Works for Percussion book 1: each
Composer: Nishimura Akira
Composer's Note: Five pieces for percussion ensemble in this publication might be said a little fruit of my study and concern on the Indian music and gamelan. I have been strongly attracted by the Japanese time-honoured world of ""the spirit of tone"" (Iloto-tama"" in Japanese), while on the other hand this kind of Indian rhythms and gamelan tone colours have long fascinated me deeply. When I come in touch with that spirit of tones and the surrounding Asian traditional sound, I never fail to be filled with irresistible rapture or rather natural delight of my soul. As one of today's East Asian composers, I would always like to put that delight of my soul into the works. Some of these pieces are modelled after specific ethnic music or ethnic performing arts. Those original forms, however, were reduced to components in the process of composing for a percussion ensemble, and each musical factor, once abstracted, was creatively reconstituted. Therefore these are not ethnic music any longer, but pure contemporary percussion music. As for the instruments, for example, I tried to confine them within the possession of any international percussion ensembles. In these five pieces is contained my homage to South Asia under the guise of contemporary percussion ensembles. . Fortunately ""KECAK"" and ""TALA"" have been performed by many percussion groups both in Japan and overseas these days. The other three pieces were newly written for the recording of the CD (CAMERATA,32CM-89). All these five pieces are dedicated to 'PERCUSSION GROUP 721, one of the most leading percussion ensemble group in Japan. - Akira NISHIMURA Contents: Legong (1988)
