Percussion • Youngstown State University • Dana School of Music

Eric Zalenski, Junior Percussion Recital 

This Junior Recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the B.M. in Music Education.

 Bliss Hall – 2222

Thursday, May 5, 2011

8:00 p.m.

Suite IV in E flat Major BWV 1010 (ca. 1720)                                         J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude

 Suite No. 4 is one of the most technically demanding of the suites since E-flat is an uncomfortable key to intonate on the cello and requires many extended left hand positions. The Prelude primarily consists of a difficult flowing quaver movement that leaves room for a cadenza before returning to its original theme.

Six Ideas for Snare, Bass and Cymbals (1990)                                  Dave Hollinden (b. 1958)

Within the course of the six movements, Hollinden explores a wide range of possibilities afforded by the three instruments at hand, using them in various combinations, in dialog fashion, manipulating various beating spots, and even in a context reminiscent of their function in a drum-set setting. In all movements, however, an advanced degree of hand-foot coordination is required, as bass drum functions as a melodic participant in the contrapuntal lines. Multi-metric writing is used throughout the work. Metric modulations are a large part of the piece as well. Each movement has some degree of modulations, either modulating once or as often as several bars at a time. These metric modulations take the player through a wide range of time signatures. These work by having a note value from the first time signature being equivalent to a note value in the second time signature.

                                                                                          Notes By John R. Raush and E. Zalenski

Cider Jug (1985)                                                                                        John S. Pratt (b. 1931)

Cider Jug is from The New Pratt Book, is a collection of contest solos for snare drum published in 1985.

 Jack Pratt began playing drums when he was 10 years old.  His first exposure to drumming was through his school band director, John Frasier.  His musical activities in school included marching band, concert band and orchestra. Although Jack plays at a level most of us will only dream of achieving, his true claim to fame is as a composer of rudimental drum music.  His first book 14 Modern Contest Solos set the standard by which all rudimental drum books will be judged.

Eight Pieces for 4 Timpani (1949)                                                           Elliott Carter (b. 1908)

March

The Canto and Adagio of this set of Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (One Player) were written in 1966, while the other six were composed in 1949. The six from 1949, besides being virtuoso solos for the instrumentalist, are studies in the controlled, interrelated changes of tempo now called “metric modulation,” and generated ideas carried further in my First String Quartet begun at the same time and completed shortly afterwards. Each piece is dedicated to a performer who showed an interest in the works in their early days:

 March, dedicated to Saul Goodman, is two march rhythms of different speeds are superimposed, one played with the butts, the other with the heads of the drum sticks. These produce musical ideas expanded in the middle section. Saul Goodman was the timpanist for the New York Philharmonic from 1926 to 1972.

                                                                                                                        Notes By Elliot Carter

Variations on Japanese Children Songs (1982)                                         Keiko Abe (b. 1937)

 Variations on Japanese Children’s Songs is based on the songs and memories of Abe’s childhood in pre-World War II Tokyo. It is composed in three sections, and opens with an ostinato in the left hand over which the right hand melody grows and becomes more complex, melding more and more with the ostinato. There are occasional interjections of faster material, but Abe always returns to the opening melody.

The second section is an improvisatory cadenza-like section. Abe juxtaposes the extreme registers of the instrument, as well as an extreme dynamic range. Small motives are developed, then left for the next idea, requiring the performer to change styles quickly while finding a way to maintain a sense of continuity.

The final section recalls the interjections of the opening. It begins abruptly at fortissimo, announcing to the listener that the piece is moving on. In this section, the opening melody and ostinato are used as interjections, bringing the piece full circle without an exact repeat. The two songs are varied and developed through the entire work, resulting in a piece that repeats while at the same time moves the audience from one place to another.

                                                                                                             Notes by Nichole M. Horner

Bio

 Eric is a Junior Music Education Major at Youngstown State University. He is from Bloomingdale, Ohio where he graduated from Indian Creek High School. There he was a member of the Marching Band, Concert Band, and Jazz Band.

At Youngstown State, his teachers include Glenn Schaft, Rob Ferguson, Josh Ryan and Nathan Douds. Eric is currently in Percussion Ensemble and Concert Band. He has played in the University Symphonic Band, the Marching Pride, the Dana Chamber Orchestra, the Wind Ensemble and the pit orchestra for the opera Amelia Goes To The Ball. Eric is also an active member of the Youngstown Percussion Collective serving as the treasurer. Outside of the University, Eric has served as the percussion coordinator for East Palestine High School, Shadyside High School, and Indian Creek High School.