CD Percussionist Songs:

Signal to Noise, Andrew Choate, winter 2006 issue:

"The first disc of this two CD collection contains Marinissen's recording of Kurt Schwitters' soundpoem "Ursonate". I've never heard a recording of this piece that I didn't enjoy, but it is really something of a sidekick to disc 2, which is a collection of a lot of different folks' compositions, including a trio of Marinissen's own which provide plenty of raucous entertainment. "Miniatuur I" features rhythmic duckcall cheeck vibrations layered like drum samples between heavy hhhmmphs. It would be a dance hit if clubbers had a bigger sense of humor. "Miniatuur III" is another short piece of Marinissen's, this time using his own voice to make low drones and high chattering and midrange Dutch syllables all at once. Marinissen is also a percussionist, and his version of Michael Norris' "in flexion" for saw and tape makes a great spacey interlude out of the interaction of analog waves and bent saw harmonics. Another highlight is Christian Wolff's "Percussionist Songs IV, III, VI & VII", using handclaps, vibraphones and shaking saucers to create intricately balanced yet formally awkward beats. The closing track, John Cage"s "Story" from "Living room Music", perfectly complements the infectious delight Marinissen brings to performances of contemporary music. Fragments of a sentence build up and stretch out and chime in over each other amidst a background of sharp, jolly whistling and short percussive hissing. The track hidden at the end of the album offers an ideal coda to the collection: beat-sensitive humming mixed with bentnote melodic whistling."

AltriSuoni, Lucia Caponi, 10/10/2005:

"Percussion can sing, but can a percussionist sing?". A collection of works for percussion, voice and electronics, performed by the extraordinary and effervescent Dutch percussionist, Arnold Marinissen, puts this question to the test with, hem, many surprises. The first cd of this collection is entirely dedicated to Kurt Schwitters, central figure in the Dada movement, active in the visible arts and in poetry. The Ursonate, one of his key works, is a completely atypical sonata in which, in an almost exasperating way, short "compositional cells " are repeated, thus giving life to a sounding object of over fourty minutes. The border between words and music, and between music that generates words and words that generate music, does not exist. The performance by Marinissen, entirely performed vocally, transmits an enormous rhythmical-percussive strength. Marinissen strongly insists on the direction, on the modifications, on the non-musical expansions of the words, thus making all the effects become sound, also melody and song. The performance and the work are extraordinary from every point of view.
The second cd of the collection has a big variety of works, but all of them are absolutely contemporary. Festival by the Dutch writer and comedian Kees van Kooten, a queer and absurdistic piece in which the arrival of a marvellous young artist is announced, leads to Miniatures I, II, III for voices, by Marinissen himself, realized by means of multi channel recording. What follows is Songs I-IX for an actor / percussionist, a semi-theatrical work written by the American composer, poet and percussionist Stuart Smith. Magic and bewitching is (Ron Ford’s) commissioned piece, moulded and performed by soprano Barbara Hannigan and Marinissen. Christian Wolff, apparently turning on the "classical" side, presents four Percussionist Songs that reveal more than what appears at first sight. The young New Zealand composer Michael Norris has been commissioned a new work for "saw and tape", ten minutes of dazzling sonic-percussive tightrope walking. A visionary piece about the effect of bending and deforming the metal. A utopic John Cage finishes with his Story for four voices, all entrusted to Marinissen. Whether you study or love percussion, there is no way around this valuable collection."

CD Layered Rhythms:

Downtownmusicgalley.com/USA, 2004:

"This is the second of three solo percussion discs for BVHaast by percussionist extraordinaire Arnold Marinissen. ... A wonderful collection of stimulating solo percussion performances."

Trouw/Netherlands, Anthony Fiumara, 13/03/2004:

"Fortunately, one did not have to wait long for the second solo cd by percussionist Arnold Marinissen. This "Layered Rhythms" is the second last in a series of three planned recordings. As far as I'm concerned it could have been many more than three in the first place, because the works that Marinissen brings together are pearls, each and every one of them. ... in "Rebonds" by Iannis Xenakis ... Marinissen shows an extraordinary degree of transparency. ... Marinissen manages with two arms and brain halves, without blowing the fuses."

Luister/Netherlands, Paul Janssen, 07-08/2004:

"... Marinissen shows himself to be a extraordinary percussionist. He breathes new life into Rebonds A & B, the stern and seemingly bare rhythmic work by Iannis Xenakis. ... in Bone Alphabet by complexity composer Brian Ferneyhough, perhaps the most notorious percussion composition, and considered unplayable, Marinissen makes a world of colour and sound appear, thereby dismantling its supposed unplayability. Very beautiful as well is the duet with himself in Cage's Child of Tree ... the most important news remains that Marinissen succeeds again in arresting the listener's attention for the full 50 minutes."

CD's Traces of Cultures & Layered Rhythms:

Parool/Netherlands, 01/07/2004

"Arnold Marinissen wants to convince his listeners of the beauty of the unknown and unexpected, the unthinkable and the unthought of. ... He succeeds in playing the pieces by Xenakis (Rebonds), Ferneyhough (Bone Alphabet), Carter (March from Eight Pieces for Four Timpani) and Child of Tree by John Cage as if they come into being on the spot. ... Even more beautiful and certainly more exotic is Traces of Cultures, with very good pieces by the Mexican Javier Alvarez (for maracas and elektronics), Christopher Fox, the Southafrican Kevin Volans (the contagious She who sleeps with a small blanket) and the strongly ritualistic Cinq chansons pour percussion, in which composer Claude Vivier evokes with bells and gongs an atmosphere of deep melancholy, but also buoancy. Magnificent."

CD Traces of Cultures:

Trouw/Netherlands, Anthony Fiumara, 06/03/2003:

"I know no percussionist more dedicated than Arnold Marinissen. Marinissen is a percussionist who can draw a thousand colours from his vibraphone, who can make a piece of scrap glimmer and who can make his drum skins sing. Just to watch him perform is a delight. You see a kind of high priest, involved in a complex ritual, performed with a calmness you would not expect from a percussionist. All those aspects of Marinissen are present on his first solo-cd, which bears the title "Traces of Cultures''. The works by Fox, Volans, Alvarez and Lege are magnificent. But I was impressed most by the performance of "Cinq Chansons pour Percussion" by Claude Vivier. 'Let the percussions sing!', says the composer. And that is exactly what Marinissen does. Poetic, intelligent and musical playing."

De Volkskrant/Netherlands, Pay-Un Hiu, 17/04/2003:

"Percussionist Arnold Marinissen is a performer who puts his virtuosity at the service of lesser known repertoire. ... A really fascinating sample of 'polyphonic' drumming is found in She Who Sleeps With A Small Blanket by the South-African Kevin Volans, in which Marinissen's stick control goes with crystal-clear articulation."

Signal to Noise/USA, Dan Warburton, 10/2003:

"... a well-rounded, satisfying and eminently accessible album ...''

Percussions/France, Jean-Guillaume Cattin, 10/2003:

'' A very beautiful disc''

Concerts Traces of Cultures:

Trouw/Netherlands, Kees Arntzen, 22/10/2003

''A recital for solo percussion in the Kleine Zaal of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw is something we had not yet experienced. On Monday night, Arnold Marinissen was the first to create the occasion."

''From the sensual 'Temazcal' by composer Javier Alvarez – a great opening act for tape and two tiny maracas - via the ceremonious 'Big-Ben-variations for vibraphone' by Gunter Lege, to the inciting talking drums of Southafrican Kevin Volans, Arnold Marinissen captured the audience with his sovereign and concentrated playing.''

'' In Viviers' 'Cinq Chansons' Marinissen constructed a fascinating opus full of mysteries and tenderness.''

"After the intermission he treated the bongo and conga skins as intensely energetically as he had delicately and sensually caressed the bronze gongs, bells and a few temple gongs in Cinq Chansons by Claude Vivier, thus illustrating the incredible broadness of the percussion repertoire.'' ...

De Stem/Netherlands, Frans Baljeu, 05/04/2003

" 'I cannot send you home without a bit of drumming, can I.' With this remark, percussionist Arnold Marinissen appeared to sense perfectly what his concentratedly listening audience was waiting for. The piece "She who sleeps with a small blanket" for bongo's and conga's fitted the expectations that many people have when they visit a concert for percussion only. Within the limits of the chosen instrumentation, the steadily intensifying playing brought about real excitement, which finally was calmed down by a small (marimba) solo.

The resulting quietness was an essential element in several other pieces. Especially the Oriental "Cinq Chansons pour percussion" by Claude Vivier brought the Western speed of life to rest. Marinissen is, because of his quiet presentation which lacks any degree of exhibitionism, in an Oriental sense the ideal performer. He serves as an intermittent between the composer and the audience. Resonant sounds, rich in harmonics, which melted together with quietly played gongs gave shape to composer Vivier's device: 'Let the percussions sing'.

Top-instrumentalist Marinissen concluded this concert, considered by many as adventurous, with an encore on vibraphone, by which those who had missed traditional melody and harmony all night, were attended to.

Concert Layered Rhythms:

Otago Daily Times/New Zealand, Anthony Ritchie, 22/09/2004:

"Percussionist Arnold Marinissen gave a brilliant solo concert in the Dunedin Art Gallery last night.
At times, it seemed four people were playing instruments instead of one, such was the agility Marinissen displayed. Sometimes his performance was at the extreme end of difficulty and yet it never appeared so. Marinissen moves with such economy and elegance that his playing is a pleasure to watch as well as hear.
There were so many highlights from this concert it is difficult to list them all. In the Elliott Carter pieces for timpani, Marinissen played with great suppleness, and had complete control over the complex cross-rhythms.
Opening the concert was an unusual piece by Alvarez called Temazcal, for maracas and electronic sounds. I wouldn't have believed maracas playing could be so interesting, and the folksy ending was a nice humorous touch.
Marinissen saved the hardest piece until last: Ferneyhough's Bone Alphabet for an array of contrasting percussion, including a casserole dish. He calmly created a labyrinth of frenetic, edgy sounds.
This was music-making of the highest order and deserved a larger audience."

Concert Holland Symfonia, Rebonds

Noord-Hollands Dagblad/Netherlands, Jos Ruiters, 29/03/2004:

"Percussionist Arnold Marinissen received admiration with his interpretation of "Rebonds" by Xenakis. Xenakis is an architect of sounds, and the performance of his works requires a mathematical mind. Marinissen is a magician who gave a moving percussion show. ..."

Haarlems Dagblad/Netherlands, Albert Brüggen, 29/03/2004:

"Percussionist Arnold Marinissen gives an overwhelming interpretation of Rebonds (reflections) by the Greek-French Iannis Xenakis. In the first part, Marinissen attacks just skin instruments, in the second rich sounding woodblocks as well. The constantly varied rhythmic patterns appear to be "absolute peanuts" for this juggler. ..."

Concerto for Marimba,vibraphone and orchestra by Darius Milhaud

Otago Daily Times/New Zealand, Don Evans, 24/06/2003:

''It was easy to become captivated by Marinissen's technical ability, dexterity and balletic style ... and to admire the range of tone he managed from both instruments.''

Bennett's "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra" with the Zeeuws Orkest

Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant/Netherlands, 03/03/2002:

''... In the Dutch premiere of the Bennett percussion concerto, Marinissen shaped, in a relaxed way, a set of little jewels. Rolling, ticking, pounding, caressing, he created a series of beautiful musical patterns, and showed his virtuosity in the cadenses of the first and last movement. A soloist of class."

Concert Boned Alphabet with Romain Bischoff:

De Volkskrant/Netherlands, 09/02/2002:

"The knock-out was given by the duo Romain Bischoff, voice and percussion, and Arnold Marinissen, percussion and voice. Most impressing were the absurdistic works by Peter Adriaansz (whose Battle Hymns received their first performance), John Cage and Kurt Schwitters.
The Ursonate by Schwitters: nonsense-language which Arnold Marinissen let pass his lips guilelessly, cunningly and involvingly; his percussive background showed in the well-timed glottal stop, the smooth guttural or the subtle rolling of the tip-of-the-tongue-rrr.
John Cage's Songbooks: little percussion, a pluck here and a rub there, and as hilarical-theatrical side characters: the shoe (taken off, viewed closely, put on) and the toy tractor (with trailer).
Climax was the part (of Battle Hymns) in which Romain Bischoff dipped his head into an asian temple bowl, meanwhile continuing his incantation, and a sound-halo of shiningly resonating bowls and plucked piano strings appeared."

Slagwerkkrant/Netherlands, 03-04/2002:

"Boned Alphabet appears to be a very strong performance. The two gentlemen in black are able to maintain without any difficulty, through their appearance, mimicry and performance, the concentration of the audience. With Cage's Songbooks, the tension makes room for laughter. This also applies to the Ursonate by Schwitters, recited by a poker-faced Marinissen. The first performance of Battle Hymns by Peter Adriaansz forms the climax of the evening, with strong, repetitive rhythms for voice, piano, temple bowls and percussion."