Midare

Ton de Leeuw

General Info

Year: 1972
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Donemus
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Marimba

Program Notes

Review

Midare for Marimba is not a new composition (written in 1972) but has not yet been reviewed in Percussive Notes. It is an excellent piece by one of The Netherland's finest composers. Midare is a highly sectionalized work utilizing a variety of contemporary compositional techniques. The opening section begins with an ostinato interrupted by double stops of which one key is muted with the fingers. The second section is rolled throughout with an emphasis on the timbral differences between the two hands (snare drum sticks-RH, conventional marimba mallets-LH). The third section uses hard mallets (2) and consists of rapid arpeggios, glissandos and free intervals. The notation is less conventional than the previous material but is very clear in terms of legibility of the composer's intentions. The next section is a continuation of the third with an emphasis on intervallic contrasts - first large, then small. The section closes with the final motive from the opening and moves into a box notation. This section contains many interesting, if not unusual, effects including glissandos on resonators, and normal glissandos with the rattan end of the mallet. A succession of grace note figures of various interval sizes follows and then closes with the return of the opening motive. The final section is rhythmically complex (5:3:2) and uses a variety of tone colors and mallets. It closes with a startling slap of a mallet on a key. Midare for Marimba is a composition which challenges the performer in many nonconventional ways - technically, notationally, and musically. For the advanced marimbist, this work is an excellent choice for public performance, providing an opportunity to perform a challenging piece stylistically outside the dominant place that American and Japanese compositions in this genre now hold. - Chris Shultis

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Midare - Percussion Solo; Marimba
Music for Marimba, Vibraphone and Japanese Temple Bells - Percussion Duo
Spacial Music II - Percussion Quartet