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The Rise of The Percussionist-Composer
The Rise of The Percussionist-Composer
The Rise of The Percussionist-Composer
N PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
I
think that percussionists are tinker- chestral repertoire, for example, which ture we are seeing the melding of music
ers by nature. We are explorers. We go back hundreds of years. As percussion genres, of so-called “high” and “low” mu-
are discovering our world through has moved from the back of the stage to sic, or art music and pop music. In the eyes
sound every day. We are often asked being the focal point of a performance, as of would-be composers, this may remove
to find new sounds, or even create new it often is today, there have been many some of the boundaries around becom-
instruments. As Adam Sliwinski puts it changes in our repertoire and the manner ing a composer; that is, being a composer
in The Cambridge Companion to Percus- in which it is developed. carries with it many stigmas. Only a few
sion, “Rather than specialist-performers, Consider the two ideas I have just pre- generations ago, composers created art
percussionists are more like curators of sented: on the one hand, percussionists for the wealthiest members of society,
sound.”1 are explorers, tinkerers, and often impro- and their music was only performed by
Have you ever walked through Target visers (drum set players especially); on people wearing tuxedos and dresses. To-
and found a violinist bowing items on the the other, the body of work composed for day, a classical percussionist might live a
shelf? Probably not. What about a brass our instruments is relatively small and good portion of his or her life in the pop
player buzzing her lips on an object to see young. It seems logical, then, that many music world as a performer and song-
if it makes a good mouthpiece? I doubt it. percussionists have taken to compos- writer, so it makes sense that this same
But I can tell you that I have tapped and ing music for our art form, and in recent musician may be inspired to compose, for
scraped and shaken numerous bowls, decades we have seen a rise in what we example, pop-influenced music for a per-
glasses, toys, and other items on store call “percussionist-composers”—percus- cussion ensemble.
shelves to hear the pitches and sounds sion performers and teachers who also Second, the recent surge in percussion-
they make. Sometimes I have done this compose original music. Based on my ist-composers may have something to do
out of my own curiosity, but sometimes it experience and some informal research, with our cultural interest in singer-song-
has been out of necessity, as I’ve searched I estimate that a significant percentage writers. This class of musician (and genre
for a set of mixing bowls that sound at (possibly as high as 25%) of college-level of music) made its rise in the 1960s and
specific pitches. Sure, I’ve received a few and professional percussionists today also 1970s, as songwriters moved from writ-
odd looks, but in the spirit of exploration, compose music, and if you include those ing as hired hands to performing their
I don’t mind. who arrange music for marching bands own songs, expressing the sentiments of
The art of percussion is many thou- and drumlines, that percentage is likely their songs directly to an audience.2 I see
sands of years old, but within the world much higher. I would like to share a few a possible parallel here between percus-
of Western Art Music percussion-centric thoughts about why I believe this is the sionists and pop music singer-songwrit-
writing is a rather new development. The case, and I will follow with some thoughts ers, as percussionists often have one foot
earliest percussion ensemble works are on the implications that this carries for in the classical world and another in the
not even yet 100 years old, with a large our repertoire as well as our art form. pop world, largely due to the role of the
number of substantial chamber and solo drum set.
percussion works having been composed WHY ARE MORE PERCUSSION- Consider the similarities between the
in my lifetime. This short lifespan is strik- ISTS COMPOSING MUSIC? two monikers: singer-songwriter and per-
ing when compared to solo piano or or- First, in our increasingly globalized cul- cussionist-composer. They are essentially
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