Mercer percussion ensemble put on a concert titled "Songs of the Human Spirit" on March 14. It featured a collection of pieces played by some of the music students and directed by Marcus Reddick, a music professor at Mercer. The concert was held at the Neva Langley Fickling Music Hall inside the McCorkle music building.
The evening started with a collection of pieces with the same name as the concert, "Songs of the Human Spirit." The first movement, "Joy," is a piece played on the vibraphone by two people simultaneously, a percussion student and the director, Reddick. As the name of the piece suggests, it is very bright and soothing to the ear. As the melody shifts a bit, it has more mellow and disjunctive sounds, but always comes back to the joyous home note, soothing the ear from the previous melody.
"Joy" was a very short and sweet movement that felt like a lullaby in the best way possible. It felt like something that would play in a children's movie or something a parent would play to their kids growing up. I really liked this piece and how it made me feel. Normally I feel like short pieces could be a bit longer, but this one worked perfectly with the length that it is. I truly have no notes when it comes to this piece. It ended up being one of my favorites of the night.
The second movement, "Ambition," uses a different kind of percussion instrument, the marimba, that sounds woodier and more muffled. I really liked the marimba, and it was one of the highlights of the night for me. I am very limited in my music knowledge and am either used to hearing all the instruments in an orchestra play together or string quartets. Hearing just the marimba play was truly eye opening to me. It is definitely my new favorite instrument.
This piece is also played by two people, Reddick and another percussion student, with each of them having two mallets in each hand. Much like the first movement, it sets a happy tone and then moves to more clashing notes. In some parts the music gets loud and intense, only to slow down significantly and end in a bittersweet way. "Ambition" was a bit more lively and upbeat than the first piece.
It felt very short to me, leaving me wanting a bit more since I really enjoyed it. What really stuck out is how it explores the music by layering melodies, getting louder, lower and slower. I love it when you can tell a composer was having fun exploring and writing a piece like this.
The third movement, "Forgiveness," unlike the other two, starts very mellow and disjunctive, with fast beating of the marimba and vibraphone, giving the sense of walking into a haunted castle. While one instrument plays the higher notes, the other comes with lower notes in a different rhythm, creating a counter melody, yet they work perfectly together, complementing one another. The melody gets extremely low and slow after the end, ending in an airy, somewhat lighter but still mellow tone.
Overall, I really loved this collection's pieces, they work really well together. I do feel like the third movement felt out of place with the other two because it has such a different tone. Overall, however, I really enjoyed the three movements separately and as a whole.
The second piece, "October Mountain," starts with fast beating of the vibraphone in high notes, then shifting to lower ones. The xylophone starts playing higher notes and a small but noticeable gong begins to appear. The bass drum and the gong hit at the same time, almost sounding like lightning. The piece gives, much like its name, the feeling of first seeing a big mountain. About seven instruments are being used in this piece. Like the previous piece, it is very dark and mellow but unlike the other pieces, it is louder, more intense, giving a little more anxiety than before.
The piece then stops so the players can switch mallets and restarts in a lighter tone compared to the loud sounds from before. Beginning with the vibraphone is playing at this time with the very rapid movement of single high notes. The timpani come into play with a similar rhythm from the higher notes created by the vibraphone. The xylophone begins to be played faster, still making small appearances between the vibraphone’s sound. I felt anxious, waiting for the other instruments to start to play as if they are teasing me.
Unfortunately, they were teasing me, because it then stops once again and restarts with the timpani, and the other percussion instruments that were silent, bass drum, gong and snare drum are now back and playing at full force.
This was my least favorite piece of the bunch. I have previously stated that I am more a fan of sweet and bright melodies. I also did not like how much they had to stop to change mallets and instruments. I know that this is not something the ensemble can change, as it is part of the piece, and needed so they can make the adjustments needed. But for me personally, I did not like that, it just made the piece lack continuity for me. I am also aware that this is just me being picky, sorry.
So, although I appreciate the piece and really enjoyed seeing so many of the percussion instruments playing together, it was not one I enjoyed like others that appeared in the concert.
The very last piece of the night, "Watercolor Sun," was played entirely by four students. All four play the vibraphone at the same time, with two mallets in each hand, and it sounds exactly like its name: watercolors. Like clear blue island water, the jungle book and that moment in life where you feel like maybe everything is working out. The rhythm alternates between fast and slow, low and loud, truly exploring the melody's variations, but it always comes back to that main melody that just screeches my brain.
This was definitely my favorite piece of the night. Although I can see that being short and sweet works for this piece, I wish it was longer. If it was a song on my phone, I probably would have replayed it about five times to be satisfied because I loved it so much. If the marimba is my new favorite instrument, then "Watercolor Sun" is my new favorite piece.
An important thing to note is that this concert barely used a conductor and sheet music, which is not usually what happens when playing a percussion ensemble. They only had those resources for the "October Mountain" piece. Other than that, the percussionist played everything by memory, which is ridiculously impressive.
I have to give them their flowers where they are deserved, and putting on such a great performance without a conductor and sheet music for most of it is more than deserving of these praises.
Overall, I really liked this concert. I am not particularly a classical music girl unless I am studying, and even then, I listen to strings. I have always overlooked percussion as I like sweeter, brighter and upbeat pieces that are usually seen performed by strings. I was pleasantly surprised by the percussion and the type of pieces that were chosen for the night. I always thought of percussion as the most boring orchestra family, this concert definitely changed my mind.
The Mercer percussion ensemble, unfortunately, does not have any more performances for this semester, but they will be back this fall. So, if you are looking for another way to support the Bears or you enjoy classical music or just music in general, I would say that you have to go and experience the percussion’s talent for yourself. You won’t regret it.
Mel Silva '28 is a psychology major at Mercer and first-year Mercer Cluster staff. When Mel is not studying, she enjoys writing, reading, taking pictures and hanging out with friends.
