The music for this collection, Ten Planets, represents a personally chosen repertoire distilled from many years of commissioning and performance, to capture meticulously prepared premiere recordings of works that cover the broad range of dynamics, colour and sheer ‘kick-ass’ drumming that define the medium of solo percussion.

« These works represent some of the best solo percussion writing in Canada. Each piece contains an interplay between large space and a more intimate, poetic activity. This collection captures the extremes of percussion music from gentle lyrcisicm to explosive energy. » – Rick Sacks

« There’s a reason why so many of the world’s rituals involve gongs, bells and drums. Percussion instruments have a way of drawing our attention to the rhythms of eternity that lie hidden within each escaping moment. Richard Sacks is a Toronto percussionist and composer who has worked with new-music ensembles such as Arraymusic and the Glass Orchestra, as well as with theatre and dance companies such as CanStage and Carbone 14.

His latest album of solo pieces by five Canadian and American composers explores the vanishing point at which the temporal dissolves into the timeless. » Robert Everett-Green, Globe & Mail

Rick Sacks performs James Tenney’s Maximusic

Rick Sacks performs his work Life in the Factory

MICHAEL J. BAKER

1. The Waldo

JAMES TENNEY

2. Maximusic

BARBARA MONK FELDMAN

3. Verses for Vibraphone

RICK SACKS

4. Ten Planets

RODNEY SHARMAN

5. Apollo’s Touch

BARBARA MONK FELDMAN

6. Glockenspiel

MICHAEL J. BAKER

7. The Waldo (with electronics)