Duo Recital (7/3/25)
Cypher (2020) - Kevin Day (b. 1996) 4’
Ephemeral (2021) - Hannah White (b. ?) 4’
FLOW (2016) - Benjamin Dean Taylor (b. 1983) 8’
Café 1930 (1985) - Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) arr. Luc Vertommen 6’
- Break -
Ratata! (2010) - Fernando Deddos (b. 1983) 2:30’
A Little Prayer (1978) - Dame Evelyn Glennie (b. 1965) 3’
Verano Porteno (1965) - Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) arr. Pius Cheung 6:45’
Spitfire (2013) - Nathan Daughtrey (b. 1975) 8’
Cypher (2020) - Kevin Day (b. 1996) 4’
CYPHER was composed for Blake Birmingham and received its premiere during Blake's University of North Texas Masters recital in April 2021.
Ephemeral (2021) - Hannah White 4’
From the composer:
“This short piece, originally written for tenor horn and marimba was inspired by the work of Due Synthesis – the Swiss duo consisting of Thomas Rüedi on euphonium and Rafael Christen on marimba.
Being a tenor horn player myself and having never heard a piece with this instrumentation before, I was intrigued to experiment with the sound of the two instruments. I found the tenor horn blended with the marimba really effectively, especially if written in the low register which most of this piece is.
The peace begins very still, and then becomes more and more intense through the middle section before finally dying away at the end with one simple note giving the piece its title: Ephemeral – meaning short-lived.”
FLOW (2016) - Benjamin Dean Taylor (b. 1983) 8’
From the composer:
”We were all taught as little kids that mixing water and electricity is extremely dangerous. Maybe that is why I’ve always been fascinated with hydroelectric dams and the mysterious process of transferring water current into electric current. To me, it is amazing that the flow of water can be turned into the flow of electrons running down a wire. As a piece of music for euphonium and electronics, FLOW, explores these concepts by incorporating recorded water sounds and flowing melodies layered on top of electronic drum beats with intricate rhythms (the word rhythm comes from the Greek rhuthmos which is related to rhein, meaning “to flow”). The primary melodic material for the work is generated from the four letters in the word flow, which produce the pitches A, B-flat, E, F. This work was commissioned by Kenneth Kroesche, to whom I am deeply grateful for his support and friendship.”
Café 1930 (1985) - Astor Piazzolla (1912-1992) arr. Luc Vertommen 6’
“"Histoire du Tango" Is one of the most famous compositions by tango composer Astor Piazzolla, originally written for flute and guitar in 1986. It was Piazzolla's lifes work to bring the tango from the bordello's and dance halls of Argentina Into the concert halls of Europe and America. It attempted to convey their history and evolution of the tango in four movements, Bordello 1900, Cafe 1930, Nightclub 1960, and Concert d'Aujourd'hui.
Cafe 1930 describes another age of the tango. People stopped dancing it as they did in 1900, preferring instead simply to listen to it. It became more musical, and more romantic. This tango has undergone total transformation: the movements are slower, with new and often melancholy harmonies. Tango orchestras came to consist of two violins, two concertinas, a piano, and a bass. The tango is sometimes sung as well.”
Ratata! (2010) - Fernando Deddos (b. 1983) 2’
Notes
A Little Prayer (1978) - Dame Evelyn Glennie (b. 1965) 3’
From the composer:
”When I was 13, I set out to explore the possibilities of four-mallet playing. The exercise seemed simple enough: I wrote a basic harmonic progression to experiment with creating a smooth, flowing sound on the xylophone. But there was one problem – the school had a rickety old xylophone, not a nice resonant marimba. As a pianist, I was accustomed to producing more smooth, legato lines. The xylophone, with its shorter and more percussive sound, seemed like an impossible challenge. However, I was determined to achieve the same legato feel on this “shortest-sounding” instrument I could imagine.
As I played, something interesting began to happen. The harmonic progression, though simple, started to resonate in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Friends, teachers, and fellow students commented that the piece felt like a prayer. It was in that moment that the evolution began. The exercise had started as an exploration of technique, but now it was becoming something more – a musical expression that felt more purposeful. This gave me the impetus to create a more cohesive structure to my harmonic ‘exercise’. It developed and flowed into an actual piece of music.
Following the observations of my friends and teachers, I had nicknamed the piece A Wee Prayer – a very natural title being Scottish! But when I had the opportunity to perform it at a school concert, I realized that the title needed to be something more universal. It needed to reflect the broader resonance I was beginning to sense. Thus, A Wee Prayer became A Little Prayer – a title that felt more fitting for the piece’s quiet, reflective impact.
Little did I know, A Little Prayer would strike a chord far beyond my school concert on the rickety xylophone. Over the years, it has touched audiences from all corners of the world. Musicians from various backgrounds, not just percussionists, have connected with it in ways I could never have imagined. The question often arises: What makes this piece so universally appealing? What gives it such a lasting presence?
The beauty of A Little Prayer lies in its personal connection to each listener. There’s no one “correct” way to experience the piece. For some, it might be a deeply religious or spiritual experience. For others, it could be about the sound itself, the purity of the harmonies or the technical challenges of playing it. Others might connect emotionally, finding solace or reflection in the simplicity of the music. This piece, born from a simple technical exercise on a xylophone, has evolved into a living, breathing entity that continues to take on new forms with each interpretation.
Now, years later, it’s incredibly rewarding to see A Little Prayer evolve through countless arrangements and performances, each one beautifully unique in its own right. Each rendition adds a new layer to the piece’s meaning, proving that music, at its best, transcends boundaries and allows us all to engage with it in our own way. From its humble beginnings to its global resonance, A Little Prayer is a reminder that sometimes the most powerful pieces of music begin with a simple, honest gesture that grows into something that speaks to the hearts of many.”
Verano Porteno (1965) - Astor Piazzolla arr. Pius Cheung 6’
“The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, also known as the Estaciones Porteñas or The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, are a set of four tango compositions written by Ástor Piazzolla, which were originally conceived and treated as different compositions rather than one suite, although Piazzolla performed them together from time to time. The pieces were scored for his quintet of violin, piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneón. By giving the adjective porteño, referring to those born in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital city, Piazzolla gives an impression of the four seasons in Buenos Aires. The order of performance Piazzolla gave to his "Estaciones Porteñas" is: Otoño (Autumn), Invierno (Winter), Primavera (Spring), Verano (Summer). It was different from Vivaldi's order, and reflects the different seasons experienced simultaneously in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.”
Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) was written in 1965, originally as incidental music for the play 'Melenita de oro' by Alberto Rodríguez Muñoz, here arranged for marimba by Pius Cheung, a Chinese-Canadian percussionist and composer.
Spitfire (2013) - Nathan Daughtrey (b. 1975) 8’
Note