The Texas Christian Percussion Orchestra
In a very fine recent concert by the TCU Percussion Orchestra at Merkin Hall, the group was especially notable for two remarkable assets. The first was a fluidity of talent, allowing several different players to shift from one instrument to another with apparent ease and expertise. In this era of specialization, it was a pleasant surprise. The second was a sensitive awareness of balance, something rare in young musicians (or musicians in general, for that matter.) It was nice to hear finely graded dynamics on instruments like the snare drum and tam-tam, which are so often played without subtlety.
A variety of mallet instruments dominated the stage space and the compositional texture of the program, especially in its first half. Raymond Helble’s Prelude and Rondo alla Marcia, an attractive neo-Baroque work, initiated a trio of fairly traditional pieces with reinforced melodies resting on plush harmonies. Offrendas #3, a sun kissed Brazilian lullaby by Ricardo Souza, followed in smooth succession, beginning placidly, and evolving into something more rhythmically dense, while retaining a calm surface. The composer Eric Ewazen, present at the performance of the third piece, his three movement Symphony for Percussion, rightly applauded the players enthusiastically for a beautiful rendition. The symphony, with big tunes and a Hollywood sensibility, was a perfect match for the musicians at their level of artistry and expression.
The works on the second half of the program were more expansive in both instrumentation and contemporary orchestral techniques. Dave Hall’s nightmarish Doors, the aural equivalent of a Dali painting, was followed by David Maslanka’s Hohner, a highly sophisticated and atmospheric composition, with an unusual structure. It began with an exhilarating coup de theatre, a blast of antiphonal tympani, with an aftershock of rattlers from all corners of the stage. The TCU Orchestra rose to the challenges of both these pieces with fervor and consistency. For the program’s finale, Dwayne Rice’s I Ching required still greater depth and dexterity, especially from the mallet players. They employed the same relaxed focus and concentration as they had all evening, a proof of their own maturity as musicians, and a testament to the excellent training they have received from their teacher and conductor, Brian A. West.
