Robert Parris

perc, vln, vcl, pf/cel

Composer's note: CONCERTO FOR PERCUSSION, VIOLIN, CELLO AND PIANO came about in 1967, when the players on this recording asked me for a piece for piano trio, my musical imagination, always stimulated by unusual instrumental combinations, simply refused to function, benumbed by the memories of sound-patterns from the past. I found myself ready to write only after joining to the ensemble a percussionist with four busy limbs. (The percussion plays xylophone, bells, vibes, tam-tam, triangle, ratchet, and a drum-set consisting of side drum, tom-toms, pedal bass, hi-hat and cymbal. The pianist also plays celesta). The addition of one player to the group not only disproportionately increased its coloristic and expressive resources, but effectively destroyed the limiting and discomfiting piano-trio-idea.

The piece was originally in two movements, and was played for the first time in the Hall of the Americas of the Pan American Union in Washington D.C. on October 5, 1967. In the summer of 1977, the second movement was considerably shortened and the last movement added.