# Percussion Music



## Sina (Aug 3, 2012)

Anybody here a fan of percussion music?
And by percussion I don't mean marimba and xylophone and vibraphone etc, which is forcing _keyboard-influenced music_* back to put down the _percussion revolution_*.

*to borrow phrases from John Cage's 1939 essay "Goal: New Music, New Dance."


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I am not terribly familiar with classical percussion music. The first thing that cam to mind was that magnificent bit of tympani near the end of Shostakovich's first symphony, but of course, that isn't an entire piece just for percussion.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Evelyn Glennie also recorded some solo percussion works outside the marimba family, but personally I prefer the latter.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Xenakis' Pleiades (sic?) comes to mind.

Not a fan though.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

I love percussion music. My no. 1 favorite piece has to be Grisey's Le noir de l'étoile, but also Xenakis' entire percussion oeuvre is nothing short of amazing, particularly the smaller pieces, and also Feldman's The King of Denmark.

I have nothing against marimba/vibraphone pieces when they're done right. Check out Garland's Apple Blossom for several marimbas: 



 - can't do this with any keyboard


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

If you have time, hear the whole thing!


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Sina said:


> Anybody here a fan of percussion music?
> And by percussion I don't mean marimba and xylophone and vibraphone etc, which is forcing _keyboard-influenced music_* back to put down the _percussion revolution_*.
> 
> *to borrow phrases from John Cage's 1939 essay "Goal: New Music, New Dance."


I think it's obvious that the modern revolution (let's say 20th century music) is the (neo-primitivist) focus on (complexer) rhythms and percussion instead of melody and harmony and I assume that this is what Cage meant by "the percussion revolution". This revolution is obvious with Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps but the composer who comes to my mind foremost is Varese and some of his works like Ionisation.


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## Symphonical (Mar 15, 2013)

I agree with Agamemnon above. My recent favourites are:

Soulcatcher - John Casken
Rebonds B - Iannis Xenakis
To the Gods of Rhythm - Nebojša Jovan Živković
American Snare Drum Suite - Guy Gauthreaux II 
Blues for Gilbert - Mark Glentworth
Prism - Keiko Abe
Electric Thoughts - Ivan Trevino
Sleight of and Evil Hand - Casey Cangelosi
Marimba Spiritual - Minoru Miki


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I greatly enjoy percussion music - including marimba, xylophone and mallets of all varieties...
there is some wonderful ethnic percussion music - esp West African, which is hugely into drumming


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## Hurrian (Jan 16, 2017)

These CDs are decent surveys of 21st Century American percussion works (one piece is from 1997).


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Agamemnon said:


> I think it's obvious that the modern revolution (let's say 20th century music) is the (neo-primitivist) focus on (complexer) rhythms and percussion instead of melody and harmony and I assume that this is what Cage meant by "the percussion revolution". This revolution is obvious with Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps but the composer who comes to my mind foremost is Varese and some of his works like Ionisation.


Isn't "Ionisation" the first actual composition specifically for per mission ensemble??


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Hurrian said:


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Excellent!! I need to check these out!!


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## Sina (Aug 3, 2012)

Heck148 said:


> Isn't "Ionisation" the first actual composition specifically for per mission ensemble??


Chronologically, Amadeo Roldán's two short pieces _Rítmica No. 5_ and _No. 6_, for 11 percussionists, were composed before _Ionisation_, though in the same year (1930)


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## Sina (Aug 3, 2012)

Hurrian said:


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I always wished there would be a 3rd volume coming!


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

No. I'm not that much into rhythm. I'm into harmony and I see rhythm as a supporting element.


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## Sina (Aug 3, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> No. I'm not that much into rhythm. I'm into harmony and I see rhythm as a supporting element.


Percussion music is not just about rhythm, I mean it's not the 19th century anymore, and things have changed. Coincidentally, I'm not much into rhythm too yet I'm obsessed with percussion music.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Agamemnon said:


> I think it's obvious that the modern revolution (let's say 20th century music) is the (neo-primitivist) focus on (complexer) rhythms and percussion instead of melody and harmony and I assume that this is what Cage meant by "the percussion revolution". This revolution is obvious with Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps but the composer who comes to my mind foremost is Varese and some of his works like Ionisation.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

I am not sure if this counts, but Daniel Lentz's Lascaux is ethereal. It _"is scored for wineglasses, sixteen of which are rubbed and nine of which are struck. Other than reverb, no effects have been added to the natural sounds of the glasses."_





John Luther Adams composed massive percussion works.

Inuksuit (2009) for nine to ninety-nine percussion





Ilimaq (2012) for solo percussionist and electronic sounds





I like Cage's percussion music, from early compositions with rigid structure to later improvisatory pieces. This is a fun piece.

John Cage: Living Room Music (1940)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*George Crumb* | _Kronos - Kryptos_ (2018)






Kronos - Kryptos, four tableaux for percussion quintet (2018)

I. Easter Dawning
II. Ghostly Barcarolle
III. Drummers of the Apocalypse
IV. Appalachian Echoes

Ensemble Intercontemporain
Matthias Pintscher, conductor

French Première, 05 November 2021, Festival d'Automne '21


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I remain a big fan of Ravel's _Bolero_, a concerto for snare drum with orchestral accompaniment.


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