The Two-Mallet Traveler
General Info
Year of Published: 2022
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Difficulty: Intermediate
Duration: 00:20:00-00:25:00
Cost: $25.00
Instrumentation
Song List
1. Brookside Prelude
2. Danza Triste
3. Salsa Habañera
4. Sheepshearers' Rondo
5. Canción de Andalucía
6. Soul Reggae
7. The Old Gaelic Fiddler
8. Takin' It Easy
9. The Club Gig
10. Incendiary Toccata
Program Notes
Ever since I was a boy I've been fascinated by unexplored roads, trails, or paths stretching out before me. Sometimes it is the very name of a destination that is enticing, but what I savor most is the contrast in scenery and setting. The beauty and immense variety in the land, the water, the sky – these are inexhaustible sources of wonder and delight. However, I also love watching people where they live and work, and am keenly interested in the sometimes subtle, sometimes startling, differences between what colors and flavors their life and what shapes mine.
The tuneful, and, I hope, evocative solos in this collection distill a variety of experiences, encounters, and personalities into distinctive musical vignettes. As always in writing for the marimba, I delight in trying to coax it to sing, to paint a picture, to transcend the prosaic reality that we marimbists are merely striking slabs of wood with sticks. I think it's given to us with this instrument to travel, to explore, and to invite our listeners to journey with us.
Well – lofty words, no doubt. Perhaps weightier than the actual music that lies in front of you! I've recently returned from an extensive trip throughout the American Southwest, and many of the staggering views, reluctantly untraveled (for now) back roads, encounters and conversations with both locals and fellow travelers, and even the scents of the earth and air, linger in my mind. Maybe someday I can somehow translate that tapestry into fitting music, but in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this collection of previous sights seen, songs heard, and moments savored.
Whether yearning, innocent, relaxed, musing, or agitated, each solo represents a journey I wish to share with you and your listeners.
Books for Percussion by this Author
Marimba
Beyond the Horizon
The Two-Mallet Traveler