Percussia is a chamber quintet of very original design: two percussionists, a flautist, a harpist, a violist, to which is added a soprano here (for one piece). We don’t often, in fact never, come across this kind of sound combination. As a result, the scores played on this album reveal musical landscapes of a very pleasant and unique neo-impressionist character, but also sometimes augmented with modernism and gamelan-style colourations, well-suited and complementary marriages.
The tone of the pieces proposed in the program is essentially positive and cheerful. The compositions are all from the 21st century (which is already a quarter done!!) and by American artists of diverse backgrounds. All are resolutely consonant and accessible for an audience new to creative music. I particularly noticed Moiré by Bill Clark and Murmuration (the title piece) by Alexis Lamb, two works that use the group’s unique instrumentation in a refined and very seductive colourist spirit. The neo-impressionism deployed in these two pieces is not stereotypical enough to tire attentive listening. Murmuration has the added depth of evoking the synchronised, undulating, and virtuosic flight of large groups of starbirds performing wonders of aerial ballet. Lamb’s music gently expresses the interweaving movements of these naturally virtuosic creatures.
Matthew Welch’s Variasi Ombak betrays the composer’s Indonesian leanings. Ombak in Indonesian means waves, and the music’s undulations fit that idea perfectly, adding sounds inherited from Balinese gamelan music. There’s something a little reminiscent of Alan Hovhaness’ world, but more dreamy, even fairy-like. It’s gorgeous. Violist Ljova’s (he also plays the fadolin, a six-string violin) On the Street Where I Live is a world music-affirming creation, while Dennis Tobenski’s Starfish at Pescadero adds soprano Melissa Fogerty to the mix. This last piece is the most melancholy of the program, with chromatic harmonies that approach a “serious” modernity, which we haven’t heard anywhere else on the album. The lyrics are taken from the poetry of Idris Anderson.
The poem, on the surface, is a trip to the beach—little vignettes of two people enjoying the day together. Underneath, it’s about the inexplicable sadness that can accompany even the happiest of times, and an inability to communicate our feelings to one another, particularly to those we have the strongest feelings for.
– Dennis Tobenski
This is the kind of album that surprises and stays with you.
Members of the ensemble:
Ingrid Gordon, percussion
Frank Cassara, percussion
Margaret Lancaster, flute
Susan Jolles, harp
Llova, alto, fadolín
Melissa Fogerty, soprano (Guest)
