Evelyn Glennie, PercussionCity Chamber Orchestra of Hong KongJean Thorel

CONCERTOS FOR MALLET INSTRUMENTS

Alrich • Jenkins • Rorem

This compilation of concertos for mallet instrumentsfeatures percussion virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie andCity Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in a worldpremiere recording of Alexis Alrich’s Marimba Concerto,and mallet works dedicated to Dame Evelyn Glennie bySir Karl Jenkins and the Pulitzer prize-winning composerand diarist Ned Rorem.

Alexis Alrich (b. 1955): Marimba Concerto (2004)

My music is influenced by American minimalism, Asianmusic and Western classical and folk music. In 2010Dame Evelyn Glennie and City Chamber Orchestra ofHong Kong gave the Asian premiere of my MarimbaConcerto. It was first played in 2004 by the San FranciscoComposers Chamber Orchestra. Technical advice fromAmerican percussionist Matthew Cannon, the marimbasoloist, was invaluable in the development of the piece.The Concerto has also been performed by GwendolynBurgett Thrasher and the Michigan Philharmonicconducted by Nan Washburn. Composed in threemovements and characterised by bold rhythms, colourfulorchestrations and an air of exuberance, the MarimbaConcerto is highly demanding for the soloist and fullyexploits the technical possibilities and sound palette of thefive-octave marimba. The opening Con moto with itsstring tremolos and whispering wind motifs provides anatmospheric entrance for the solo marimba. A set ofvariations follow, including a duet for marimba andbassoon, passages for four mallets and a charming waltzwith harp accompaniment leading to an exhilaratingcadenza for the solo marimba. The middle Lentomovementstarts with a gently pulsating theme that recurs betweencontrasting sections, including one in Mexican folk style.The final Energico, with its relentless and driving maintheme, climaxes with a multi-layered, Asian-inspiredchorale. The work culminates with a toccata-style cadenzafor the soloist followed by a brilliant orchestral flourish.

Alexis Alrich

ALRICH • JENKINS • ROREMConcertos for Mallet Instruments

Karl Jenkins (b. 1944): La Folia (2004)

Sir Karl Jenkins is one of the most performed composersin the world today. Defying conventional categorisation,his style and integrity has transcended musicalboundaries and includes jazz-rock with Soft Machine, the‘cross-genre’ phenomenon Adiemus, soundtracks forLevi’s and British Airways and a score for a moviefeaturing Kiefer Sutherland. His work The Armed Man: AMass for Peace has been performed up to 3,000 timesand the recording has remained in the UK classical chartsfor 17 years. Knighted in 2015, Sir Karl Jenkins has beenhailed as the most popular living composer by ClassicFM’s ‘The Ultimate Hall of Fame’, and praised by ClassicFM Magazine for his approach to composing that is‘perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times.’ Hiscomposition La Folia for marimba and strings wascommissioned by IMG Artists for Dame Evelyn Glennie,who gave the first performance with the City of LondonSinfonia conducted by Nicholas Ward in 2004. Originatingfrom the 15th century, La Folia is a musical framework,comprising a melody above a passacaglia-esque chordprogression. A famous set of variations was published byArcangelo Corelli in 1700, and interpretations persist intothe modern day, as this offbeat arrangement into aconcerto for the marimba demonstrates. Adhering to hisBaroque source, Jenkins sets the quietly sedatestatement of the theme as a mellow marimba solo, beforethe embell ished variations take on contrastingcharacteristics, and increase in intensity. The marimbaperforms a cadenza in a final display, before a return tothe calm of the opening theme.

Jane Downer

Ned Rorem (b. 1923): Mallet Concerto (2003)

American composer Ned Rorem studied orchestrationwith Virgil Thomson and composition with Aaron Coplandand Arthur Honegger in New York. He worked in Moroccoand Paris, where he was associated with the culturalcircle of Francis Poulenc. During his career he heldteaching positions at the Universities of Buffalo and Utah,and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1976he won a Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Air Music: TenEtudes for Orchestra. Rorem is most widely recognisedas a latter-day master of the art song, having composedhundreds of outstandingly effective settings of lyric poetryfor solo voice and piano. His music is intrinsically vocal,noted for its tonal and lyrical qualities, rich orchestration,rhythmic imagination and combination of unusual timbres.Commissioned for the Scottish virtuoso percussionistDame Evelyn Glennie, Ned Rorem’s Mallet Concertohighlights the contrasting resonances of four differenttypes of pitched mallet instruments displayed in its sevenmovements (i.e. vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba andxylophone). Solo vibraphone interjects its thematicpattern periodically throughout the opening movement,entitled A Beginning. Another Minotaur features adynamic role and cadenza for the glockenspiel. In Backand Forth, the marimba is adopted, playing a repetitivesequence and a legato melody. Rorem presents diversethemes for the xylophone in A Xylo-Waltz, accompaniedby some rippling triplet sections for the orchestra. Themarimba returns in Let Me In, its wooden tones effectivelyportraying ‘knocking at the door’. The themes of Tag arealternated between the glockenspiel and solo instrumentsof the orchestra. In An Ending Ned Rorem uses musicalmaterial from the first movement and suggests vibraphoneor chimes as the solo percussion instrument. Dame EvelynGlennie has chosen the vibraphone in this recording.

Jane Downer

Dame Evelyn GlennieDame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in musicalhistory to successfully create and sustain a career asa full-time solo percussionist. As an eclectic andinnovative musician and composer, she is constantlyredefining the goals and expectations of percussion.Her diverse collaborations include performances withBjörk, Bobby McFerrin, Sting, Mark Knopfler, TheKing’s Singers and Béla Fleck. She has performed assoloist with many of the world’s major orchestras, andtook a lead role in the opening ceremony to mark the2012 Olympics in London. Dame Evelyn Glennie hascommissioned over two hundred new works for solopercussion from many of the world’s most eminentcomposers. She has made over forty solo recordings,three of which have received GRAMMY awards. Amotivational speaker and educationalist, she haswritten a best-selling autobiography, Good Vibrations,and a book entitled Listen World! dedicated toteenagers. Her stance on sound was captured by therenowned film director Thomas Riedelsheimer in hisfilm Touch the Sound and through her hugely popularTED talk. She has received over ninety internationalawards, including an Order of the British Empire(OBE), Dame Commander (DBE) and the Companionof Honour.

www.evelyn.co.uk

Photo: Jim Callaghan

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) enjoys a unique position as one of Asia’s leading chamberorchestras. The orchestra has performed with world-class artists including Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sir James Galway,Christian Lindberg, Sarah Chang, Branford Marsalis, Richard Galliano and Sir Neville Marriner. CCOHK has made itsmark on tour in Italy, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing, and in internationally acclaimed recordings with Danish recordervirtuoso Michala Petri and Argentine bandoneon master Daniel Binelli. Bug Symphony, CCOHK’s fully staged musical,won the Public Choice Award at the 2017 YAMawards in Portugal. From 2008 to 2016 Jean Thorel served as chiefconductor and was succeeded by Vahan Mardirossian in 2019.

www.ccohk.com

Photo: dgm-photo.com

Jean ThorelFrench conductor Jean Thorel was awarded theVocation Foundation Prize. As a guest conductor hehas performed with the Royal Chamber Orchestra ofWallonia, Ensemble Quartz, Musiques Nouvelles inBelgium, Athelas Sinfonietta,  the Danish ChamberPlayers, Percurama Copenhagen, the BolshoiTheatre Percussion Ensemble, So Percussion inWashington, the Copenhagen Royal Ballet, MusicaVitae in Sweden, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the NationalSymphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Aarhus andOdense Symphony Orchestras, the Russian NationalOrchestra, the EOS Repertoire Orchestra in Beijing,the National Light Orchestra in Shanghai,  theSingapore Symphony Orchestra,  the Nice andMarseille Philharmonic Orchestras, and the HilliardEnsemble, among others. From 2008 to 2016 he waschief conductor of City Chamber Orchestra of HongKong and led numerous concerts with world-classartists. An impassioned promoter of new works andrare music, he has given 700 world premieres andhas appeared regularly at major festivals ofcontemporary music. Jean Thorel’s discographyincludes a  recording of works by Louis Saguer withthe Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble whichwon the 2002 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphéed’Or prize.

www.facebook.com/jean.thorel.conductor

Photo: Wrong design

This compilation of concertos for mallet instruments features triple GRAMMY Award-winning percussion virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie and City Chamber Orchestra of HongKong. Alexis Alrich’s Marimba Concerto, a rich amalgam of bold rhythms and exuberance,also explores Mexican and Asian-inspired music. Sir Karl Jenkins traces the 15th-centurytune La Folia, furnishing it with refinement and strongly characterised intensity. NedRorem’s Mallet Concerto highlights the contrasting resonances of four different pitchedmallets in music of drama and dynamism.

CONCERTOS FOR MALLET INSTRUMENTS

*WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGEvelyn Glennie, Glockenspiel 6 0, Marimba 1–4 7 9,

Vibraphone 5 !, Xylophone 8City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong • Jean Thorel

Alexis Alrich (b. 1955):Marimba Concerto (2004)* 32:571 I. Con moto 11:082 II. Lento 9:493 III. Energico 11:48 4 Karl Jenkins (b. 1944): La Folia (2004) 11:15 Ned Rorem (b. 1923):Mallet Concerto (2003)* 26:335 I. A Beginning 3:326 II. Another Minotaur 5:247 III. Back and Forth 3:368 IV. A Xylo-Waltz 3:189 V. Let Me In 4:420 VI. Tag 2:12! VII. An Ending 3:36

Recorded: 29 May & 1 June 5–!, 31 May & 1 June 1–3 and 1 June 4 2013 at Shaw Studios, Hong KongExecutive Producer: Leanne Nicholls • Recording Producer, Editing, Mixing and Mastering: Preben Iwan

Booklet notes: Alexis Alrich, Jane DownerPublishers: Alto Publications 1–3, Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd 4–!

Sponsors: Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Aedas Architects Ltd • Cover photo: Jim Callaghan� & � 2021 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd • www.naxos.com