Trälåda (Wooden box)

André Chini

General Info

Year of Published: 1993
Publisher: Sweden Music Information Centre
Difficulty: Advanced
Duration: 00:08:00
Commissioner: Radio France

Instrumentation

Player 1: Marimba 1
Player 2: Marimba 2
Player 3: Marimba 3
Player 4: Marimba 4
Player 5: Timpani 1
Player 6: Timpani 2

Review

A request came from the French radio: could André Chini, at very short notice,write a piece for the percussion ensemble Les Pleiades? Chini sent the firstminute of the prelude to his children's ballet "How the Elephant got his Trunk",scored for two marimbas. The Frenchmen were delighted and so thecomposition Wooden Box began to take shape, a further elaboration of theballet prelude. The prelude could perhaps be regarded as a playful description of jungle noises.In Wooden Box this has now developed into a purely abstract composition. Theprocess clearly illustrates the scope of Chini's fantasy and temperament. Asusual he makes great demands on the musicians' virtuosity. Chini frequentlyreturns to the expression "musikant" (music-maker). He revels in the challengethat music-making involves. The virtuoso's balancing-act on the edge of theprecipice has a value in itself - the listener's rapt concentration heightens theexperience. "The percentage of risk in a performance adds to the excitement",he says.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Chamber

Le chant des coquillages – Percussion Sextet; Percussion (6)
Resan till Gotland - Percussion Quartet
Trälåda (Wooden box) – Percussion Sextet; Percussion (6)
Why? : Seder och vanor i vår tid - Percussion Quintet; Dancer