New Jersey Percussion ensemble

Talujon and Friends
at the
Kitting Factory

"Percussion Discussion"
May 13, 2005
7:30PM

74 Leonard Street
New York City , NY 10013
212-219-3132

Program

Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) - Steve Reich                        

Joseph Bergen, Peter Jarvis, April McCloskey, Michael Sperone, Justin Wolf

Suite for Toy Piano - John Cage
                            1.
                            2.
                            3.
                            4.
                            5.

Joseph Bergen

Program notes:    

    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 been used in orchestral works by Varèse, Copland 9In Connotations, among other works), and Berio. 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. - Leon Botstein

Biographical Information

    The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble directed by Peter Jarvis was founded in 1968 by Raymond DesRoches, who co-directed the group with Peter Jarvis and Gary Van Dyke until 2004. The highly acclaimed ensemble is made up of professionals and students from William Paterson University, where it has been in residence since 1972. Because of an ongoing commitment to the proliferation of percussion repertoire, numerous pieces have been written for, premiered by and recorded by the ensemble. The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble has appeared in the United States and Europe as guests of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Group for Contemporary Music, the Composers Guild of New Jersey, the San Francisco Symphony, the Gaudeamus Foundation, Radio Denmark, and countless others. The group can be heard on Nonesuch, Composer's Recording Inc., Music and Arts, Koch International, Desoto, New World, NAXOS, the Composers Guild of New Jersey and Capstone recording labels.

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05/14/2005 08:23:12 AM