DCM 002 - Five Sonatas – Drum music Dm 2 - my second album - five Sonatas for solo drum.

"I find them wonderful. What a challenge, with just one instrument to produce such an array of colourful sounds and excitement! your Performance wow!! And the sound quality - superb!! warmest congratulations!!" Thomas Simacu - "Award winning Composer and Professor of music at York - Facebook 1. 11. 2020


I was, though I didn’t know it yet, coming to the end of my life of some 20 years as a Contemporary Artist of some, small repute. This music business, would not be an interlude, a side line, or a pause in my Art, but an unthinkable change of life. At this time I was performing regularly at Small Venues and Festivals, as the solo percussion act ‘Perpetuum Mobile,’ PM, and in my Mothers folk band - ‘The Red Lion Band.’

In the Summer of 2006 I was invited by the University of Derby, to give a Drum recital, in the big hall of their Multifaith Centre - ‘A summer Evening’s Drumming.’ An event in their published calendar and a big event for me. I had done a smaller one for them, as a sort of test – and this was the reward. A big hall full of paying people, a table full of Drums, a chair – and me - and my invention – for a couple of hours Afterwards a man in the audience said that he had a recording studio ,at Marehay [Derbyshire, UK] and invited me to come and use it, I did not need to be asked twice. This resulted in my first album - Drum music, Dm 1 at the First of Three Marehay Sessions. At the time though, it was released as Perpetuum Mobile’s first album, PM 1. After the Sessions, a second, as yet untitled, PM album remained unfinished. Setting up my own studio, ‘The Drum Studio’, soon after,’ I remastered the PM sessions to my Satisfaction. The 2 PM albums were taken up into my new notation - as 'Drum music, Dm 1 & 2'. I then dropped the name 'Perpetuum Mobile,' adopting my own – my trademark as an Artist. The Artist becomes a Composer, and the transition is complete - “Now in a time of music.”

‘Five Sonatas,’ album Dm 2’ - incorporates the Drum sonatas 1 - 4 [the unfinished PM 2 album], together with a fifth Drum Sonata and the Music from a BBC Radio interview, promoting the 'Summer Evening’s Drumming' recital, that started it all. Five Sonatas is a Seminal album for me - one of the most important I would ever make. It is as an awakening, where I really became myself, as a Composer Percussionist - not as an Artist who also made music - setting my future direction.


So, five Sonatas – quite a Bold word to use, with such a historical Baggage of Form. Modernism, was afterall the emancipation of Harmony and Form – so why preserve the word – are they not just Inventions as on the previous album ? To put it simply I take on the word Sonata to mean ‘a Stand Alone Display Piece to test both player and instrument’ - whereas, ‘Inventions’ serve as part of a thematic group [See also my ‘First Inventions for Djembe,’ album Dm 6]. So, there are four pieces I had decided to adopt the word Sonata for, recorded at the Third Marehay Session. An afternoon that lives long in the memory, as one that would change my entire life. These were a step above anything I had done before. I thought so then and I think so now. ‘Sonata’ - was the word on my lips, as we finished recording them ! This Second album though remained unfinished, unformed, as I parted from Marehay to remaster myself at my own newly created studio – where a third album, of self recorded pieces was taking shape [the future Drum music 3]. The First and Third Marehay sessions had produced my first and an incomplete second album. At the Second Marehay session however, we recorded a single but beautifully structured, 16 minute piece - for a huge Djembe. This I subsequently called my Fifth Drum Sonata, Completing the Second album as ‘Five Sonatas’ Dm 2 !

My Rh catalogue, numbers my works in order of Completion. However the Rh Catalogue, omitted the 15 pieces recorded as Perpetuum Mobile, so they become Rh P1 - 15 preserving the ‘P' in Perpetuum, as the ‘P’ in 'Pre', solving the problem at a stroke.


Sonata for solo Drum no. 1 – Rh P11. Performed on a very favourite drum of mine, a double ended ‘Tibetan Drum’ – tapering from a wider base to a narrow, high pitched skin. It has a wicked rim shot – that you hear me here bouncing off an ambient wall, as I weave around it.

Sonata for Solo Drum no. 2 – Rh P12. A Signature piece of mine to this day, played on perhaps the most Versatile instrument I own. This cuts the measure of what I describe as a sonata – exploring the extended technique of both instrument and performer. The instrument is a small Djembe – given to me by a great love of mine – ‘The Fabulous Ms W’ – the Blond Witch – who flew into my life, at a little folk fest we’d both played at – ‘You’re a what ? I said. I spent Weeks Sanding the inside smooth as glass and the sound it then made, ohh, it was my instrument of choice from then on – featuring on Hundreds of recordings. This was its first professional outing and what a début. It is no exaggeration to say that this piece alone changed my life. The coming together of technique I found here opened so many doors.

Sonata for Solo Drum no.3 – Rh P13. Played on a much larger and metallic toned Djembe. Following in some ways a similar structural pattern to the seminal Second Sonata - a necessity, of the imposing and heaver, Ground Beat.

Sonata for Solo Drum no. 4 – Rh P14. A flying, fast paced work for what I had once called ‘the wrong end’ of my Double Ended Tibetan Drum, the larger end. This I had previously found, less versatile and heavier, than the other. From this piece I found that substantial work is possible with both ends of that drum. I had ended the session with the most difficult of the pieces – in ascending order of difficulty, actually. Thus was the original plan for the album – now to complete it.

Sonata for Solo Drum no 5 – Rh P8. For the Second Marehay Session, I borrowed a huge Djembe, from the said Golden Haired Ms W. I had then, no plans for a second album, I just wanted to record – I was on fire with creative energy. It was then just that piece in the can, with nowhere to go. It found its place, providentially, completing the second album, as a fifth Drum Sonata. This piece, on that Drum, tips the scales in difficulty again. Ascending from nos. 1 – 4 as if by design. As if it was ‘Given’ to me – as I used to say as an Artist. That is why I can say now that ‘Five Sonatas’ it is one of the most important albums I ever made. I hit the ground running. Albums three, four and five are Collected Drum studies, that will find interesting ground after this. Album six though is another set of seminal works – my ‘First inventions for Djembe.’

BBC Interview music – Rh P1. Music from a BBC Radio interview to publicise the performance that started it all - my own ‘Big Bang’ [a percussionists pun]. I performed live to air. They gave me a nice long space – no wind it up now signals – they let me finish and they gave me the tape. The first time I got to hear my own performance. And People came, and paid – to hear one man and his drums, and one man in the audience, started my career . . .


An early reorganization of my music research interest defined my music into dedicated sets of Albums. This way things of a kin got heard together - as one type of album or another - by Genre - or Tranche as I styled them. In this Case Drum music – Percussion on Drums of various kinds 'Percussion specifically on Drums of many kinds - as a speciality’
– Dm by convention.

Albums 1 - 7 collect together first seven Dm albums, placed in a block, one of 5 blocks, placed like books on a shelf. in an in an overarching 'Group' of my first 27 albums. Five Blocks for the Five Tranches - as they were founded (more of less) - five sets of studies and pieces, as my Foundational Group 'Blue Cherry' [after a friend]. The foundation stone the rest of my music is built on - in four further Groups.

The Seven Dm albums in the Blue Cherry Group are Dm 1 - a set of inventions for an American frame drum: Dm 2 – in a landmark set of the first 5 of my 12 Drum sonatas: Dm 3 - 5 are three volumes of Drum Studies; Dm 6 is in aother landmark set, the first of my 6 sets of Inventions for Djembe; finally Dm 7 is a fourth set of Drum studies.

The DCM album numbers list volumes in a [for the most part] chronological edition.- The DCM Broadhurst Edition - Prepared for the British Library in 2019. The Volumes or Albums themselves were actually released as and when it was possible. The Edition though, was planed from the start to stand on the 'foundation Stone' of the Blue Cherry group.

The Rh catalogue, numbers my works in order of Completion. However the Rh Catalogue, omitted the 15 pieces recorded as PM, so they become Rh P1 - 15 preserving the ‘P' in Perpetuum, as the ‘P’ in 'Pre', solving the problem at a stroke.

Credits

All instruments and Composition Julian Broadhurst.

Tracks 1 - 4 'Four Sonatas' for planned album 'Perpetuum Mobile 2' recorded live at the 3rd PM session, Marehay Studio, Derbyshire, England 2006.

Track 5 Recorded at Marehay, PM 2nd session 2006.- Remastered 2015.

Track 6 BBC Recording promo for 'Drumming on a summer's Evening' music from the BBC Interview 2006.

Cover by Tetlow and Broadhurst.
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