Bob Young - Senior Recital
This Senior Recital is presented in partial fulfillment of a B.M. in Music Education.
Rebonds was Xenakis' second work for solo percussion. This movement contains a sixteenth-note ostinato on a bongo, with an unpredictable melodic structure moving around the remaining drums, becoming more and more complex and interrupted by interludes on the woodblocks and drums. Composed fifteen years after his solo work, Psappha, Rebonds represents an evolution of Xenakis’ compositional style as he shifts from sound masses against silence to more rhythmically driven music.
Children's Corner was written for Debussy's three-year-old daughter, Claude-Emma. Though not meant to be played by children, the miniature movements within the piece attempt to reflect the essence of childhood and the fantasies of youth. The first movement, "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum," is a light-hearted reference to Muzio Clementi's well-known piano exercises, Gradus ad Parnassum, published in 1817. It parodies a child performing these exercises, initially tearing through the bright, fast passages and eventually becoming distracted, bored, and finally slamming down the final cadence with relief.
Travel Diary was commissioned by the Meehan/Perkins Duo in 2007 and first performed by them at the Round Top Festival in March 2008. The piece is a kind of meditation on travel, particularly for those who don't do it that much. While not literally programmatic, each movement has some characteristics that reflect the sense of its title. The first movement, “Leaving Home,” surveys the percussion ensemble, looking around to see what we've packed for the trip, making sure we have what we need. In the second movement, “Cruising Speed,” we get onto the highway or into the air and are on our way. The third movement, “Lost in Philly,” was inspired by a minor disaster I once had after packing my wife and two small children in the car for a trip from Princeton to Los Angeles and promptly taking a wrong turn leaving us searching for a way to get past Philadelphia (with the younger child asking “Are we there yet?”). Finally, the last movement, “Arrived, Phone Home,” has some references to old signaling devices, horn calls, Morse code, and ends with a spirited feeling of relief to have finally arrived, only to sink into a relaxing sleep in the end. Notes by Paul Lanksy.
Aphex Twin is the pseudonym for Richard D. James, an electronic musician and composer. “4” is featured on his self-titled album, Richard D. James, released in 1996. It was used in a U.S. government anti-drug advertisement spot, as well as an advertisement for the Special Olympics.
Lost Love
His eyes are quickened so with grief,
He can watch a grass or leaf
Every instant grow; he can
Clearly through a flint wall see,
Or watch the startled spirit flee
From the throat of a dead man.
Across two counties he can hear
And catch your words before you speak.
The woodlouse or the maggot's weak
Clamour rings in his sad ear,
And noise so slight it would surpass
Credence--drinking sound of grass,
Worm talk, clashing jaws of moth
Chumbling holes in cloth;
The groan of ants who undertake
Gigantic loads for honour's sake
(Their sinews creak, their breath comes thin);
Whir of spiders when they spin,
And minute whispering, mumbling, sighs
Of idle grubs and flies.
This man is quickened so with grief,
He wanders god-like or like thief
Inside and out, below, above,
Without relief seeking lost love.
Robert Graves
“Lost Love” refers to the poem of the same name by the English poet Robert Graves. The poem describes a person so distraught by lost love that he enters a state of hyperawareness…”His eyes are quickened so by grief, he can watch a grass or leaf every instant grow.” He can hear “A noise so slight it would surpass credence – drinking sound of grass…the whir of spiders when they spin.” And finally “This man is quickened so with grief, he wanders god-like or like thief, inside and out, below, above, without relief seeking lost love.”
My variations are not formal variations on a theme. They are, rather, emotional pictures – a variety of moods, attitudes and feelings that arose from contemplating the poem. They range from mournful and tragic to light-hearted and whimsical. The marimba is a wonderful instrument for capturing these qualities of feeling, particularly in its ability to produce small and beautifully sustained sounds. Notes by David Maslanka
Bob Young is a senior music education major at Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. Growing up in Austintown, Ohio, Bob has studied percussion since age nine under Bill Gonda. He is a 2007 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School where he performed in the Symphonic Band, Jazz Band and Marching Band. He also performed with the Stambaugh Youth Concert Band and the Youngstown Symphony Youth Orchestra.
At Dana, Bob has studied under Glenn Schaft, Rob Ferguson, Josh Ryan and Nathan Douds. He is currently a member of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble. He has also performed with the Concert Band, Dana Symphony Orchestra, the Marching Pride, and various Jazz Combos. He also serves as president of the Youngstown Percussion Collective.
Outside of Dana, Bob was a member of Matrix Indoor Percussion Ensemble during the 2008 season and the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in their 2009 season. He also performs in the local bands Signature Event and Gossip Culture.