Portrait of a Kid is Philip Michael Minnis’ musical representation of young musicians “getting in the zone.” In his own words, it tells the story of young performers getting “a certain look in their eyes, a determination and focus takes over, you can see it and in that moment they ARE the music.” Fast paced rhythms and intricate syncopations help create the overall feeling of excitement in this engaging and lively piece!
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The septet by Philip Michael Minnis adds to the repertoire for young percussionists. It is essentially a small percussion “band” with the timpani acting as the bass line, the keyboards providing the melodic material, the piano providing a supportive role, and the drumset doing what it does best: laying down the groove.
Almost all the individual parts are accessible to young players who have only been working on percussion for a short time. All the rhythms are based in eighth notes, and the pitch collections for all instruments are limited and make melodic sense. Even the piano part only ever needs to hold an octave in either hand and has merely two instances of three-note blocks in the right hand; operating the two hands in rhythmic independence may cause a challenge, however.
The drumset part is another story. Although the piece stays in straight time throughout, the drummer is required to make use of different sounds and techniques such as rim knocks, aiming for the cymbal’s bell or bow, different riding patterns on the hi-hat, etc. This means that the drumset player requires more experience on that instrument than the other performers do on their respective instruments.
The work begins with a long but natural development of the simple thematic material, which is set in a laid-back, half- time groove. The piece climaxes halfway through with an exciting unison section that has syncopated hits. A well-written call-and-response section between the keyboards follows with the groove from the rhythm section still accompanying. The piece ends by revisiting the exciting climax from the middle of the piece. It is unfortunate that none of the opening material is revisited after the call-and- response ends. Doing so would give the form a little more totality.
The easy-to-learn lines and cool groove of this piece will make is fun for any group of young percussionists.
–Kyle Cherwinski
Percussive Notes
Vol. 57, No. 2, May 2019
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