From RCA RVC-2154:

Percussion instruments have in recent years come into their own in the most spectacular fashion. It may well be assumed that they are the oldest musical instruments known to mankind, but one may also say that it is only in the 20th century that they have begun to attain great prestige in Western music.

One of the features of orchestral composition at the turn of the century was that composers generally extended the scope of their writing for percussion. During the classical and romantic eras, percussion instruments played no more than a subsidiary role, accenting the rhythm of the string and wind instruments, making climaxes more pronounced or providing background sound effects. However, gradually they developed into instruments possessing their own independent characters until finally percussion ensembles were formed having no direct connection with orchestras.

The 20th century has also seen phenomena such as the development of percussive techniques used on the piano and the invention of the prepared piano, an instrument which produces sounds resembling those of percussion instruments as a result of placing various objects on the strings inside an ordinary piano. A musical approach based on the use of percussion instruments has contributed in no small measure to sound resources in the latter half of this century.

The relationship between composer and performer in which a leading composer trains a performer of the first rank and writes major compositions for him has not excluded the percussionist. Music for percussion instruments has in recent years rapidly widened the opportunities for such mutual stimulation and development, and as a result, major compositions and virtuoso performers have appeared in rapid succession from many different countries. Music for percussion instruments has now attained a scope and variety out of all proportion to music composed for string and wind instruments. The types of percussion instruments are virtually limitless. The percussionist has the privilege of functioning like an alchemist, turning pieces of abandoned junk into musical instruments; he may be called a performer in the most modern sense of the word.

Japanese percussionists appear to possess especially great ability. Percussionists play a leading role in the traditional performing arts of Japan, having at their disposal an extensive range of instruments combined with the most varied types of performance techniques. The variety is indeed astonishing, including both solo and ensemble performance in all rhythms from the simplest to the most complicated and elaborate. Percussion music using complex rhythmic structures may be heard in the internationally known "Ondekoza" and "O-Suwadaiko" as well as in music performed in festivals such as "Danjiri-bayashi" and "Yatai-bayashi", brought to perfection by amateurs of the greatest ability. Thus a long tradition of the use of percussion instruments continues to exist throughout Japan, and it is the latent power inherited from this tradition and special dexterity of the Japanese which underlies the high standard of contemporary Japanese percussion playing, which is in no way inferior to that of Europe and America.

Contemporary composers seek both rhythms of the utmost complexity and the finest gradations of tone color, and so professional performers have come to be required possessing transcendental techniques and a fine sensibility as well as sensitivity and powers of flexible bodily movement. These young percussion virtuosos are taking part in the changing of the generations and their fresh talent has given rise to a new area of musical experience.

Yasukazu Amemiya studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Immediately after graduation in 1962 he entered the Yomiuri Nihon Orchestra at the time of its foundation, after which time he became active as a solo performer of contemporary music while retaining his position in this orchestra. He went to the United States in 1973 where he studied under Prof. Saul Goodman and Prof. Paul Price. And his activity as a guest soloist and ensembles during this period gave him increased ability and self-confidence.

The prerequisites for the contemporary percussionist are a good sense of rhythm, the ability to deal with complicated rhythms, sensitive response to tone color, in addition to an organic sense of rhythmic distribution, flexible bodily control and quick movement. This new field of percussion playing has however reached musical maturity so that, transcending the above requirements, the creative imaginations of the various percussionists are now in competition. Yasukazu Amemiya's performance style possesses its own particular musicality and individual syntax, as will be observed by listening to the present recording.

The most representative example of his style is Amemiya's own composition "Summer Prayer", composed in 1974 during his stay in America and originally performed with the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble. The piece is based on the text of a prose poem by the composer depicting the tribulations of a young ascetic monk on his travels and the retribution of the natural world during summer. It is not intended, however, as program music. A panoply of percussion instruments is employed, and the soloist and five performers, together with a pre-recorded tape, perform in a polyphonic relationship, letting the dramatic scene unfurl like a Japanese picture scroll.

The material of the piece is characterized by tranquil sounds suggesting only the most gentle movement of air, sound undulating in cycles, continuous glissandi, long sounds produced by friction, flexible sounds with perpetually varying decays; in addition, one may hear the crack of a double bass being hit with a drum stick, a piano being performed both outside and inside, sounds bringing to mind the thick-necked shamisen (a traditional string-instrument), sharp, dry sounds like those made by Japanese wooden clogs, the distant cries of birds: all these appearing as if in perspective and providing a multi-colored musical space. The galloping melody of the xylophone is also likely to remain in the memory as a kind of theme.

This composition is published by the Seesaw Music Corporation of New York.

"Monochrome Sea" composed in 1976 is also accompanied by a poem by Amemiya himself. The piece is a fantasy depicting the quiet drama played out in the depths of the sea and uses the same sound material as "Summer Prayer", with similar techniques and in a similar style. Rapid movement is, however, suppressed to the greatest degree and an attempt is made to create a monochrome but rich sound surface, A linear structure is evident in this piece which features the use of intervals based on the pitch C, especially C-E,C-F,C-G,C-A flat, virtuoso performance on the marimba and timpani, continuous sounds produced by rubbing a vibraphone with a bow, and a tape which sounds as if it has been electronically produced. Although there are sometimes passages of great excitement, the drama of the sea bottom is controlled by images of stillness and depth. This play of tonal colors, rich in reverberations and overtones, never denying emotional release, occurs in "Summer Prayer" as a rejoicing in the bond between man and nature, and in "Monochrome Sea" too, it is a humanistic world which continues to be expressed, this being brought into relief and emphasized especially by the romantic singing of the marimba.

SUMMER PRAYER

A stream of light beams down on to the young monk, tearing him away from his slumber. Despite long days and nights of spiritual exercises, he has still not reached his goal and been able to suppress his worldly longing. With the coming of daybreak, the mid-summer sun rising relentlessly towards its peak in the sky leads him, his self still wrapped in a haze of affliction, to a tranquil temple isolated from the rush of the outside world. The extreme tranquility transforms the creaking of the startlingly cold floorboards into a reverberation throughout the temple.

This reverberation echoes in sympathy with the reverberation of the afflictions within his tormented self, and he all of a sudden rushes out towards a forest, no longer able to endure the torment. Suddenly the sky becomes overcast and an eerie wind foreboding a storm makes the trees sway from side to side. He runs on and on, never flagging, in order to forget everything and to set at nought the importance of thought. The lightning flashes and the thunder resounds above him - he continues to run although the rain beats down on him mercilessly. His breathing increases in intensity until the strain becomes more than he can bear, whereupon, his energy sapped, he collapses as if sucked into the ground.

"SKY"

The forest, having received its baptism by the storm, regains its freshness. The sun, after chasing away the clouds, peeps in between the trees and slowly begins to shed its light on the earth. A deep boom resonates from the bowels of the earth ; he opens his eyes and sees a group of monks running towards him, making the ground explode with sound, their voices shaking the heavens. He is captivated by the sense of strength in confronting the unknown that the voices and features of the monks transmit to him. He joins the group and starts off on a journey towards even more strenuous spiritual exertion, a fresh light radiant inside him.

MONOCHROME SEA

drops of light fallen on the surface of the water
ignorant of their final destination
as dwellers in the sea
momentary meetings recur and recur
with the living and the non-living
aiming further and further into the depths
their long vertical beams end in
total stillness on the rocky seabed
like the gentle rocking of a cradle
only the water's gentle flow
permeates the skin, induces sleep
everything loses its color
spreads out over the surface
arabesques in an ink sketch
drawn by the black seaweed
sudden transformation
a crystal translucent mass of cold water
the battle of the waters coming into contact
woven on the projecting screen of the seabed
the ink sketch twisting and turning in the depths

Yasukazu AMEMIYA (Translation by R. Thompson)


From Erato STU 71106:

NGUYEN-THIEIM-DAO (born in 1940)

MAY (Percussion - solo)

CUIVRE : 3 Tam-tams - 5 Gongs tha'ilandais - 1 Plaque-cloche - 1 Tole - 1 Arbre sonore - 1 Ressort - 2 Crotales - 2 Bois - 1 Pierre - 1 Steeldrum - 6 Cymbales - 1 Wood-block - Soie - 1 Wood-chime geant

CLAVIER : Piano - Marimba - Vibraphone - Glockenspiel - 5 Temple-blocks - 2 Tambours chinois - 1 Wood-block - 1 Geophone - 1 Wood-chime - Glass-chime - Senailles - Eclatement - electrique - 1 Tambour-bois

PEAUX : 1 Grosse-caisse avec grelots - 3 Toms graves - 4 Toms - 2 Tambours sahariens - 2 Tambours chinois - 1 Wood-chime (Ed. Salabert)

May by Nguyen Thien Dao was written in 1972 and is in seven sections, each of which is strongly characterized. The first, with its metallic resonances, seems to emerge from the abyss of time. The keyboard passage calls for considerable agility on the part of the performer, who has to play directly upon the piano strings. "Vietnamese Night", preceded by a mass of notes which are repeated tirelessly, fortissimo, conjures up the true night of Vietnam. It is interspersed with bells to mark the subdivisions. The skin passage contrasts with the brass one and the whole work merges together in a logical unfolding of sound which is an exploration not only of sonority but also of silence. The rhythms used are most unusual, either very slow or very fast, corresponding to a conception of time that is more oriental than Western. Dao calls it a "cosmic conception of oriental rhythm" and admits to having "gone to extremes in quest of silence and of strange, unfamiliar and even fantastic sonorities" in order to create a "new kind of poetics for percussion instruments, involving a new way of listening to the phenomena of sound".

Translated by Anthony Laude


From Nonesuch H-71291:

Kil-sung Oak, born in Korea, studied with Stefan Wolpe at C. W. Post College and is currently earning his doctorate in composition at Columbia University where his teachers include Chou Wen-chung and Vladimir Ussachevsky. Of Amorphosis, composed in 1971, Mr. Oak writes, "The instruments are divided roughly into two groups. The group of the determined pitch instruments is represented as the sky, and that of the undetermined pitch instruments as the earth; the whole composition is symbolic of a drama between man and heaven and the earth." The syllables sung by the soprano are derived from three Korean words: Uhmuhni ("mother"-the work is dedicated to the composer's mother), Arirang (a Korean folk song which is quoted by the chimes), and Na-mu-a-mi-ta-bul (from the Buddhist chant).         HARVEY SOLLBERGER

Raymond DesRoches (b. 1934) studied with Paul Price at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Master of Arts degree. He has been active as a member of the Group for Contemporary Music, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, and numerous other organizations devoted to the presentation of new music. In 1968, DesRoches formed the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, consisting of students from William Paterson College, Rutgers University and Jersey City State College. In its first season, the Ensemble was invited to perform Varese's Ionisation in one of the regular programs of the Group for Contemporary Music. Following this highly acclaimed debut, the Ensemble has given full concerts in the Group's annual series, in the New Jersey colleges and on tour. Since 1972, the Ensemble has been in residence at William Paterson College, Wayne, N.J., where Mr. DesRoches is on the music faculty. The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble also appears on Nonesuch H-71263, performing Charles Wuorinen's Ringing Changes.