Prelude and Rondo alla marcia

Raymond Helble

General Info

Year of Published: 2008
Publisher: Keyboard Percussion Publications
Difficulty: Advanced
Duration: c.
Cost: Score and Parts - $75.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Crotales
Player 2: Vibraphone & Cymbals
Player 3: Chimes
Player 4: Xylophone
Player 5: Marimba 1
Player 6: Marimba 2
Player 7: Marimba 3
Player 8: Marimba 4
Player 9: Marimba 5
Player 10: 5 Timpani
Player 11: Snare Drum
Player 12: Tom Toms

Program Notes

Prelude and Rondo, commissioned by Texas Christian University and Dr. Brian West for a PASIC performance, is a large and very attractive percussion orchestra work. While challenging, the work is somewhat easier technically than other Helble percussion orchestra works. The total effect is mesmerizing, and features one of Helble’s most beautiful and hypnotic openings.

Review

In a very fine recent concert by the TCU Percussion Orchestra at Merkin Hall, the group was especially notable for two remarkable assets. The first was a fluidity of talent, allowing several different players to shift from one instrument to another with apparent ease and expertise. In this era of specialization, it was a pleasant surprise. The second was a sensitive awareness of balance, something rare in young musicians (or musicians in general, for that matter.) It was nice to hear finely graded dynamics on instruments like the snare drum and tam-tam, which are so often played without subtlety.

A variety of mallet instruments dominated the stage space and the compositional texture of the program, especially in its first half. Raymond Helble’s Prelude and Rondo alla Marcia, an attractive neo-Baroque work, initiated a trio of fairly traditional pieces with reinforced melodies resting on plush harmonies. Offrendas #3, a sun kissed Brazilian lullaby by Ricardo Souza, followed in smooth succession, beginning placidly, and evolving into something more rhythmically dense, while retaining a calm surface. The composer Eric Ewazen, present at the performance of the third piece, his three movement Symphony for Percussion, rightly applauded the players enthusiastically for a beautiful rendition. The symphony, with big tunes and a Hollywood sensibility, was a perfect match for the musicians at their level of artistry and expression.

The works on the second half of the program were more expansive in both instrumentation and contemporary orchestral techniques. Dave Hall’s nightmarish Doors, the aural equivalent of a Dali painting, was followed by David Maslanka’s Hohner, a highly sophisticated and atmospheric composition, with an unusual structure. It began with an exhilarating coup de theatre, a blast of antiphonal tympani, with an aftershock of rattlers from all corners of the stage. The TCU Orchestra rose to the challenges of both these pieces with fervor and consistency. For the program’s finale, Dwayne Rice’s I Ching required still greater depth and dexterity, especially from the mallet players. They employed the same relaxed focus and concentration as they had all evening, a proof of their own maturity as musicians, and a testament to the excellent training they have received from their teacher and conductor, Brian A. West.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Marimba Works

Goblin Dance Op. 24
Grand Fantasy in C Major
Preludes for Marimba No's. 1, 2, 3 Op. 1
Preludes for Marimba No's. 4, 5, 6 Op. 3
Preludes for Marimba Nos. 7, 8, 9, Op.14
Preludes for Marimba Nos. 10. 11, 12, Op.28
Preludes for Marimba Nos. 13. 14, 15, Op.37
The Well-Tempered Marimbist (Book 1 and 2)
Theme and Six Variations
Toccata Fantasy in e-flat minor

Timpani Works

Three Etudes for Five Tympani Op. 10

Vibraphone Works

Sonata Brevis for Solo Vibraphone - Vibraphone

Concerto Works

Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (Helble) - Marimba; Orchestra
Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble Op. 21 - Marimba; Percussion Ensemble
Dragon of Wyckham Op. 47 - Marimba; Concert Band
Duo Concertante Op. 11 - Marimba; Violin
Duo Concertante Op. 54 - Marimba; Vibraphone
Marimba Concerto in a Op. 34 - Marimba; Chamber Orchestra
Night Music Op. 62 - Timpani; Percussion Quartet

Marimba Ensemble Works

Concertare, Op. 41b - Percussion Duo - Marimba Duo

Large Percussion Ensemble Works

Concertare - 12 Players
Concertare, Op. 41a - 12 Players
Diabolic Variations - 10 Players
Multum in Parvis - 13 Players
Passacaglia for Percussion Ensemble Op. 7 - 10 Players
Prelude and Rondo alla marcia - 12 Players

With Other Instrument Works

Movement for Marimba and Harpsichord Op. 5 - Marimba; Harpsichord
Movements for Marimba and String Quartet - Marimba; String Quartet
Nocturne Op. 20 - Marimba; Clarinet
Quintetto alla Beethoven - Marimba; String Quartet
SilverWood Op. 66 - Marimba; Flute

Not Yet Classified

Hynos I Op. 49 - Percussion Ensemble
Hypnos II Op. 58 - Percussion Ensemble
Legend of Faust Op. 32 - Large Percussion Ensemble
Sonare Op. 68 - Percussion Ensemble