The China Youth Percussion Group was founded in 2013 in order to nurture the best young percussionists from all across China. Nine of its members traveled 9000 miles - hence the name of the event - to Manchester to perform its debut in the UK. The Consul General of China was present and made welcome.
The group itself consisted of a marimba ensemble of nine young performers between the age of 10 and 17 years old, the leader of which could not have been much older than 13. A professional discipline and attention to detail was evident before they even sounded a note – they wore immaculately polished shoes and lifted their mallets in a synchronized way, ready to play before each piece.
The compere introduced each set of pieces in groups of three and provided welcome programme notes that helped enjoy the music. The first set of pieces were from China – Spring Festival Overture (Huan Zhi Li), Across the Water (Jiaqing Lin) and Golden Snake’s Dance (Er Nie). In this first set, the musicians showed their command of the instruments and set the tone for what would be a night of astounding music. The three pieces here showed a variety of techniques and moods and the elements of Chinese music were very clear – at times beautifully lyrical, at other times, fiery and dramatic. In particular the Snake Dance was quite engaging and provided an uplifting finish.
These were followed with three European pieces – Strauss’ Tritsch Tratsch Polka, Anderson’s The Syncopated Clock and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade – Valse. These are quite well known pieces but it was interesting to hear them in the unusual medium of the marimba. The brashness and rhythm of the Polka was very well suited to the marimba but also the beautifully lyrical Serenade seemed to float around. This, to me, highlighted the sheer talent of those on stage - the musicians performed with a musical professionalism that any adult ensemble would be jealous of. They were able to control the sustain and decay of their instruments, taking advantage of the acoustic in the Stoller Hall, in such a way that there was a wonderful connection between notes and indeed between marimbas. This is a difficult thing to do, but was done effortlessly here.
The final set of the first half returned to China with Butterfly Lovers (Zhanhao He and Gang Chen), Chrysanthemum Terrace (Jay Chou) and Song From Our Heart (Xiaozhi Huang). These were beautifully lyrical pieces – in particular, Chrysanthemum Terrace stood out for me. This was a pop ballad released in 2006, but the original version contained many Chinese folk elements. I think it is worth mentioning at this point that I was worried that an evening of nearly 20 pieces played only on marimba could become a bit samey, but the arrangements and performances showed a fantastic variety and versatility. I was mesmerised that at times the marimba playing sounded like a music box, at other times like an accordion or a mandolin or even like a string instrument. Different types of mallets (rubber, felt etc) and great control of touch provided these effects.
After the interval, there were three more sets of Chinese and Western music. Opening the second half with Mozart’s Serenade from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was very sweet and pleasing. The ensemble wanted to play something from the UK and made a wonderful choice in Elgar’s Salut D’Amour. The melodic playing was as delicate and flowing as the original violin melody. This set finished with Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from his String Octet in Eb major. This is a challenging piece for any string musician, and although the tempo was held back to accommodate the musical nature of the marimba, the young group of musicians played this perfectly. While they were all very composed and clearly very focused on all their music, it was great to see that they clearly enjoyed performing.
Three more western pieces were played – Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3, movement one, The Lonely Goatherd from The Sound of Music and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 8, movement one. If it wasn’t clear before, the versatility of the marimba – and the maturity and talent of the musicians - was certainly made clear in this set. Each of these pieces sounded so different from each other in terms of sonority. The compere mused that Bach would have loved to have written for a marimba ensemble if it had existed in his time and this was evident in this performance. The music was perfectly suited to the instrument as indeed Bach was fascinated by the attack, sustain and decay of the harpsichord and organ. Animal bells were hard clinking in The Lonely Goatherd, as well as yodels – all played on the marimba. The Shostakovich was a highlight of the night for me – this had a fantastic energy and was performed with deep melancholy, drama and tension. This piece is complex with many overlapping lines, long sustained notes, drones at the start, and then a transformation into frenetic, fast moving piece with deep emotional intensity. It is certainly not a piece you would expect to hear arranged for marimba ensemble. It worked magically and made a new piece.
The final set of the night returned to China with Full Moon With Beautiful Flowers (Yi Jun Huang), Listen to the Ocean (Huiyuan Tu) and a mix of highlights from a Chinese opera, arranged by Xianghao Chen.
A final piece saw a group of young percussionists from Chethams’ school of music join the marimba ensemble, adding a Latin percussion section for a humorous performance of Quincy Jones’ Soul Bossa Nova. This was a nice note to end the night on, but indeed such was the applause that the ensemble played a flashy encore which seemed to delight the musicians themselves.
9000 Miles was a fantastic, and really unexpected performance in many ways. The children and adolescents on stage really impressed with their musicianship and concentration. This was a large programme and it was played flawlessly – not a single mistake or missed beat. Apart from this, it was really wonderful to discover the versatility of the marimba ensemble that, tonight, showcased music of many different styles and periods.
Reviewer - Aaron Loughrey
on - 1/2/19
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