Daniel McCarthy (b. 1955) is Associate Professor of Music at the University of
Akron in Ohio. He also teaches composition at the Interlochen Arts Camp and
DePauw University, and holds the position of Director of the Midwest
Composers’ Forum. During the last decade, he has made an astounding
contribution to the impact of American music, and transformed percussion
performance into a more vital genre. His music has been performed at almost
every major conference in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. His
percussion music appeals to musicians at all levels.
The names for each movement of Swords of Power refer to swords that are
found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Orcrest: the Goblin
Cleaver refers to a sword that the Elves used in war with the Orcs of Morgoth.
The Orcrest [Orcrist] was said to have killed hundreds of Goblins during these
wars. Glamdring: the Foe Hammer refers to the white sword that Gandalf, the
great wizard, carried with him during the great wars. This piece accompanies
two other percussion works by the composer that looks to the Trilogy for
inspiration: the Song of Middle Earth for marimba/multi-percussion solo and
percussion ensemble, and the Call of Boromir for horn and marimba.
Swords of Power features an incredible amount of percussion instruments, none
of which carries an exact pitch. Each movement uses both players as soloist and
accompaniment, as well as a large amount of unison playing. Orcrest shifts
evenly from 4/2 meter to 6/8 meter, while Glamdring stays in 4/4 and, for a lack
of a better term, grooves.
Minoru Miki (b. 1930) is a leading Japanese composer. He founded the Pro
Musica Nipponia in 1964 and served as Artistic Director for 20 years, leading
the contemporary Japanese instrumental world and producing over 160
performances abroad in his efforts to internationalize traditional Japanese
instruments. He is a composer of symphonies, operas, concertos and chamber
music. He founded opera theaters and chamber ensembles, and continues his
work as the Director of the Japan Federation of Composers. He also is a visiting
professor of the Shikoku University in Tokushima City, Japan, and a lecturer at
the Tokyo College of Music.
Upon discussing Marimba Spiritual, Miki has said:
This piece was composed from 1983 to the beginning of 1984, keeping in
mind the acute period of starvation and famine in Africa which was
occurring at that time. The piece is composed in an organic fashion, with
the first half of the piece as a static requiem and the last part a lively
resurrection. The rhythmic patterns for the [last] part are taken from the
festival drumming of the Chichibu area northwest of Tokyo. The title is
an expression of the total process.
The piece was commissioned by the Japan Broadcasting Society. The
premier was on March 18, 1984 in Amsterdam with [marimba player]
Keiko Abe and the New Percussion Group of Amsterdam.
Pete Zambito
percussion
featuring
Cheryse McLeod, mezzo-soprano
Nathan Daughtrey, percussion
Jeff Calissi, percussion
A.J. Chenail, percussion
Jonan Keeny, percussion
Graduate Recital
Monday, March 18, 2002
7:30 P.M.
Recital Hall, Music Building
Perc
Program
Prelude No. 3 in C Major (1987) Ney Rosauro
(b. 1952)
Grand Fantasy in C Major (1977) Raymond Helble
(b. 1949)
Five Songs for Voice and Marimba (1994) Lynn Glassock
It sifts from leaden sieves (b. 1946)
A MURMUR text by Emily Dickinson
The sun kept setting
Two butterflies
The summer lapsed away
Swords of Power (1999) Daniel McCarthy
Orcrest: The Goblin Cleaver (b. 1955)
Glamdring: The Foe Hammer
Marimba Spiritual (1984) Minoru Miki
(b. 1930)
This concert is dedicated in loving memory to
Carol Albert Foy (1975-2002)
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Doctor of Musical Arts
* * * * * * * * * *
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should please see one of the ushers in the lobby.
The sun kept setting
The sun kept setting, setting still;
No hue of afternoon
Upon the village I perceived,
From house to house ‘twas noon.
The dusk kept dropping, dropping
still;
No dew upon the grass,
But only on my forehead stopped,
And wandered in my face.
My feet kept drowsing, drowsing still,
My fingers were awake
Yet why so little sound myself
Unto my seeming make?
How well I knew the light before!
I could not see it now.
‘Tis dying, I am doing;
But I’m not afraid to know.
Two butterflies
Two butterflies went out at noon
And waltzed above a stream,
Then stepped straight through the
firmament
And rested on a beam;
And then together bore away
Upon a shining sea,
Though never yet, in any port,
Their coming mentioned be.
If spoken by the distant bird,
If met in ether sea
By frigate or by merchant man,
Report was not to me.
The summer lapsed away
As imperceptibly as grief
The summer lapsed away,
Too imperceptible, at last,
To seem like perfidy.
A quietness distilled,
As twilight long begun,
Or Nature, spending with herself
Sequestered afternoon.
The dusk drew earlier in,
The morning foreign shone,
A courteous, yet harrowing grace,
As guest who would be gone.
And thus, without a wing,
Or service of a keel,
Our summer made her light escape
Into the beautiful.
uncg
percussion
ensemble
thursday, april 18 · 7:30 pm
recital hall, school of music
Ney Rosauro (b. 1952) began his musical studies at the age of 12. From 1972-
78, he studied composition and conducting at the Universidade de Brasilia,
Brazil. He received his Masters Degree from the Hochschule für Musik
Würzburg in Germany in 1987, and received a DMA in percussion in 1992 from
the University of Miami (Florida). He has written several method books for
percussion instruments, and continues to teach in both the United States and
Brazil. In 1990, he received the Musician of the Year award by the Musical
Press Agency of South Brazil.
Prelude No. 3 in C Major is part of a set of three preludes written by the
composer for solo marimba from 1983-87 and published in 1990. This
particular prelude was premiered by the composer in 1988 at the I Encontro
Brasileiro de Percussionistas da UNESP and is dedicated to Luiz Anunciacao, a
Brazilian orchestral percussionist and one of Rosauro’s first mentors. Prelude
No. 3, as is common with all three preludes, evokes the spirit of Brazilian guitar
music. Written in ABA format, the A sections are rolled and sustained, while
the B section features a rapid, repeated pattern that accompanies a melody in the
form of a dialogue between two different registers.
Raymond Helble (b. 1949) is an arranger, teacher, conductor and composer
who currently resides in Dixon, Missouri. His music covers many genres,
including choral, orchestral, chamber, and solo pieces. Many of his works could
be categorized as Neo-Classic, harkening back to the eras of Bach and Mozart.
The Grand Fantasy in C Major is a pleasant hybrid of the familiar language of
music of the early 1800s and the humor of P.D.Q. Bach and Victor Borge. It is
a spoof of the piano music of the late 1700s and early 1800s, where the intent is
to show how many variations a theme can have and to do so in some ways by
refusing to end. In fact, the piece seems to end four or five times, but continues
on until, FINALLY, the end arrives.
Lynn Glassock (b. 1946) is Associate Professor of Music at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he primarily teaches percussion. He
received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the University of
North Texas. His primary teachers have included Paul Guerrero, Ron Fink,
Kalman Cherry, Ed Soph, and Leigh Howard Stevens. He is also currently
Chairman of the Percussive Arts Society Composition Committee. He has
received several awards for his compositions, including first place awards in the
PAS composition contest four times.
Five Songs for Voice and Marimba was the winning composition in the 1994
Percussive Arts Society Composition contest. According to Mr. Glassock:
Five Songs was written in the winter and spring of 1994. Although there
is no single theme, each poem deals with life, death and nature, which are
common subjects in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Movements II and IV are
lighter and somewhat on the whimsical side, while I, III, and V are more
thoughtful and reflective.
As would be expected, the marimba must often fill the role of
“accompanist” for the vocalist. It does, however, manage to become the
soloist or equal partner with the voice numerous times throughout the
piece. The dynamics are often rather soft, reflecting the poems’
collective sense of tranquility.
It sifts from leaden sieves
It sifts from leaden sieves,
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road.
It makes an even face
Of mountain and of plain,
Unbroken forehead from the east
Unto the east again.
It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it, rail by rail,
Till it is lost in fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil.
On stump and stack and stem,
The summer’s empty room,
Acres of seams where harvests were,
Recordless, but for them.
It ruffles wrists of posts,
As ankles of a queen,
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,
Denying they have been.
A MURMUR
A MURMUR in the trees to note,
Not loud enough for wind;
A star not far enough to seek,
Nor near enough to find;
A long, long yellow on the lawn,
A hubbub as of feet;
Not audible, as ours to us,
But dapperer, more sweet.
A hurrying home of little men
To houses unperceived,
All this, and more, if I should tell,
Would never be believed.
Of robins in the trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose nightgowns could not hide the
wings,
Although I heard them try!
But then I promised ne’er to tell;
How could I break my word?
So go your way and I’ll go mine,
No fear you’ll miss the road.
Ney Rosauro (b. 1952) began his musical studies at the age of 12. From 1972-
78, he studied composition and conducting at the Universidade de Brasilia,
Brazil. He received his Masters Degree from the Hochschule für Musik
Würzburg in Germany in 1987, and received a DMA in percussion in 1992 from
the University of Miami (Florida). He has written several method books for
percussion instruments, and continues to teach in both the United States and
Brazil. In 1990, he received the Musician of the Year award by the Musical
Press Agency of South Brazil.
Prelude No. 3 in C Major is part of a set of three preludes written by the
composer for solo marimba from 1983-87 and published in 1990. This
particular prelude was premiered by the composer in 1988 at the I Encontro
Brasileiro de Percussionistas da UNESP and is dedicated to Luiz Anunciacao, a
Brazilian orchestral percussionist and one of Rosauro’s first mentors. Prelude
No. 3, as is common with all three preludes, evokes the spirit of Brazilian guitar
music. Written in ABA format, the A sections are rolled and sustained, while
the B section features a rapid, repeated pattern that accompanies a melody in the
form of a dialogue between two different registers.
Raymond Helble (b. 1949) is an arranger, teacher, conductor and composer
who currently resides in Dixon, Missouri. His music covers many genres,
including choral, orchestral, chamber, and solo pieces. Many of his works could
be categorized as Neo-Classic, harkening back to the eras of Bach and Mozart.
The Grand Fantasy in C Major is a pleasant hybrid of the familiar language of
music of the early 1800s and the humor of P.D.Q. Bach and Victor Borge. It is
a spoof of the piano music of the late 1700s and early 1800s, where the intent is
to show how many variations a theme can have and to do so in some ways by
refusing to end. In fact, the piece seems to end four or five times, but continues
on until, FINALLY, the end arrives.
Lynn Glassock (b. 1946) is Associate Professor of Music at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he primarily teaches percussion. He
received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the University of
North Texas. His primary teachers have included Paul Guerrero, Ron Fink,
Kalman Cherry, Ed Soph, and Leigh Howard Stevens. He is also currently
Chairman of the Percussive Arts Society Composition Committee. He has
received several awards for his compositions, including first place awards in the
PAS composition contest four times.
Five Songs for Voice and Marimba was the winning composition in the 1994
Percussive Arts Society Composition contest. According to Mr. Glassock:
Five Songs was written in the winter and spring of 1994. Although there
is no single theme, each poem deals with life, death and nature, which are
common subjects in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Movements II and IV are
lighter and somewhat on the whimsical side, while I, III, and V are more
thoughtful and reflective.
As would be expected, the marimba must often fill the role of
“accompanist” for the vocalist. It does, however, manage to become the
soloist or equal partner with the voice numerous times throughout the
piece. The dynamics are often rather soft, reflecting the poems’
collective sense of tranquility.
It sifts from leaden sieves
It sifts from leaden sieves,
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road.
It makes an even face
Of mountain and of plain,
Unbroken forehead from the east
Unto the east again.
It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it, rail by rail,
Till it is lost in fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil.
On stump and stack and stem,
The summer’s empty room,
Acres of seams where harvests were,
Recordless, but for them.
It ruffles wrists of posts,
As ankles of a queen,
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,
Denying they have been.
A MURMUR
A MURMUR in the trees to note,
Not loud enough for wind;
A star not far enough to seek,
Nor near enough to find;
A long, long yellow on the lawn,
A hubbub as of feet;
Not audible, as ours to us,
But dapperer, more sweet.
A hurrying home of little men
To houses unperceived,
All this, and more, if I should tell,
Would never be believed.
Of robins in the trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose nightgowns could not hide the
wings,
Although I heard them try!
But then I promised ne’er to tell;
How could I break my word?
So go your way and I’ll go mine,
No fear you’ll miss the road.
Pete Zambito
percussion
featuring
Cheryse McLeod, mezzo-soprano
Nathan Daughtrey, percussion
Jeff Calissi, percussion
A.J. Chenail, percussion
Jonan Keeny, percussion
Graduate Recital
Monday, March 18, 2002
7:30 P.M.
Recital Hall, Music Building
Program
Prelude No. 3 in C Major (1987) Ney Rosauro
(b. 1952)
Grand Fantasy in C Major (1977) Raymond Helble
(b. 1949)
Five Songs for Voice and Marimba (1994) Lynn Glassock
It sifts from leaden sieves (b. 1946)
A MURMUR text by Emily Dickinson
The sun kept setting
Two butterflies
The summer lapsed away
Swords of Power (1999) Daniel McCarthy
Orcrest: The Goblin Cleaver (b. 1955)
Glamdring: The Foe Hammer
Marimba Spiritual (1984) Minoru Miki
(b. 1930)
This concert is dedicated in loving memory to
Carol Albert Foy (1975-2002)
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Doctor of Musical Arts
* * * * * * * * * *
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should please see one of the ushers in the lobby.