Colin McPhee was born in Montreal. He [...] studied with the avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse. He was involved in the circle of experimental composers known as the ultra-modernists and was among those—along with the groups leader, Henry Cowell, John Becker, and Cowell protégé Lou Harrison—particularly interested in what would later become known as world music. McPhee is said to have first encountered Balinese music while listening to a record in New York City. He and his wife moved to Bali together for Belos anthropological work. Once there McPhee became so interested in the music that he studied, built, and wrote extensively about the gamelans. His best-known musical work is Tabuh-Tabuhan: Toccata for Orchestra, composed and premiered in Mexico in 1936. Its title translates as collection of percussion instruments and it combines Balinese and traditional Western musical elements. It is scored for Western orchestra but, in McPhees description, the core of the ensemble is a nuclear gamelan composed of two pianos, celesta, xylophone, marimba and glockenspiel, giving it a highly percussive balance of sound. The orchestra is augmented by two Balinese gongs and cymbals. The work is in three movements: Ostinatos, a flute-inspired Nocturne and a syncopated Finale. Some of the themes in it derive from Balinese folk sources.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 13:49:18 +0000