The McGill Percussion Ensemble- Percussion (1978)

Here is some percussion music from some Montreal-based composers.

Notes excerpted from the back cover (enclosed):

Francois Morel- Rythmologue (1969)
is written for eight percussionists and a total ensemble of 90 percussion instruments of varied pitch, along with eight whistles, the latter being heard only at the beginning of the piece.
Rythmologue is built on prime numbers 3-5-7-11-13-17-19 and adopts a broadened form of rondo.Refrains enhance the various transformations of rhythmic characters, while the episodes are free in style and lean towards a thematic concept.There are no keyboard instruments (vibraphone, xylophone, marimba, tubular bells or glockenspiel) but only three groups of timbres: skin, metal and wood.
Avoiding any exotic aim, Rythmologue strives simply to give life to rhythm and color.

Alcides Lanza- Sensors I (1976-1) for percussion Ensemble. Written for four solo percussion players, the composer intended to create a "harmony of percussion", starting on a field of continuous stratified sounds and evolving into a field of granular, discontinuous sounds with a high density index. The compsition is structured on two parallel Fibonacci series, starting out of phase and slowly going into phase towards the end of the piece.
As the composer did in his earlier composition for Percussion Ensemble and electronic sounds Interferences II (1967-1), certain techniques were borrowed from the field of electronic music composition:
filtering:
by using a variety of mallets and modes of attack: by using new types of mallets.
modulation:
by striking different areas in the instruments, new mallets, new performing techniques,etc.

Serge Garant- Circuit I
was quickly organized between December 28, 1971, and the following January 10. It is the least "written" of my scores. In it, I continue the exploration of a series of proportions that come from an interval analysis of the theme of The Musical Offering. This basic series (3-4-1-9-7-2-5) affects, first of all, the duration of the seven principal sequences. These sequences are interrupted four times by digression of varying lengths. The series of proportions in turn gives rise to a large network of series, all built according to the principle of the Fibonacci series. The performers wander, more of less freely, across this network, tracing a "circuit"

Several versions are possible. I have intentionally used very vague indications of dynamics, timbres and modes of performance.

Andrew Culver-Signature- 
 
  










Composed during December 1976 and January 1977, is dedicated as a Christmas gift to his family. Culver has also done extensive improvisation, performance, and design of new sound sources and environments with le groupe mud/design musical.(*)
Andrew Culver was born in New Jersey in 1953. After several years of peripheral involvement in music of all styles, he took up music study in earnest at the age of 20. His guiding influences have been Bengt Hambraeus and Mario Bertoncini with whom he studied composition at McGill University.

* le groupe mud/design musical is also known by the group name "Sonde" Whose album "en concert" can be found here.


Side One:

a1: Francois Morel- Rythmologue (10:54)

a2: Alcides Lanza- Sensors I (1976-1) (12:14)

Side Two:

b1: Serge Garant- Circuit I (13:27)

b2: Andrew Culver- Signature (5:22)

The McGill Percussion Ensemble
directed by Pierre Beluse
 





















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