You are absolutely correct in what you say here. You may be familiar with the library of arrangements (plus a couple of original pieces) generated by the Marimba Masters in the '50's and currently published by Gordon Peters; I have had several lenghthy conversations with Mr. Peters regarding this excellent material where he voiced his concern that this type of thing is being cast aside in favor of newer, (sometimes) more "trendy" stuff that might not be as effective in teaching ensemble skills. Educationally, the Marimba Masters collection, as well as the Forster collection of Musser's arrangements and the arrangements by Ruth Jeanne and others published by Permus constitute a valuable resource that should be an essential part of every mallet player's education.

That much said, I'd like to clarify my original remark regarding percussionists playing and writing only for each other. I was thinking not so much about education (although the insularity of academic culture plays a role in this), but more about why, after almost 100 years of explosive development, percussion music is not as accepted or widely known by the general public as, say, string quartet or brass quintet music. As Mr. Walker pointed out in the marimba thread, it's a very common experience for marimbists to meet people who have no idea what a marimba is or how it differs from other mallet instruments. Why should this be? I have played many percussion ensemble performances for general (meaning non-percussionist) audiences and the reaction was always enthusiastic, with audience members telling me that they found it fascinating and that they would definitely attend more of the same type of performance if it occurred in their area again. I have even had people tell me that the percussion ensemble experience they just had was a welcome break from the steady diet of "normal" humdrum chamber music.  How is it, then, that we see every type of performing arts group on public television EXCEPT percussion ensembles? When did you last hear a percussion performance on your local classical music radio station? Why are there many string quartets doing extensive national and world tours but really only one percussion ensemble (I refer here to Nexus--if I've ignored any other professional ensemble working on that level, I apologize and ask to be corrected)? Why are there hundreds of solo violinists, pianists, etc. regularly working the symphonic circuit but only one percussionist (Evelyn Glennie)? I've heard many attempts to answer these questions, ranging from blaming it on the repertoire (I reject this; a lot of the well-received performances of which I spoke above included some quite prickly contemporary works; as far as the "bad literature" problem,while it is true that for every one artistically viable composition there are about one hundred pieces of crap out there, there's still enough of the good stuff to assemble many, many excellent programs) to blaming it on the audiences (my personal experience belies this totally). My own feeling is that it's ourselves we must blame. It seems to me that percussionists rather meekly tend to accept the conventional "wisdom", which goes something like this: "although there's a huge arsenal of instruments and a large body of carefully crafted compositions available to you, as a percussionist you can only expect to make a living by conforming to one of the established roles, e.g. symphonic player or drumset in some variant of popular music or jazz, etc. Don't even bother to try to promote a percussion concert (ensemble or otherwise) on a professional level because nobody wants to hear that stuff. The general public doesn't get it and never will; it's not worth attempting to build an audience by educating them. This kind of music can really be appreciated only by initiates (meaning other percussionists and perhaps a few percussion-aware composers). Since it's not commercially viable, it should generally be played by students and it's main venues should remain on university campuses and at PAS conventions and other gatherings of percussionists".

I'm not trying to be controversial here, nor am I trying to insult anybody (before anyone gets the wrong idea, most of my own musical activities are in the traditional roles mentioned above; I've only recently begun trying to swim against the current by starting a professional percussion ensemble, which has not yet publicly performed). Basically, I'm reporting an attitude which I have encountered quite often (some of the "conventional wisdom" above was quoted almost verbatim from discussions I had with instructors during my college education) and which I feel is self defeating and harmful to the percussion community at large.

I'm eagerly awaiting any response to the above, especially if possible solutions to this situation are suggested (or even if vehement disagreement is the reaction).      

Well, so many excellent points that I do not know where to start.

Okay...so I'll crawl out on my usual fragile branch and say that music has to LIVE......it has to relate to PEOPLE....it has to be something within their understanding.  You can write music that is neither but then you are writing it for YOU (which is quite valid) but I don't personally know of any composers who are writing for themselves, although they may exist.

Whether in a smoky jazz club or in a concert hall they are writing for people who CLAP at the end of it and if they deny that I would think they are not telling the truth.

Let us get one thing out of the way: any notation in any order is theoretically music.  But music is also very aural and (so far as I understand) the human ear takes very naturally to a succession of "resolutions" and often feels somewhat cheated if those resolutions are not achieved.

Where I am undermined is by my age.  I don't know Roldan but I certainly know and enjoy Varese.  But this is MUSICAL percussion........okay I will come out and say it: not this random hitting of instruments with no discernable melodic point.

Yes, of course it is valid and it is technically music but it isn't to the public.  They don't understand any of it and (mostly) stay away in droves.  Let me go down another dangerous road: why do audiences pay to come to a performance?  My answer would be to get something EMOTIONALLY from the evening, created by musicians.

I have played concerts (a couple of great La Boheme's, Mr Walker) where I have actually seen the audience in TEARS.....that might have happened at a percussion ensemble performance for all I know but I rather doubt it.

Beethoven wrote over a piece: From the heart, to the heart.  Sighs.....in my opinion you need melody lines and resolution and if those two criteria are not met, Mr and Mrs Public are not going to pay the money.

That DOES not mean the percussion ensemble music is not valid, ALL music is valid but it means it doesn't turn up on TV  because, in my old fashioned opinion, percussion ensembles do not ENTERTAIN.

That may be a banned word here but surely music entertains or inspires or it is nothing.  Evelyn Glennie ENTERTAINS.......the Safri Duo entertain.......La Boheme entertains......and what do they have in common?

Yes, that's right: a melody line and a resolution.

"Strike cymbal with lavatory cleaner brush".    And, yes, I have been asked to do that and it was fun but it was played in a hall built for about 1800 people......of which, sadly, only about 200 were present.

None of them, so far as I could tell, were in tears.

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins