Concerto No. 2 per marimbafono e orchestra

Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic

General Info

Year: 1997
Duration: c. 26:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: MusicaEur
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Marimba

Orchestra

Program Notes

When one mentions a concert for a solo instrument and orchestra, one usually thinks of a three-movement form with two mutually opposed sound sources that become “reconciled” in the closing bars of the work. A solo cadenza is almost assumed. However, the Concerto No.2 for marimba and orchestra1 by Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic2 we refer to is, in many ways, an exception compared to standard compositions of this kind. First of all, the instrument counterposed to the orchestra is the marimba3, an old African percussive source of sound, hardly imaginable in the setting of a symphony ensemble. Another exception is the fact that the author again decided upon this musical form, which we consider classical, and with good reason.

“…I intended to span the broadest possible spectre of elements not only in relation to the construction of the work, but in relation to the construction of the instruments. I wanted to unite the quintessence of Nature and archaic elements (rhythm as the primal origin of every music, as something that gives birth to music), theatrical qualities and a new articulation of tonality with the ‘classical’ tonal language of this century and produce some kind of – New Music. Only such a unity can represent the free expansion (quasi trans-avantgardism) of present day music…”, I paraphrase the words of Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic, whose Second Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra represents the musical elucidation of its composer’s credo.

Zivkovic’s three-movement Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra a due, with reinforced percussion section and the harp, resembles the traditional formal solution of a sonata cycle of this kind – only in the number of its movements. Nevertheless, the formal patterns of the movements do not correspond to the traditional distribution: sonata-form, a complex three-part song- rondo. They look more like a series of three musical entities where, owing to the programmatic idea of the work, the sounds of the instruments of totally different cultures first “rival” one another, then unite. The expected soloist cadenza from the first movement, therefore, re-emerges in the last. Nevertheless, even if the author did not follow the classical musical forms in conceiving the concert, the character of this three musical wholes is traditional: the first is the exposition (but not in sonata form), the second movement is slow while the third, not the simple “dance in the circle” of the rondo, but rather a scherzo with an expressionistic, pagan intonation.

As the author himself says, this concerto is a kind of ritual where an individual is accepted into a community after a certain ritual of “initiation”. Symbolically, it is the marimba, an instrument entirely foreign to the classical orchestral ensemble, that is “accepted” into the group. Essentially, involves the problem of conflict between the traditional and the new, where, paradoxically, the new is older than the old. Such a bond in fact represents a unity of folklore music ( taken in the broader sense) with art music, and its final results offers a certain type of ethnic style in the music written at the end of this century.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

"Generally spoken it's nothing by rhythm" - Multiple Percussion Solo
ANBA (tanz der kleinen schwarzen Hexe) - Marimba; Piano
Andante for Uta - Marimba
Bayerscher Ländler - Marimba
Born to Beat Wild - Multiple Percussion; Trumpet
Cadenza für 5 timpani - Timpani
Castle of the Mad King - Multiple Percussion
Collateral Damage - Multiple Percussion; with tape
CTPAX: STRAH, op.12 - Multiple Percussion; with tape
Das Innere des Schweigens - Drum Set; with tape; Voice; Actors
Der kleine Paganini - Xylophone
Drei Phantastische Lieder (Three Fantastic Songs) - Marimba
Drei Unverbindliche Stücke (3 Unforgettable Pieces) - Marimba
Ein Liebeslied? - Marimba
Fluctus, op.16 - Marimba; with tape
Il canto dei gondolieri - Marimba
Ilijas - Marimba
In Erinnerungen Schwebend - Vibraphone; Flutes (3)
Lamento e Danza Barbara - Marimba; Percussion Trio
Les Violons Morts - Marimba
Macedonia - Marimba; Piano
Quasi Una Sonata - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Song for Simone - Marimba
Sta Vidis - Marimba; Male Chorus
Suomineito - Vibraphone
Ten Etudes for Snare Drum - Snare Drum
Tensio, op.11 - Marimba
To the Gods of Rhythm - Djembe; Voice
Trio per Uno - Percussion Trio
Ultimatum 1 - Marimba
Ultimatum II - Marimba Duo
Uneven Souls (Sta vidis II), op. 22 - Marimba; Percussion Trio
Valse Serbe für Marimba und Klavier - Marimba; Piano
Walzer for Herbert - Marimba

Concertos

Concerto No. 1 per marimbafono e orchestra - Marimba; Orchestra
Concerto No. 2 per marimbafono e orchestra - Marimba; Orchestra
Percussion Concerto No. 1, Opus 28 (Concerto of the Mad Queen) - Multiple Percussion; Orchestra
Percussion Concerto No. 2, Opus 33 - Multiple Percussion; Orchestra
Pezzo Da Concerto No. 1 - Snare Drum
Tales from the Center of the Earth - Multiple Percussion; Wind Ensemble

Ensemble

Die Arten Des Wassers - Percussion Duo; Pianos (2)
Quintetto per cinque solisti - Marimba Quartet; Percussion
Sandy - Percussion Trio
Sex in the Kitchen - Percussion Duo
Tak-Nara, Op.36 - Percussion Quartet
Zwischen Tag und Nacht - Percussion Sextet

Method Books

My First Book for Xylophone and Marimba
Funny Marimba - Book 1
Funny Marimba - Book 2
Funny Vibraphone - Book 1
Funny Vibraphone - Book 2
Funny Xylophone - Book 1