Concerto for Piano and Percussion Ensemble by Mathew Campbell

Concerto for Piano and Percussion Ensemble was composed for Dr. Jacob “Jake” Johnson and the Oklahoma City University Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Prof. Patrick Womack. Each of the three movements are composed with influence by the music of Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, and György Ligeti, respectively. The opening motive musically spells out J-A-K-E. This motive and its transpositions encompasses the entire work to quite literally put the dedicatee’s name on it. Movement I, Allegro ritmico, consists of absolute music influenced by Stravinsky’s neoclassical period. Movement II, for Norman, uses the impressionist style to pay homage to a four-legged friend no-longer with us. Movement III, Scherzando furisoso, starts by quoting the opening of Ligeti’s Musica ricercata and uses influences from Ligeti’s music throughout to create a whimsically serious finale of tonal twelve-tone rows, toy piano cadenzas, and vexing repetitions.