Misfit Five (Percussion Quintet)

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1. Percussive Notes New Literature Review

   “Misfit Five” commands the listener’s attention from the opening vocalizations and does not let up until the end. The ending, an indication of the quirky, creative, and thrilling nature of the piece, features a finger cymbal dunked into a half-full Yeti cup like a mini water gong. The music is groovy in spots with interjections and fragmented figures interspersed. This creates an overall feeling of forward motion without becoming stale.
   
   No individual part is exceedingly difficult, as they do not stray beyond mostly sixteenth-note figures with a few sextuplets; the challenge is fitting those parts together seamlessly. Also, it would be easy to play this whole piece “full throttle” dynamically; however, the composer does a great job marking piano and mezzo-piano moments to break up the louder sections.
   
   The tenor pan brings a unique pitched element to the work. I imagine it would have been more common to have a marimba or vibraphone part in its place; I appreciate the use of pan in the “classical percussion” setting. This would be a great concert opener or closer for a strong high school or college percussion ensemble. There could be a danger in students thinking this piece is “just groovy,” but once they dig in, there is a lot of nuance and phrasing to be found along with locking in rhythms.
   
   Justin Bunting
   Percussive Notes
   Vol. 59, No. 5, October 2021 Justin Bunting on Jun 30th 2022

2. Music

   The music came very fast and it was great music on May 27th 2020