William Kraft-Percussion By William Kraft (1972? Crystal Records)

Excerpted from the (rather dry and dull) cover notes.


TRIANGLES is Kraft's most recent percussion-featured work.It was begun in 1965 and completed in 1968, and bears the dedication "to the maestro,Igor Stravinsky-my constant inspiration-with love and respect".
The solo voice handles a huge array of drums (six differing types), metallophones (including varied sized cymbals,tam-tams,and triangles,plus four differently pitched antique cymbals and a pair of finger cymbals), lignophones (i.e. wooden instruments,in this case,five temple blocks and three graduated wood blocks as well aas marimba,vibraphone and glockenspiel.
The instrumental body that supports and complements the solo percussion is a dectet of four woodwinds,three horns and three stringed instruments
(...)
A three-in-one organization pertains to the solo voice.First there is a predominance of the membraneous instruments,working out of a number of aleotoric jets of material which Kraft calls "cells". A more settled,motoric type of music follows.The next section features the vibraphone and the marimba,with a substantial cadenza (indeed, a concerto) for the vibraphone.Part three just as emphatically highlights the timpani. Despite this coloristic paragraphing,the music is not segmented.Though devoted to rhapsodic concepts the totality provides  the logical fundament of concert design.For the greater part the other instruments support the structure and frame the detail(...)


THEME AND VARIATIONS
 Is a mini anthology of percussion detail for four players performing on twenty-seven instruments.Kraft's opus serves a dual purpose: it is used as the finale of an entertainingly didactic "Introduction to the Percussion Section"(preceded by short instrumental examples and narration) or,as here, it stands alone as a concert piece.

MOMENTUM
Kraft's octet is based first on an idea in which pitch enlarges and aids the governing doctrine of rhythm.The primary part of the piece is a generating figure with disjunct properties, first heard on the xylophone.This is elongated ant compressed and then contrasted to more conjunct data in which rhythmic counterpoint comes to full growth.


For personel and instrumentation on each piece,see the record labels reproduced below. 
                                                                                                                                                                       

        

Side One:
 
a:Triangles (a concerto for percussion and ten instruments) (18:12)

Side Two:

b1:Theme And Variations (for percussion quartet) (8:16)

b2:Momentum (for eight percussionists) (5:08)

 






















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