Varese.  There are many references to Ionization’s rhythmic themes, and the work highlights Stock’s intimate knowledge of the intricacies of the Varese work it aims to emulate.

Composer/Conductor David Stock was Professor Emeritus at Duquesne University, where he conducted the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble. He was Composer in Residence of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and Conductor of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, which he founded in 1976, as well as a recipient of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. In November 1992, he was selected by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to receive the “Creative Achievement Award for Outstanding Established Artist.”  His large catalog of works includes six symphonies, more than 13 string quartets, a dozen concerti for various instruments, much chamber, solo, and orchestral music, and works for dance, theater, TV and film. He retired as Music Director of PNME 1999, after 23 years of dedication to new music and living composers.

Bonham by Christopher Rouse

Christopher Rouse provides the following program notes:

“Scored for a percussion ensemble of eight players, Bonham is an ode to rock drumming and drummers, most particularly Led Zeppelin’s legendary drummer, the late John “Bonzo” Bonham.  The core ostinato of the score, played by the drum set, is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks, although there are references to other Led Zeppelin songs as well, such as Custard Pie and Royal Orleans and the music of Bo Diddley, whose adoption of the traditional “hambone” rhythm added so much to the distinctive style of his material.

Completed in Fairport, New York on November 13, 1988, Bonham was commissioned by the New England Conservatory of Music.  It was first performed in April of 1989 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston by the Conservatory Percussion Ensemble conducted by its Music Director, Frank Epstein, to whom the work is dedicated.”

Akadinda Trio by Emmanuel Séjourné

Emmanuel Séjourné was born in Limoges, France. He initially studied violin and piano at the National Conservatory of Strasbourg.  He was later introduced by Jean Batigne, Director and Founder of the Percussions de Strasbourg, to the world of contemporary percussion.  He eventually joined the Percussions de Strasbourg Ensemble as both performer and composer. Many of his compositions lean towards combined idioms that feature music in tandem with dance, theater, and film.

The Akadinda Trio has become a standard work for percussion ensemble since its composition in 1992. This single movement was initially part of a suite of three African songs, entitled Akadinda, Ambira, and Balafon. An akadinda is a xylophone-like instrument originating in Buganda, which is now part of modern-day Uganda. The balafon is a wooden pentatonic xylophone from West Africa, and the Ambira is another word for the mbira or thumb piano of Zimbabwe.  The folkloric roots of the three dances are honored by having three performers on one marimba with contrasting interlocking rhythms, sometimes layering duple, triple, and even quintuplet rhythms.  All three movements were also arranged by Séjourné for duo performance under the name African Songs Duo in 1994.

Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, arr. Freitag

Porgy and Bess is an English-language folk opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy and DuBose Heyward’s play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel of the same name.  Porgy and Bess was first performed in Boston on September 30, 1935, before it moved to Broadway in New York City.

This arrangement, by percussionist Edward Freitag, is a re-imagining of Gershwin’s Overture.  Freitag uses Gershwin’s fantastically difficult xylophone part as the starting point.  From there, Freitag treats this accompanying ostinato figure as the melody and moves it through blue-grass and eighth note funk styles, before returning to a virtuosic speed-of-light conclusion.