Corybas (percussion ensemble) with Omar Carmenates

Arranged here for percussion ensemble by Omar Carmenates, Corybas, a dynamic, willful, and playful paino trio was commissioned by Ian Graham as a birthday gift for his wife Agi Lehar-Graham, and in grateful recognition of the New Zealand Chamber Soloists (NZCS) Piano Trio – Katherine Austin, Lara Hall and James Tennant.

It's in stark contrast to the calmer, more serene, Aegean its companion work (also adapted by Omar for percussion ensemble) which can be thought of as its postlude.

As a composer, it was an intriguing situation to consider the influence of the work being a gift. So, I reached out to Ian for a reference point and discovered Aggie's interest in the Corybas flower. The name originates from the helmet-shaped flowers, resembling the headgear worn by the dancers of Corybas in Ancient Greece. The lively odd-metered rhythmic patterns in Corybas echo the vibrant movements of the dancers in Eastern European traditions, capturing their spirit and energy

An exciting aspect of writing Corybas was getting my head around a particular dance groove found in Macedonia, which is in 17/8 time but divided into measures of 7/8, 6/8, and 4/8. It’s a fantastic groove but it takes some work to internalise it. I had to play with this groove in a way that would keep performers from going crazy because of the amount of variation and syncopation on top the 17/8 meter, otherwise the material would be stressful and unsatisfying to play instead of exciting.

I’m very happy about Corybas because I think I got the balance right in this respect. Once performers internalise the underlying meter I see a transformation take place and they love to play it. Later on I found out the name of Ian and Aggies boat was called Corybas, so there is some kind of connection

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Performance notes

• Vibraphone 1 is written for a standard 3-octave vibraphone.
• Vibraphone 2 is written for a 3.5 or 4-octave vibraphone. However, if an extended range instrument is not available, a standard vibraphone could be used and those low-range notes could be played up the octave.
• Four bows are required for arco passages, two each for Vibraphone 1 and 2.
• The motors of both vibraphones are used and pedalling is at the discretion of theplayers except where marked.
• Marimba 1 is written for a 4.3 octave instrument, and also plays some Glockenspiel including low FÍ. If low FÍ is not available then those notes may be transposed up.
• Marimba 2 and Marimba 3 are both written for 5-octave instruments
• Percussion includes: bamboo chimes, flat ride (with sizzles), tubular bells, sizzle
• cymbal, triangle, four tom-toms, and daouli.‍
• Daouli (also called a davul) is a double-headed drum played with a stick in one hand and a thin switch in the other. If a daouli is not available, a small unmuted bass drum will suffice instead. However, if the performer prefers, any kind of frame drum or hand drum such as a tar, daff, or doumbek would also be welcome. To accommodate any of the above choices, these sections are notated with two broad sound choices noted in the score: ‘doum’ (a low open tone) or ‘tak’ (a high-pitched tone). Performers are welcome to adapt these parts to the idiosyncrasies of their chosen instrument.

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Programme Note

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Corybas opens with the unaccompanied piano holding the repetitive odd-metered groove that propels the work. In contrast with the piano’s brisk stream of notes, the cello and violin take turns with long, mournful pitches that rise out of, and then sink back into, the piano’s texture. The strings then build momentum through fusing their melodic lines with the piano’s groove, offering short syncopated accents and uniting for dramatic and thrilling phrases. The cyclic nature of the underlying groove is also realised in Corybas's surges of intensity as the work pushes through a series of climaxes that drop back to a hushed drama, beginning the process over again. With each rising wave, the strings’ melodic lines grow more decorative, with the piano opening up to provide thunderous points of arrival in the bass register, and joining the strings in incorporating more decorative flourishes. The underlying groove is toyed with, employing snatches of other metric configurations. Eventually, the successive waves lose their intensity, with the work winding down in a lighter restatement of the opening material, the original groove reimagined in the piano’s upper register.

The arranger writes:

"Melodically and harmonically, this arrangement is an exact mirror of the original piano trio version.

However, this version does contain an added percussion part to highlightthe rhythmic drive and metric complexity of this work.

In creating this percussion part, three particular sounds served as an inspiration for each large section: (1) The distinct double ride cymbal sound of Paul Wertico’s drumming with the Pat Metheny Group;(2) The sounds and playing techniques of the Greek daouli drum; and (3) The tom-tom part to John Psathas’ renowned work for keyboard percussion ensemble, Kyoto (PE174).The percussionist playing this part is encouraged to channel these sounds in their own rendition of this part."

The piano trio original Corybas received its premiere performance by New Zealand ChamberSoloists as part of the Casa Dei Mezzo Festival in Makrigialos, Crete, Greece on 22 June 2012.

This arrangement Corybas for Percussion Ensemble was premiered by Texas A&M University-Commerce Percussion Ensemble I with Dr. Brian Zator (dir.) at Jack and Lou Finney ConcertHall, Commerce, Texas, USA on February 24, 2019.

It also appears as the opening track on theNavona Records release The John Psathas Percussion Project Volume 1.

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Resources

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RESEARCHERS: EXPLORE CORYBAS PIANO TRIO AT THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

Review by Middle C

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