Take That

Albright William

William Albright

General Info

Year: 1972
Duration: c. 10:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Jobert
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Players I - IV: Low Drums (16)

Program Notes

dedication: to Russell Peck; premiere: 1972, Black Earth Perc. Group, Dekalb, Illinois

American composer, organist and pianist of great repute, William Albright began learning the piano at an early age of five. He progressed quickly in his studies showing immense talent as a performer and composer. He attended the Juilliard Preparatory Department(1959-62), the Eastman School of Music(1962-3) and the University of Michigan (1963-70) where his principal teacher was former department chair Ross Lee Finney. Soon after he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study composition for a year with Oliver Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory. In addition to many commissions, he received many honors, including two Koussevitzky composition Awards, the Queen Marie-Jose Prize (for his Organ book I) and an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1970 he was appointed to teach at the University of Michigan where, as associate director of the electronic music studio, he pursued research in live and electronic modification of acoustic instruments, always "stretching" the boundaries of performance techniques. His compositions often combine complex rhythmic and non-tonal techniques with elements of American pop music. Though his works are crafted concisely, he stressed the value of music as a form of communication and the supremacy of music of intuition, imagination and beauty of sound. 

Last fall the ESU Percussion Ensemble performed Russell Peck’s LIFT OFF, originally written for the Blackearth Percussion Group in the 1960-70’s. After hearing Blackearth perform LIFT OFF, Albright composed a piece using some of the ideas presented in Peck’s work and decided to expand upon the idea while implying “TAKE THAT” (to Russell Peck). This sparked a set of compositions to be written, each one trying to outdo the other. The ESU percussion Ensemble will continue to perform this thread of percussion history over the next few semesters. Stay tuned next season for the next exciting work that try’s to “one-up” both LIFT OFF and TAKE THAT… “RIP OFF”?

Recent Performances

To submit a performance please join the TEK Percussion Database

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Bells in the Air - Percussion Trio, Orchestra
Daydream - Percussion Trio
Dream and Dance - Multiple Percussion
Enigma Syncopations - Multiple Percussion, Organ, Flute, Double Bass
Halo - Multiple Percussion, Organ
Stipendium peccati - Multiple Percussion, Organ, Piano
Take That - Percussion Quartet