Ephemera

Set for mallet sextet, “Ephemera” is musically satisfying for listeners and idiomatically satisfying for the performers. The piece was composed for the Lamar University Percussion Ensemble, which the composer teaches, and premiered in 2021. The composer cites influences from Murcof and Vanessa Wagner’s 2016 album Statea (in particular, their adaptation of Glass’s “Metamorphosis 2”).

The piece is in 3/4, at a brisk tempo of quarter-note equaling 196+. All parts are written for two mallets, with most rhythms not exceeding an eighth-note speed. As previously mentioned, the writing is idiomatic and follows repeated chord progressions in a manner that will seem intuitive to the players. The choice of C minor allows for dark sonorities that are enhanced by the earthy sounds from the bottom of the 5-octave marimba, usually scored in octaves (vertically or in a broken, Alberti-bass style). Francisco Perez often creates expressive depth through diatonic harmonies within the key and exploiting cross rhythm and hemiola possibilities inherent in 3/4 meter.

This work would be appropriate for an advanced high school to intermediate college percussion ensemble. I look forward to programming it on a future concert myself.

—Jason Baker
Percussive Notes
Vol. 60, No. 2, April 2022