Percussionists are hard to beat
Concert features 26 instruments — not all at once
Put a musical score in front of Tim Jones and he is off — tapping, gesturing and verbally bringing the music to life.
Such is his talent he doesn’t need instruments.
But instruments he does master. Jones is one of four percussionists playing in Mallets and Melody on April 1 in Palmerston North.
Accompanying the Renaissance Singers, they will play 26 instruments between them ranging from a vibraphone and whip, to bongo and sand blocks.
They don’t all get played at once, Jones is quick to point out. Two standard percussion instruments — the snare drum and crash cymbals — are not needed.
Joining Jones will be Tania Venter, Jami Wallace and Nicky Wuts.
Among the instruments Jones, head of percussion at Manawatu¯ Sinfonia, will play is a crotale. It is a set of upturned cymbals that can be hit or bowed, with the reverberant instrument producing an ethereal sound.
Then there is the challenging rain stick. Jones will need to be careful when he picks it up so the rice inside doesn’t start hitting the thorns, thus making a sound. In contrast, drums only make a sound when they are played.
Rehearsals are a massive undertaking as it takes 90 minutes to set up the instruments, and then there is the practice and packing up.
The percussionists need to make sure the instruments are in exactly the right place as they have to quickly change from one to another and, as Jones puts it, can’t afford to go racing across the stage.
They need to fit everything into a stage 8.5m by 3.2m.
The percussionists need to remain alert as the choir gets its cue from the music.
Joining the percussionists will be celeste player and pianist Shirley Xu. A celeste is like a piano but with strings replaced by metal bars.
Renaissance Singers music director Christine ArcherLockwood has sourced evocative music that tells a vivid story and also showcases the percussion instruments, Jones says.
Hats off to ArcherLockwood for sourcing some amazing music not in the mainstream.
One of the pieces is I Hate and I Love, eight poems from
Odi et amo by Catullus that Dominick Argento has set to music. Argento is very particular about how he wants his percussion, Jones says. For example, one piece requires one small and one large cymbal, not just one cymbal roll. The composer wants two different sounds.
The music is all new to Jones and some of the composers he had not heard of. The choir/percussion combo will create a marvellous effect, he says. “Exciting” punctuates his chat with the Manawatu¯ Guardian.
A concert of percussion and choir was first talked about before the pandemic and there was also a false start last spring.
Warren Warbrick will play taonga pu¯oro to accompany
Laden Earth, 2020, composed by Kiwi Pepe Becker. The vocal tribute to Papatu¯ a¯ nuku will have its premiere at the concert. It is a rueful reminder of our role in helping Mother Earth to keep humankind safe.