The Percussion Group Cincinnati, an ensemble-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2009. In its first three decades, this trio collaborated with at least fifty composers, several of whom have contributed multiple compositions. The more than seventy works composed expressly for the ensemble comprise the core of its performance repertoire. While the members have amassed a sizable body of chamber percussion compositions, their primary goal has remained the process of collaborating. Whereas comparator ensembles measure success by their number of recordings, performances at specific events, or notoriety among various communities, the Percussion Group Cincinnati can be best understood through a careful consideration of its interactions with composers.
Through an analysis of the Percussion Group Cincinnati’s correspondence, concert programs, promotional materials, recordings, and performance reviews, as well as extensive interviews with past and current members, this thesis offers an examination of the ensemble’s partnering composers/collaborations, compositions, and reception. While sharing portions of the ensemble’s history, through the lens of composer-performer interaction, this thesis argues that the absence of the Percussion Group Cincinnati from histories of twentieth-century percussion music evinces a flaw in the existing literature: the prevalence of evolutionary narratives that venture to connect the “great composers” of twentieth-century percussion music with the likes of Haydn, Beethoven, and Berlioz. Instead of exploring the various ways that composers and performers in this genre have functioned, authors have too often set out to legitimize percussion chamber music by placing it in a teleological narrative whose connections are weak and overstatements are many. This thesis demonstrates that, while the members of the Percussion Group Cincinnati are known mainly as performers, they are also active participants in the composition of many of the works in their repertoire; thereby blurring the lines, in some cases significantly, between the artistic efforts of the three percussionists and the partnering composers. And due to the trio’s preference for close collaboration, the members tend to seek out composers from circles of people who are geographically close to them: faculty colleagues, friends, and students. With few of these composers achieving canonical status for their efforts in this or other more studied genres, the trio’s repertoire remains unlikely to enter the evolutionary narratives.
The Percussion Group Cincinnati provides a vivid example of one approach to contemporary music composition whereby clear delineations between the roles of composers and performers are replaced with a creative process predicated on cooperation toward a shared goal. While this thesis demonstrates the considerable degree to which one ensemble engages in these types of compositional projects, the broader existence of hybrid composer-performer relations is significant, especially in the realm of percussion music, where instruments and techniques frequently extend beyond the boundaries of orchestration textbooks and traditions. To this end, this thesis can serve as a model for further research on twentieth-century percussion history and, particularly, the role performers play in conceiving and crafting the repertoire.