Moods for Solo Marimba

The three moods characterized in this piece are "Discouraged, "Yearning, and "Bouncy," and follows a traditional fast-slow-fast arrangement of movements.

Program Notes

This piece owes its existence to both the deadlines of composition competitions and the desire to use my piano background as the basis for a marimba solo. I chose three moods to characterize this work: "Discouraged", "Yearning", and "Bouncy", and it follows a very traditional fast-slow-fast music arrangement. I have tried in "Discouraged" to channel late Romantic-era piano music, complete with independent playing and scalar runs down the marimba keyboard. "Yearning" focuses both on one of the major themes of the first movement, and the accompaniment of extended arpeggiation and rolls. "Bouncy" features a lighter style, more in the style of Clementi and Classical style.

Grade Level: 3
Copyright: 2009
Number of Players: 1
Duration: 10:00

Listen to Recordings

Sample PDF

Instrumentation

Marimba (5-octave)