An analytical study of percussion literature influenced by Eastern musical practice

This paper aims to fill in a gap in percussion research by providing analyses on several significant percussion works that have been influenced by Eastern musical practice with Wind in the Bamboo Grove by Keiko Abe, Rain Tree by Toru Takemitsu, and Kembang Suling by Gareth Farr. The paper also provides an analysis on improvisational jazz in George Gershwin's Someone to Watch over Me and focuses on compositional devices used in percussion notation through Western and Eastern music with Nebojsa Zivkovic's Pezzo Da Concerto and Michio Kitazume's Side by Side. Although not influenced by Eastern music, these pieces in turn inspired Eastern composers by expanding twentieth century music composition. The percussion literature analyzed within this document expresses the differences between the Western and Eastern styles by providing a synthesis that can be attained through performance. These percussion pieces are part of a growing library of literature further developing the solo percussion repertoire. The performance analyses in each chapter will examine the approaches exhibited in the composition along with the instrumentation as it pertains to the Eastern influenced harmonic language. The knowledge gained by both the Western and Eastern approach to music can be utilized to develop a well-rounded percussionist.