Percussionist still bringing on the beats at 80
The pounding and rattling sound of a percussion ensemble probably isn’t what comes to mind when you think of music for the holidays, “The Little Drummer Boy” notwithstanding. Yet Richard Albagli has made it into a local tradition by presenting the UAlbany Percussion Ensemble in an annual event titled “Twelve Drummers Drumming.” The latest installment was a fun and well-performed hour of contemporary music on Monday, Dec. 5, at the university’s Performing Arts Center. Still to come under Albagli’s leadership is a holiday concert of the percussion ensembles of the Empire State Youth Orchestra on Dec. 20 at the Massry Center in Albany.
Albagli has been the Capital Region’s preeminent percussionist since the late ‘70s when he finished his graduate work at the Eastman School in Rochester and became principal percussionist for the Albany Symphony Orchestra, a post he still holds. As a teacher he’s mentored generations of young players who went on to become professionals and are spread across the country. Now 80 years old, Albagli has no plans to slow down. “It’s always been a mission for me to work with young people. Doing something useful is why I’m here,” he says.
On this occasion, the ensemble at UAlbany consisted of six focused and proficient undergraduate students with Albagli performing alongside them and sometimes stepping up as conductor. The concert was effectively their final exam for the semester. According to Albagli, none of them are music majors, two of them never played a drum before, and one had never held a musical instrument. He describes the state of percussion studies on campus as being in a post-COVID rebuilding phase. The largest crop of student players that he’s had at one time was 16. “Eight or nine would be nice,” he adds.
The program of seven short works went in lots of different stylistic directions and, typical of the genre, the musicians performed on a range of instruments, even making sounds with
their bodies. That came in David Punto’s “The Chairman of the Bored,” certainly the most theatrical bit of the night. It began with amplified announcements from offstage of train arrivals and departures, most of them running hours late. Meanwhile the six players onstage all slumped in their chairs just like weary travelers in a soulless terminal. As the announcements faded, they proceeded to pass the time with finger snaps and foot taps, clapping and chest thumps, all to an internally sustained moderato beat.
Melodies are hard to come by when you’re talking about percussion, so there was a feeling of celebration to the Afro-Caribbean song “Corazon Caminero” by Jose Plutarco Guzman. The colorful and snappy arrangement for three marimbas plus a rhythm section evoked visions of a winter vacation in the islands.
More contemplative, even a bit broody, was Peter Garland’s “Apple Blossom.” Above its overlapping tremolos Albagli wisely added in some poetry, short verses along the lines of how we’re all stardust and made dancing molecules and such. It lent a cosmic perspective to the static music.
“Thunder on the Bay” by Scott Harding, which opened the program, was slow to reach lift-off but climaxed with a crashing cadenza on the drum set. John R. Beck’s “Downfall” had a trio of snare drums and amazingly there was a unique tonal quality to each of them.
John Martinson’s “Fade to Black” consisted of interlocking and slowly changing harmonic pulses on the marimbas, a minimalist terrain that’s become familiar over the last few decades. This sort of writing can go on for a long while and last spring during the ASO’s American Music Festival I fell hard for an 80-minute piece that was at its core this same thing, Andy Akiho’s “Seven Pillars.” The virtuoso performance by Sandbox Percussion, which included choreography and lighting, had a lot to do with the power of the experience. Anyway, at UAlbany the brevity of the Martinson piece, maybe four or five minutes tops, felt just right and was still sufficient enough to show off some tight and impressive ensemble playing.
It came as a surprise that there wasn’t a hint of the holiday season other than the concert’s clever title. By no means was I longing to hear some Christmas carols. I just thought maybe we’d at least see a Santa hat atop one of the musicians. Though they were all dressed in black, percussionists generally aren’t a glum lot. Albagli, in particular, seems to be a cheerful guy.
The concert did end with a sing-along, or as close as you can get to a sing-along at a percussion concert. We could call it a clap along, I suppose, though it was more sophisticated than just carrying the beat. The piece was David Amram’s “Landscapes” and prior to the performance, Albagli rehearsed the modestsized audience.
We were divided into four sections with each having a distinct four-bar rhythm plus a leader for each section to keep us on track. The piece began with the ensemble and Amram’s writing had a bit of everything, almost a survey or summary of what had transpired during the short program. Midway through the audience joined in. As we clapped our parts over and over the auditorium echoed, coming alive in a new and invigorating way.
During a short interview the following morning, Albagli promised that the next event with ESYO will have plenty of holiday-oriented material and also well more than 12 drummers drumming. The event will feature all three of ESYO’s percussion ensembles for a total of 26 players in all.
Along with pieces that showcase the dramatic possibilities of massed percussion, there will probably be more than a few settings of carols, including a medley by Albagli that he’s made part of the ensemble’s tradition. He says it’s more than just a run through of tunes and is sequenced in order to send a message. The title is “The Gift of Peace.”
The holiday concert of Empire State Youth Orchestra’s percussion ensembles takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the Massry Center, College of Saint Rose, 1002 Madison Ave., Albany. Ticket prices start at $2.70. Tickets and more at: esyo.org.