Stuttgart Percussion Duo in concert at Alliance Francaise de Lusaka

Last night at Alliance Francaise de Lusaka's Promenade Concert,there was an amazing display of percussion by Se-Me Hwang and Lukas Ehret of Germany. Both percussion with definite pitch, like the marimba, and indefinite pitch, like drums, were played with consummate skill and finesse. Percussion, although the oldest of the music groups, continues to be excluded in much popular classical music. There are exceptions, Bartok, Chavez, Milhaud and Orff, but percussion only really began to gain a foothold in contemporary classical music the 1960s, with Takemitsu, MacMillan and Reich. The percussion music played last night was a rare opportunity to hear very recent work from professional musicians, distinctly a cut above. If you missed it, you really missed something, and you will have to wait for the Promenade Concerts next year.

There is no concert tonight but the 'The Last Night of the Proms' is on Saturday night at 1930hrs, which includes Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana', which is distinctly percussive as well. Again, it is not something to be missed.