Li

Item details

• Description +

  • Composed in 1998, LI was first recorded for Elbtonal Percussion's debut album, Percussion Works (1999, Arte Nova), and later appeared as a live version on their 2010 album, In Concert. Originally written for traditional Asian instruments, LI can also be performed using bass drums and bongos as substitutes for the shime and o-daiko drums. The piece remains a central part of Elbtonal Percussion's current live program, NEO(N), and has been performed more than 200 times to date.

• Instrumentation +

  • Percussion 1
    Shime Daiko
    Bamboo Chimes
    Metal Sound
    Crotali (pitch g“/a“)
    
    Percussion 2
    Shime Daiko
    Chinese Cymbal (18“)
    Wind Gong or small Tam Tam
    2 Chinese Gongs
    Sleigh Bells
    Crotali (pitch d“/f“)
    
    Percussion 3
    Shime Daiko
    O Daiko
    Gamelan
    Cymbals á 2
    Crotali (pitch e“/g“)
    
    Percussion 4
    Shime Daiko
    O Daiko
    Thai Gong (18“)

• Watch+

  • Performed by Elbtonal Percussion
    
    

• Reviews +

  • Review (Percussive Notes, February 2025)

    Stephan Krause’s eight-minute percussion quartet Li is a refreshing addition to the percussion ensemble repertoire. Originally written in 1998 for the composer’s own ensemble, Elbtonal Percussion, Li is a synthesis of taiko, Chinese opera, and Western instrumentation and compositional approaches. There are, of course, many other pieces in the percussion repertoire that incorporate taiko drums and opera gongs, but Li stands out as being particularly well-informed of the musical traditions from which those instruments are borrowed, and there are many similarly-borrowed rhythmic, structural, and developmental devices that lend an additional degree of authenticity to what is otherwise clearly a piece intended to be performed by percussion ensembles within the Western Classical tradition.

    I was most impressed by the organic pacing of the piece’s journey from one formal section or texture to the next. An episodic quality in Li hints at some sort of unfolding narrative, sprinkled with judicious use of ensemble homorhythm and individual assertions. The piece invites comparisons to Robert Damm’s Hoo Daiko, except that Li boasts a wider timbral range, requires more technical variety from the performers, and is more closely tied to the Asian drumming traditions that inspire it. I would not be surprised to hear a talented group of high school students playing this piece, but my impression is that Li would be best suited to a college program, particularly one that has access to a greater number of the intended instruments so that substitutions are avoided.

    I would be happy to recommend this to any college percussion ensemble or advanced high school ensemble as a fun and effective world-music-infused rhythmic piece to open the first or second half of a concert program.

    —Brian Graiser

• Credits +

  • Front Cover Design: Nicola Lee
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com

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