Cage for One: Multiple-Percussion Solo with Soundscape in Three Movements, and: Argoru VIII: For Snare Drum, and: Micro-Concerto: For Percussionist and Mixed Quintet (review)

The polymath world of the solo percussionist encompasses a wide array of sounds, devices, techniques, and implements. Such is the nature of this review, which examines three very different publications that task the musical diversity of the modern percussion artist. We will begin with Dwayne Corbin's Cage for One, an electroacoustic multiple-percussion solo, followed by Alvin Singleton's Argoru VIII for solo snare drum, and Steven Mackey's Micro-Concerto for percussion soloist and chamber ensemble.

Individually, they embody different aspects of the percussion workload. Together, these new pieces illustrate much of what is current in the world of contemporary percussion composition. Dwayne Corbin won first prize in the 2009 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest with his Cage for One, a didactic electroacoustic work for solo percussionist and soundscape. It is inspired by the percussion compositions of John Cage (and fittingly published by the C. F. Peters Corporation). The solo is divided into three movements ("Nothing," "Soliloquy," and "Deconstruction"), and requires the use of three Chinese toms, five tin cans, a log drum with two pitches, two "non-Cuban" cowbells, two differently pitched maracas, a riveted Chinese cymbal, a shaker mounted on a foot pedal, ankle bells, five woodblocks, and a sound system (with headphones for the soloist). A compact disc included with the score contains the required soundscape and a recording of the entire work. Corbin presents an inviting score, complete with program notes, performance notes, the obligatory notational guide, mallet suggestions, and a black-and-white photograph of the instrument setup used at the premiere.

Specifically, this solo is an exploration of rhythmic and timbral considerations found within the John Cage oeuvre. Corbin writes in his notes: "if a person mastered these rhythms in the context of a solo piece, they would then be able to move to any piece by Cage and perform his rhythms with relative ease, thereby allowing chamber ensembles more time to prepare great musical performances rather than having to focus so much time on simply surviving the complex rhythms" (p. iv). As such, Cage for One has numerous passages that juxtapose rhythmic groupings and subdivisions. Corbin accomplishes this in a clever way—each movement treats a different kinesthetic concept. The first movement challenges the performer to perform rhythmic ideas while synchronizing with variables found within the soundscape. The second movement involves the polyphonic independence that exists when performing with four mallets while ignoring the soundscape. Finally, the third movement involves four-limb independence, in which the feet are often set in opposition to the hands. Taken all together, this is an effective educational tool for training rhythmic multitasking.

The percussion setup evokes Cage's Amores (1943) and Third Construction (1941), while the soundscape utilized in the second movement is based on the principles expressed in Radio Music (1956) and similar compositions. The notation of some of the third movement is also reminiscent of the exterior movements of Living Room Music (1940). The instrumentation is well conceived, but it is unfortunate that Corbin neglects one instrument of the ensemble: the riveted Chinese cymbal. This item sounds only twice in the entire composition (and only then in the last movement). In reading the program notes, this reviewer anticipated a suggestion of...