The Wooden Branch

- 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 second in that series, after GLO 5066 (Skin Hits), released in September 1991.

- Another spectacular recording offering a wide range of numerous kinds of wooden drums in works by the greatest contemporary composers. A lot of this music from Western Europe, and also Japan, is rooted in or was influenced by traditional African percussion music and therefore this time Timbila Music from Mozambique was also included in the program.

- After 'Skin Hits', this is another 'sound spectacular' which will appeal to all percussion lovers. There are also rather unusual works for percussion ensemble included in the program, such as Peter Smith's 'Mare' for marimba and electronic sounds, and Ron Ford's setting of an old English poem for mezzo-soprano and four percussionists. 

- Soloist Venancio Mbande comes from the Zavala district in Mozambique. He is not only a gifted timbila player, but also a composer and leader of a timbila orchestra in the Wildebeesfontein mine in South Africa.

The Percussion Group The Hague was founded in 1917 by four percussion students from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. The group now comprises six percussionists on a 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 Xenakis. A great many works have been especially written for them by such composers as Elliott Carter, Mauricio Kagel, Theo Loevendle, Steve Reich, and John Cage. Their close collaboration with Karlheinz Stockhausen resulted in a series of performances with the Percussion Group The Hague of Stockhausen's opera 'Samstag aus Licht" in the Teatro alia Scala in Milano. The group is also seriously engaged in African traditional music and frequently works with such African master drummers as Ali N'Diaye Rose, Abraham Kobenah Adzenyah and Venancio Mbande.