m
UNCG
Percussion Ensembles
PAN-ic Steel Band
Michael Haldeman, conductor
Michael Lasley, conductor
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, School of Music
Program
Joe Clark (arr. 1987) American Folk Song
arr. Robert Marek
Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) Steve Reich
(b. 1936)
Sacrificial Rite (1993) David Gillingham
(b. 1947)
Opposing Forces (2003) William Steinohrt
In Memoriam (b. 1937)
Interlude
Collage/Finale
Sizzle (2006) Nathan Daughtrey
(b. 1975)
Normandy Beach – 1944 (1994) David Gillingham
Pat Metheny Suite (arr. 2005) Pat Metheny
Letter from Home (b. 1954)
First Circle arr. Andrew Beall
PAN-ic will perform in the Recital Hall Atrium
(I Can Recall) Spain Maren/Jarreau/Corea/Rodrigo
arr. David Billman
For the Day Paul G. Ross
Kiss on My List Hall & Oates
Jump for Joy Austin “Superblue Lyons & Rowans Lewis
arr. Shelly Irvine
_____
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should contact an usher in the lobby.
Percussion Ensemble Personnel
Justin Barrett
Bucky Cornwell
Curtis Cotton
Joseph Cox
Daniel Faust
Anthony Grier
Tim Heath
Matthew Hill
Priscilla James
Christina Palermo
Amanda Pearman
Michael Ptacin
Devin Reid
Lane Summerlin
PAN-ic
Aaron Craven
Josh Cvijanovic
Michael Haldeman
Michael Lasley
Sara Mecum
Christina Palermo
Calandra Riley
Emily Scotton
Patrick Smith
Notes
Joe Clark – Robert Marek
Joe Clark is based on an American mountain ballad of about 90 stanzas and sung during World
War 1 and later wars by soldiers from eastern Kentucky. The earliest printed version, as sung in
Virginia, was printed in 1918. There are various folk tales surrounding the origin of the story.
One such account follows. Joe Clark, born 1839, was a shiftless and rough mountaineer of that
day, never lonely for the company of women. In the moonshining days of 1870's, he ran a
government-supervised still. A popular story surrounding Clark’s death is that Chris Leger, his
mistress, had Clark murdered in 1886, when he left her for another woman. The music is from a
popular “break-down tune” that did not have lyrics, so some of Joe's friends started making up
rhymes to be sung with the tune. From this originated the ballad of "OLD JOE CLARK." Joe is
said to have liked the song until some of the more fun loving souls started making up rhymes that
were not very complimentary. There are many versions of the song, typically retaining a similar
chorus. The chorus and some of the verses of the lyrics follow.
Chorus
Fare thee well Old Joe Clark
Fare thee well I'm bound
Fare thee well Old Joe Clark
Goodbye Betsy Brown
Verses
Old Joe Clark, the preacher's son
Preached all over the plain
The only text he ever knew
Was “high, low, jack, and the game”
Old Joe Clark had a mule
His name was Morgan Brown
And every tooth in that mule's head
Was sixteen inches round
Old Joe Clark had a yellow cat
She would neither sing nor pray
Stuck her head in a buttermilk jar
And washed her sins away
Old Joe Clark had a house
Fifteen stories high
And every story in that house
Was filled with chicken pie
I went down to Old Joe's house
He invited me to supper
I stumped my toe on the table leg
And stuck my nose in the butter
I went round to Old Joe’s house
And sat down at his table
I eat so much of the hog eyed meat
The grease ran out of my navel
Old Joe Clark, he got sick
And what do you reckon ailed him
Drunk six quarts of possum soup
And then his stomach failed him
I went down to Old Joe’s house
And found him sick in bed
I put my fingers down his throat
And pulled out a chicken head
Well, I wouldn’t marry that old maid
I’ll tell you the reason why
Her neck’s so long and stringy, boys
I fear she’d never die
And I wouldn’t marry an old schoolteacher
Tell you the reason why
She blows her nose in old cornbread
And call it pumpkin pie
Wished I had a sweetheart
Put her on the shelf
And every time she'd smile at me
I'd get up there myself
In this arrangement of the song, the melody is stated initially with some figuration in both the
melody and the accompaniment. This initial statement is followed by three contrasting variations.
The first variation has a sustained and legato character. The second is slightly faster and has a
light and airy quality. The third variation is fast, lout, and vigorous with much syncopation and
accents, returning to the dance quality of the theme. The melody is usually evident in all three
variations. There are no special instrumental effects called for, but the piece requires attention to
expressive details and ensemble balance. This version was originally written for violin and piano
in the early 1950’s, and was transcribed for marimba quartet in 1987.
Robert Marek is professor emeritus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, having taught
at the University from 1957 until 1982. He was born and raised in Wisconsin. His degrees in
Music Education and Music Theory are from Emporia (Kansas) State University and from the
Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester.
Music for Pieces of Wood – Steve Reich
Music for Pieces of Wood was written in 1973 and is designed for five players. It is written for
claves, which are percussion instruments with particular pitches. There are two types used in this
piece, the so-called standard and the "African" claves. The clave, which comes from Cuba (the
word in Spanish means "key"), is made of two pieces of hardwood that the player beats.
Audiences may be most familiar with the instrument in its use in the rhumba and other Latin
American dances. They have also been used in orchestral works by Varèse, Copland, Barrios,
and others. The claves in this piece are designed to create a particular pitch differentiation. The
composer specifies the physical arrangement of the players. While the notation is precise, the
composer asks the players to repeat each bar "approximately" the number of times indicated,
perhaps giving the performers a chance to vary not only the character but the duration of each
performance. The compositional technique used here is called the additive process, and requires
3 of the 5 players to add one note at a time to the previous measure until a final rhythm is
achieved, thus signaling for the next player to begin his or her additive process. The technique
requires an immense amount of concentration and musical awareness.
-Leon Botstein, American Symphony Orchestra
Steve Reich is one of America’s leading composers. He was trained as a drummer and quickly
became interested in the music of Asia and Africa. He has also developed extensive interested in
the traditions of Jewish music. During the late 1960s, Reich experimented with combining
composition and performance, integrating the traditions of notation and improvisation. Perhaps
his most famous work is a piece called Drumming, first performed in 1971, which incorporates
aspects of ritual into performance. Reich’s music has consistently focused on issues of rhythmic
variation and repetition. Within a minimalist texture he has achieved a subtlety of timbre and
listening that projects an intensity of color, mood, and contemplation we might associate with the
luminosity of certain minimalist painters and sculptors, including Agnes Martin and Sol LeWitt.
Reich is one of America’s genuine innovators and perhaps the greatest exponent of musical
minimalism. But his minimalism, ironically, is truly one of surface. Depth and variation are
apparent beneath the externals of his work.
Sacrificial Rite – David R. Gillingham
Sacrificial Rite was written exclusively for Robert Hohner and the Central Michigan University
Percussion Ensemble in an effort to increase the repertoire of percussion ensemble works
featuring drums. The work is filled with rhythmic and timbral imagery reflecting the pagan
ritualistic dance of sacrifice. The work is divided into three continuous sections. The first section
exudes a sort of prelude to the sacrificial rite characterized by driving rhythms echoed between
the bass drums with a rhythmic ostinato underlay on the hi-hat. The second section is the
sacrificial rite itself, containing intense dynamic and timbral variety interspersed with the chanting
of the Latin word for sacrifice, SACRIFICIUM. The conclusion is a celebration of the sacrifice
characterized by fast tempo, driving rhythms, rampant “wailing” by the bass drums, and some
rather haunting chord progression on the marimba.
David Gillingham earned Bachelor and Master Degrees in Instrumental Music Education from
the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the PhD in Music Theory/Composition from Michigan
State University. Dr. Gillingham has an international reputation for the works he has written for
band and percussion. Many of these works are now considered standards in the repertoire. His
numerous awards include the 1981 DeMoulin Award for Concerto for Bass Trombone and Wind
Ensemble and the 1990 International Barlow Competition (Brigham Young University). Dr.
Gillingham is a Professor of Music at Central Michigan University and the recipient of an
Excellence in Teaching Award (1990), a Summer Fellowship (1991 a Research Professorship
(1995), and recently, the President’s Research Investment Fund grant for his co-authorship of a
proposal to establish an International Center for New Music at Central Michigan University. He is
a member of ASCAP and has been receiving the ASCAP Standard Award for Composers of
Concert Music since 1996.
-DRG
Sizzle! – Nathan Daughtrey
This work features 3 families of percussion instruments: membranes (bongos, snare drum, toms,
bass drum), metals (suspended cymbals, China cymbal, hi-hat), and woods (claves, woodblocks,
temple blocks, log drums, slap stick). A 4th family is created with the players’ voices, whispering
intensely various syllables from the word "Sizzle."
Nathan Daughtrey earned a Bachelor Degree in Instrumental Music Education and Master and
Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in Percussion Performance from the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro. His primary performance teachers have included Dr. Cort McClaren and Keiko
Abe and he studied composition with Dr. Greg Carroll. Dr. Daughtrey is gaining international
recognition for his band and percussion works with performances at educational institutions of all
levels. Many of his works are well on their way to becoming standards in the repertoire, such as
Appalachian Air for concert band, Shock Factor for percussion quintet, and Strange Dreams for
clarinet and marimba. His numerous awards include 1st Place in the 2000 Southeastern
Composers’ League Philip Slates Competition for Episodes for Solo Piano, and 2nd and 3rd
Place for his large percussion ensemble works Limerick Daydreams and Adaptation,
respectively. Dr. Daughtrey also has commissions extending well into 2008. His works have
been performed at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, the Percussive Arts Society
International Conference, the Asian Symphonic Band Competition in Bangkok, and several Music
Educators Conferences and Days of Percussion around the United States.
Normandy Beach – 1944 – David R. Gillingham
On June 6, 1944, at dawn, British and American forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in a
elaborate amphibious operation. 425,000 American, British, and German men lost their lives in
the ensuing conflict. Normandy Beach – 1944 was composed in commemoration of this
important, yet tragic day that changed the course of World War II.
The work is cast in three sections. The first section is dark, mysterious, and slow in tempo,
characterizing the preparation and eve of D-Day. There are long pedal points mixed with
poignant dissonance. Small two-note utterances by bowed marimba can be heard in this section,
alluding to distant bugle calls. Gathering pitch density and motion, the movement segues into the
second section, which depicts the tragic conflict on D-Day, beginning with much motion and
counterpoint between the four marimbas. Underlying this agitation in the marimbas are explosive
articulations by tom-toms and anvil. The low marimbas settle into an ostinato of running sixteenth
notes with the high marimbas playing a haunting motive reminiscent of the bowed bugle calls of
the first section. Ensuing is a repetitive and hammered rhythm in the upper marimbas under
which the low marimbas allude to the second phrase of the Star Spangled Banner. The
hammered rhythm becomes incessant and finally subsides into a dark and mysterious
presentation of the first phrase of America, the Beautiful in chorale style. All motion ceases and
the final section, or epilogue, follows. Beginning in a similar fashion to the first section, a sad and
plaintive chorale transpires in the marimbas, suggesting the aftermath of the tragic day on June 6,
1944. Motivic remnants of America, the Beautiful intercede with the chorale and the work ends
on dark discord over a pedal F-sharp.
-DRG
Pat Metheny was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Following his graduation from Lee's Summit
High School, he briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. (Metheny
dropped out of the University of Miami in his first semester and was immediately offered a
teaching position there.) Metheny came onto the jazz scene quickly in 1975, at the age of 21,
after joining vibraphonist Gary Burton's band and then recording a trio record with bassist Jaco
Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses called Bright Size Life. Metheny's next recording, 1977's
Watercolors, featured pianist Lyle Mays. Metheny's next album formalized this partnership and
began the Pat Metheny Group. Pat Metheny also has released notable solo, trio, quartet and
duet recordings with musicians such as Jim Hall, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes, Gary Burton, Chick
Corea, Charlie Haden, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Bill Stewart, Ornette
Coleman, Brad Mehldau, Joni Mitchell and many others. Metheny has been touring for more than
30 years, averaging 120-240 concerts a year. He has written over 200 pieces and continues to
push musical limits in both his composition and performance. Metheny has collected 17 Grammy
Awards with, as part of The Pat Metheny Group, ten consecutive Grammys.
Upcoming Performances
Michael Haldeman, percussion Saturday, April 21 7:30 Organ Hall
Thad Lowder, percussion Tuesday, April 24 7:30 Recital Hall
Curtis Cotton, percussion Thursday, April 26 5:30 Recital Hall
Andrew Dancy, percussion Friday, April 27 7:30 Recital Hall
UNCG University Band Sunday, April 29 1:30 Dana Auditorium
UNCG Symphonic Band Sunday, April 29 3:30 Dana Auditorium
UNCG Wind Ensemble Sunday, April 29 7:30 Dana Auditorium
UNCG Symphony Orchestra Tuesday, May 1 7:30 Dana Auditorium
