Picture a symphony orchestra: the conductor, front and center, standing before the strings; violins to the left, violas and cellos to the right. Beyond that, woodwinds and brass. Then way in the back, off to the left, out of sight and pretty much out of mind, except for the occasional cymbal crash, are two or three percussionists hidden behind their elaborate kits — snare and bass drums, tubular bells, and timpani, aka kettle drums.
Not tonight.
Tonight — May 30 — is the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s “Procession,” written especially for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal percussionist, Cynthia Yeh.
A drum set, plus vibraphone and glockenspiel — sort of a baby vibraphone — are to the immediate left of the conductor, where a guest violinist might stand.
Sure, it felt odd.
“I’m not up there often,” said Yeh, who had the unique position of being both inspiration and featured performer of the piece. “I’m never under his nose. I’m always surprised by how hot it is there.”
Classical music does not serve up many drum concertos — major musical compositions featuring a specific instrument, usually piano or violin.
So how do you get a concerto written for yourself? If you’re Cynthia Yeh, it’s simple.
“I asked her if she would,” Yeh said. “She shockingly said ‘yes.’”
Maybe not so shocking, considering Yeh’s reputation.
“She is incredibly devoted to the passion of the music,” said Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor at the premiere. “She has a technique which is unbelievable. Really accurate. She knows everything, actually.”
Montgomery has been composer-in-residence for three years at the CSO, and this piece caps off her tenure here.
“I am forever grateful to Cynthia Yeh, who urged me to compose this work and who has been an extremely patient and thoughtful collaborator as I navigated my first large work for percussion,” Montgomery wrote in the program.
Yeh warned me away from a certain term that some associate with drums.
“The only gripe I have is using the word ‘bang,’” she said, making a face. Drums are not banged. “It’s way subtler than that.”
I had observed that I am writing for the layman, who is not Yeh’s target audience.
“The layman feels it must be so satisfying to beat the sh-t out of something,” she said. “But as the player, you’re not actively excited about beating the sh-t out of anything. It’s just what’s written.”
Yes, the public seems to sit up and notice the banging parts.
“I completely understand we’re way more visual an instrument than anything else on stage,” she allowed.
How does one become a classical percussionist, anyway?
“I’m very much an anomaly,” she said. “Because I didn’t come from percussion.”
Where she comes from is Taiwan, where she took up the piano at age three — I couldn’t help pointing out that pianos are considered percussion instruments: strings struck by little hammers, albeit hidden inside a big wooden box.
“It is, in theory,” she allowed.
Her family came to Canada. Yeh presented herself to her school’s band director, who didn’t have much use for a pianist, but needed someone to play the xylophone. She took to band.
“It was easy and fun and I had a lot of friends.”
For a while she studied both piano and percussion.
“My piano teacher called and said I had to choose.” And here she mimicked a gruff male voice. “‘Cynthia: you can’t be in piano and percussion! Choose!’”
“Oh OK,” she said, brightly, in her own voice. “Well, I’m going to try the drums.”
“Drums” encompass an enormous range of instruments. Yeh uses gongs a yard across and cymbals the size of silver dollars. Back in the percussion room are a dizzying variety of sticks, mallets, snares, and objects that can be shaken, rattled or struck: maracas, bamboo chimes, bunches of keys, even an actual kitchen sink — which Yeh did not play, but dug up for the performance of Laura Karpman’s All American on July 10, 2021 at Ravinia.
The takeaway for grasping Yeh is to understand why she likes the vibraphone far better than the xylophone — because the vibraphone has pedals, that are not just pushed up or released, but worked through a range that can be subtle and expressive.
Percussion isn’t just slamming the cymbals together at the right moment. It’s not about banging stuff together.
“A good percussionist is just as equally a good musician who happened to play percussion,” she said. “The thing I work the most about is my musicianship. I just happen to use the snare drum or the cymbals or hit things as my tool.”
Manfred Honeck (from left), guest conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jessie Montgomery a composer, and Cynthia Yeh percussionist with CSO, receive a standing ovation after the world premiere of a piece composed by Montgomery that featured Yeh. The performance was at Symphony Center on May 30.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
