Skin Hits

- The three most important percussion sound groups are the skin instruments, the wooden instruments and the metal instruments. Each of these groups will be represented on a single CD in a series of three Globe CDs and this is the first in the series.

- A spectacular recording offering a wide range of numerous kinds or drums in works by some of the greatest contemporary composers. A lot of this music from Western Europe is rooted in or was influenced by traditional African percussion music and therefore traditional drum music from Senegal was also included in the program.

- Because of the quality of the recording, this CD may well become a 'sound spectacular' which is what percussion lovers really want. The instrumentation of some of the pieces is also spectacular, like for instance Ron Ford's 'Trurre" (Italian for "to pull") written for no less than fifty-six drums, played by live percussionists. 

- Soloist Ali N'Diaye Rose, born in 1959 in Dakar, Senegal, comes from a famous family of master drummers and has performed all over the world.

The Percussion Group The Hague was founded in 1977 by four percussion students from the Royal Conservatory of The Hogue. The group now comprises six percussionists on regular basis, and can be extended when the need arises. Over the years the group has obtained an important place in the musical world of Europe with a repertory that includes nearly the entire literature of Western compositions for percussion, extending from the first pieces for percussion from the beginning of the 20th century to the great percussion sextets of Xenakls. A great many works have been written specially for them by composers such as Elliott Carter, Mauricio Kagel, Theo Loevendie, Steve Reich and John Cage. Their close collaboration wit Karlheinz Stockhausen resulted in a series of performances with the Percussion Group The Hague of Stockhausen's opera "Samstag aus Licht" in the Teatro alla Scala in Milano. The group is also seriously engaged in African traditional music and frequently work with African masters such as Ali N'Diaye Rose, Abraham Kobenah Adzenyah and Venancio Mbande.