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Atenteben was composed in 1985. The melodies in this piece are based on a few of the tunes played by the atenteben flute ensemble of Ghana. The patterns played by the gankogui and the drums are loosely based on rhythms found in the traditional Ewe dance musics agbekor and gahu, and the ubiquitous urban popular music kpanlogo.
Number of Players: 7
Difficulty: Grade 6
Instrumentation:
Player I: Marimba
Player II: Marimba
Player III: Marimba
Player IV: Axatse
Player V: Gankogui
Player VI: High African Drum
Player VII: Low African Drum
Bob Becker's performing experience spans nearly all of the musical disciplines where percussion is found. He has been percussionist for the Marlboro Music Festival and timpanist with the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under Pablo Casals. For several years he toured as drummer and percussionist with the Paul Winter Consort. He has also performed and recorded with such diverse groups as the Ensemble Intercontemporaine under Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble Modern of Germany, the Schoenberg Ensemble of Amsterdam and the Boston Chamber Players. He has appeared as tabla soloist in India and has accompanied many of the major artists of Hindustani music. He is also a founding member of the Flaming Dono West African Dance and Drum Ensemble in Toronto. As a regular member of the ensemble Steve Reich and Musicians, he has appeared as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony and recorded for Deutsche Grammophone, EMI and Nonesuch.
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