Editing Percussion ensemble

{{about||the Milford Graves album|Percussion Ensemble (album)}}
[[File:Percujove Concierto en el teatro Jovellanos Gijon 2006.jpg|thumb|Percussion orchestra [[Percujove]] in concert]]
[[File:20070727-beleuvenissen-gocoo-11.jpg|thumb|[[Gocoo]] in concert]]
[[File:2008TourDeTaiwan Stage7 OpeningDrumPerformance.jpg|thumb|Taiwanese drum ensemble]]
[[File:ChendaPlayingGroup.jpg|thumb|A [[Thayambaka]] Chenda ensemble]]
[[File:T S Nandakumar.jpg|thumb|A Carnatic ensemble playing in Cleveland]]
A '''percussion ensemble''' is a [[musical ensemble]] consisting of only [[percussion instrument]]s. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily [[european classical music|classical music]]. In America, percussion ensembles are most commonly found at [[Music school|conservatories]], though some professional groups, such as [[Nexus (percussion ensemble)|Nexus]] and [[So Percussion]] exist. [[Drumline]]s and groups who regularly meet for [[drum circle]]s are two other forms of the percussion ensemble.

==Early literature==

[[George Antheil]]'s ''[[Ballet Mécanique]]'' (1923) is one of the earliest examples of composition for percussion, written originally as a film score and exemplifying the ideals of the Italian futurist movement.  Antheil originally called for sixteen synchronized player pianos, as well as airplane engines, alongside more traditional percussion instruments.  Another early example, Cuban composer [[Amadeo Roldán]]'s ''Rítmicas'' nos. 5 and 6 of 1930, made use of Cuban percussion instruments and rhythms.  But it was [[Edgard Varèse]]'s ''[[Ionisation (Varèse)|Ionisation]]'' that "opened the floodgates"<ref>Steven Schick, ''The Percussionist's Art: Same Bed, Different Dreams'' (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2006), 56.</ref> and truly brought the percussion ensemble into the fold of contemporary composition. Premiered in 1933 under the baton of [[Nicholas Slonimsky]], ''Ionisation'' is thematically structured and makes use of 13 performers playing over 30 different instruments, including Latin percussion instruments, drums, cymbals, sirens, a piano, chimes and glockenspiel.

Other noteworthy pieces were composed during the 1930s and 1940s, particularly on the [[West Coast school|West Coast]] of America by composers [[Henry Cowell]], [[John Cage]], [[Lou Harrison]], and [[Johanna Beyer]]. The year 1939 saw the composition of Cage's ''[[Construction (Cage)|First Construction (in Metal)]]'' and Harrison's ''Canticle no. 1''.  [[Béla Bartók]]'s ''[[Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion]]'', written in 1937, was also an important piece for the development of percussion composition.  The early 1940s resulted in Cage's [[Construction (Cage)#Second Construction|second]] (1940) and [[Construction (Cage)#Third Construction|third]] (1941) Constructions, Harrison's ''Fugue for Percussion'' (1941), as well as Cage and Harrison's collaboration ''Double Music'' (1941). [[Carlos Chávez]]'s [[Toccata for Percussion Instruments (Chávez)|Toccata]] (1942) has also remained a standard work.

==After the Second World War==

In the post-war period, many new works were composed for percussion ensemble. In 1960, [[Alberto Ginastera]] composed the ''Cantata para América Mágica'', for soprano and large percussion ensemble. Carlos Chávez wrote his second such piece, ''[[Tambuco (Chávez)|Tambuco]]'', in 1964. [[Iannis Xenakis]] composed two percussion sextets for [[Les Percussions de Strasbourg]], ''[[Persephassa (Xenakis)|Persephassa]]'' (1969), and ''[[Pléïades]]'' (1979), and in 1996 wrote ''Zythos'', for trombone and six percussionists, for [[Christian Lindberg]] and the [[Kroumata]] Ensemble. [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] composed a children's theatre piece for percussion sextet titled ''[[Musik im Bauch]]'' (Music in the Belly) in 1975, also for Les Percussions de Strasbourg, and in 2004 wrote a percussion trio titled ''[[Licht#Auxiliary works|Mittwoch Formel]]''. The British composer and percussionist [[James Wood (composer)|James Wood]] has contributed several works to the repertoire, including ''Stoicheia'' (1987–88), requiring over 600 instruments played by 16 percussionists, as well as electronics, ''Village Burial with Fire'' for percussion quartet (1989), and ''Spirit Festival with Lamentations'', for [[Quarter tone|quarter-tone]] marimba and four percussionists (1992).

===Accreditation===

The existence of percussion ensembles in music schools across the United States and beyond is due largely to Paul Price, who taught at the University of Illinois from 1949 to 1956 and established the first accredited percussion ensemble during his time there.<ref>Gordon Peters, ''The Drummer: Man'' (Wilmette, IL: Kempers-Peters Press, 1975), 211.</ref>  His students at that time included [[Michael Colgrass]], who, unsatisfied with the available percussion ensemble literature, composed for the ensemble and went on to become a Pulitzer-winning composer with ''[[1978 Pulitzer Prize|Déjà Vu]]'' (1978), written for a percussion quartet with orchestra.  Since the 1950s, the percussion ensemble has become a permanent part of the academic music world, and professional percussion ensembles such as [[Nexus (percussion ensemble)|Nexus]] have furthered the art form through commissions and worldwide performance. The [[Sousa Archives and Center for American Music]] holds the Paul Price Percussion Music and Papers, 1961–1982,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.library.illinois.edu/archives/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=10657&q=price|title = Paul Price Percussion Music and Papers, 1961-1982 &#124; the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music}}</ref> which consists of percussion sheet music, sound recordings, and correspondence documenting Price's career as a percussion musician, and conductor of the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble.

===Other significant composers===

In addition to Beyer, Cage, Cowell, and Harrison, American composers who have made significant contributions to percussion ensemble literature include: [[Steve Reich]], [[Howard J. Buss]], [[Augusta Read Thomas]], [[Christopher Rouse (composer)|Christopher Rouse]], [[Bill Russell (composer)|William Russell]], [[William Kraft]], and [[Eric Ewazen]].

==List of notable percussion ensembles==

*[[Amadinda Percussion Group]]
*[[Blue Man Group]]
*[[Kroumata]]
*[[Nexus (ensemble)|Nexus]]
*[[Michael Alden Bayard|The Percussion Clique, Michael Aldan Bayard]]
*[[Les Percussions de Strasbourg]]
*[[M'Boom]]
*[[Scrap Arts Music]]
*[[So Percussion]]
*[[Stomp (dance troupe)|Stomp]]
*[[Tambuco]]
*[[Third Coast Percussion]]

==See also==
* [[Gamelan]]
* [[Indoor percussion ensemble]]
* [[Noise in music]]
* [['ote'a]]
* [[Pungmul]]
* [[Rhythm band]]
* [[Samul nori]]
* [[Taiko]]
* [[Thayambaka]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031230193437/http://www.artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/instsearch.pl?inst=percussion%20ensemble Art of the States: percussion ensemble]}} works for percussion ensemble by American composers
*[https://archive.org/details/OTG_1971_03_10 Very early percussion ensemble recordings by John Cage and Lou Harrison] – [http://radiom.org/detail.php?omid=OTG.1971.03.10 list of the works]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090416121121/http://library.davesabine.com/ Dave Sabine's Percussion Sheet Music Library]

{{Percussion}}
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[[Category:Percussion ensembles| ]]
[[Category:Types of percussion ensembles| ]]
[[Category:Types of musical groups]]