Arcadia II: Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble
General Info
Year of Published: 1982
Publisher: Carl Fischer Music
Duration: 00:30:00
ISBN: 978-0-8258-7783-4
Cost: $190.00
Instrumentation
Soloist
Ensemble
Mallet Percussion: Glockenspiel & Xylophone & Vibraphone & Marimba & Crotales & Antique Cymbal
Drum: Snare Drum & Tom Toms & Bass Drum & Tenor Drum
Cymbal: Crash Cymbal & 6 Suspended Cymbal & Hi Hat & Gong
Auxiliary Percussion: Bamboo Sticks &Wood Block & Temple Blocks & Bull Roarer & Bell Plate & Slap Stick & Tambourine & 2 Slide Whistle & Claves & Anvil & Ratchet & Triangle
Program Note
From the dictionary, “Arcadia” means a pastoral district of ancient Greece, or any place of rural peace and simplicity. It refers as well the mythic land of human origin. The title Arcadia II has a double intent: it is the second piece of mine with the title Arcadia, and it is a musical prayer for the well being of Earth and a return to an attitude of reverence for the Earth. The Concerto uses a traditional concerto form: faster outer movements surrounding a slow middle movement. The outer movements are both in sonata form (exposition of themes, development, recapitulation), and the middle movement has the feel of an extended song.
The first movement arises from darkness. I remember standing in a New Hampshire meadow on a summer evening. One by one the fireflies lit up until the darkening field was alive with their activity. The tiny opening bell sounds of this movement are the fireflies. Out of this grows a mournful bittersweet music which rises to a high intensity and then fades.
The second movement is a nature meditation. It comes directly from my walks in Inwood Hill Park in upper Manhattan. This hundred-acre wood is the last “wild” parkland in New York City. Though faint and crowded on all sides by urban noise, the voices of nature can still be heard in these woods. They suggested a music in which the human presence (the solo marimba) communes with the sounds of wind, birds, the rustling of small things, the flow of water -all represented in the ensemble.
The last movement is infused with a spirit of playfulness, light, and simple joy in the glories of nature. There is an assertive opening theme, a serene and pastoral second theme, an extended development which rises to moments of epiphany (wind and glittering sunlight in the rustling leaves), a cadenza, and a recapitulation with the second theme coming first.
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Arcadia II: Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble - Marimba, Percussion Sextet
Concerto for Marimba and Band (Maslanka) - Marimba, Band
Crown of Thorns - Percussion Octet - Mallet Ensemble
David’s Book: Concerto for Solo Percussionist and Wind Ensemble - Multiple Percussion, Wind Ensemble
Hohner - Percussion Ensemble (21)
Hurtling Through Space at an Unimaginable Speed - Percussion Ensemble (12)
In Lonely Fields - Multiple Percussion, Chamber Orchestra
Montana Music: Three Dances for Percussion - Percussion Septet +1 for 3rd Mvmnt, Piano, Double Bass
My Lady White - Marimba
A Solemn Music - Marimba
Song Book for Alto Saxophone and Marimba - Marimba, Alto Saxophone
This is the world we know, the world of air and breathing and sun and beating hearts - Percussion Duo, 2 Pianos
Time Stream - Steel Drum Ensemble
Variations on ‘Lost Love’ - Marimba