Credits:

Nicholas Kitchen, Frank Epstein, New England Conservatory of Music Percussion Ensemble

Description:

This album contains three works with the unique composition of “violin and percussion orchestra. This novel combination was conceived by Lou Harrison in 1959, and his experimental use of sound, which was rooted in the classical music tradition while at the same time favoring the sounds of oriental instruments, has certainly influenced the next generation of composers. In this Harrison concerto, in addition to traditional instruments such as cymbals, maracas, gongs, tam-tams, and bass drums, he uses two suspended wash tubs, two resonating clock coils, and six flowerpots, as well as a double bass placed on its back and struck with sticks. The melody of the solo violin is colored by Robert Zeivia Rodriguez, born in 1946, a composer who studied with Nadia Boulanger and Elliott Carter. This “Shochiquetzal,” a concerto for viol