# Marimba



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I recently developed a liking for the marimba, after seeing a YouTube video of some Bach sonatas performed on the instrument (Bach sounds pretty good on ANY instrument!).

Anyone else who enjoys the sound of the marimba? Any must-hear pieces? Any witty sarcasms or sarcastic witticisms?


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> (Bach sounds pretty good on ANY instrument!).


Erm...bagpipes?


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

There are many enjoyable modern marimba concerti, none of which will probably disturb the 'greatest classical hits' list, but if you enjoy the sound.... !
A few (most on YT - sorry, don't have time to search out links !): Eric Ewazen, Ney Rosauro, Richard Rodney Bennett, Emmanuel Sejourne, Erkki-Sven Tuur, Libby Larsen, Akira Ifukube, Steve Reich ( a work for 6 marimbas !).
Hope that helps a little.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

brian, I share your enthusiam for the marimba (and its percussion relatives, such as the vibraphone, glockenspiel, and more distantly the celesta). There are a number of fine marimba pieces. cjvinthechair recommended one of my favorites, Steve Reich's _Six Marimbas_. Reich had originally written the work as _Six Pianos_ in 1973, but then revised it in 1986 for marimbas. Having heard the two versions, the marimba is the superior. Let me post two links to YouTube. The first is a professional version at full speed, overall a superior performance. The second is a performance by talented undergraduates which allows you to see the performers execute the intracacies of the work; the sound quality is less










Of course, Steve Reich uses marimbas and other percussion works for his masterpiece, _Music for 18 Musicians_ from 1975. I would rank this work among the finest classical works of all time. Some have labelled his music "minimalism." That might apply only to his very earliest works. This work is what Ted Libbey has called "Minimalism maximized." Here's a live performance with Reich playing piano:






Another of Reich's marimba works is his _Nagoya Marimbas_ (1994). This is an outstanding performance by the Meehan Perkins Duo, one of the best working percussion ensembles out there:






I'll post a few more items later.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Paul Creston was a pioneer about composing for marimba.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Another lover of marimba here. This is "Marimba Spiritual" by Minoru Miki:


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

My favorite work featuring marimba in a prominent role is Peter Maxwell Davies' _Ave Maris Stella_ (1975). It was composed for a so-called "Pierrot" ensemble of flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, piano, and percussion (marimba in this case) -- the same ensemble required for Schoenberg's _Pierrot Lunaire._ The matrix of phrases from which the work derives undergoes a clever systematic metamorphosis, yielding music that subtly but constantly shifts and evolves as it goes. It's a ticklish work, requiring unflagging concentration from the performers to maintain its tenuous beauty and generate its eerie medieval religious atmosphere. There's a long marimba cadenza at work's center. Details and a description of the work can be found at the composer's Web site: http://www.maxopus.com/work_detail.aspx?key=40

As for recordings, I was initially won over by the crisp, clean, taut performance by the New York New Music Ensemble [GM], but I was soon seduced by the shiftier, shadier, more dubious performance by The Fires of London [Unicorn-Kanchana]. The Fires produce broad, earthy, plaintive instrumental timbres and tend to lurk in the shadows of the nether dynamics like lepers on a sunny day, whereas the New Yorkers produce clean, bright timbres and are more apt to frolic in the light of day. If the playing of The Fires is less bold and conspicuously virtuosic than that of the New Yorkers, it has a sneakier, savvier, more hard-won character that I like. Differences between the ensembles are exemplified by the playing of the marimba players: the New Yorkers' Daniel Druckman is a bold, dynamic player whose playing is marked by tremendous snap and exactitude; The Fires' Gregory Knowles is a more insidiously seductive and suggestive sort of player whose playing has a subtly shifting shades-of-gray quality about it. So while Druckman immediately grabs you by the collar, Knowles gradually seduces you. (The newish Gemini account on Metier isn't so good, being short on poetry and atmosphere and inner tension and long on dull, deliberate marimba playing.)


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Before today, I didn't know what a marimba was; but now that I've heard it (played by Noriko Tsukagoshi) - yes, it's a magical sound. Thank you again, Talk Classical: I look forward to following some of the suggestions.


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2014)

I prefer the vibraphone, but it hardly ever gets prominent roles 

Reich is great for the marimba, of course.

Milhaud has a fun concerto for marimba AND vibraphone.

Boulez and Takemitsu give me most of my vibraphone feels.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

*Gavin Bryars ~ One last Bar, then Joe can Sing (imo, this is one very nice piece.)*









There is a fantastic arrangement of Ravel's _Alborada del Gracioso_ for two marimbas.

There used to be a music video of a _brilliant_ performance of this, I believe on the Sky Channel when they used to play classical music videos. That, if there is an archive of some sort and it can be found, was titled _The Audition._

Unfortunately, the few performances of the same piece that I've checked on youtube are nowhere near the quality of both the that performance and its audio.

In a music school recital, two percussionists performed a version (on one marimba) of a Haydn piano sonata; they were very good, and the surprise of its being Haydn and played on marimba caught all of the audience. It was charming, and funny. I recall a very friendly ripple of laughter went through the room when they began to play. However, the novelty (and charm) of transcribed pieces (mainly from piano repertoire) played this instrument quickly fades.

I very much like the instrument, its larger 'keys' and lower register have it quite warm and rich-sounding compared to the brighter, higher and thinner sounding xylophone.

I know of no solo repertoire written directly for the instrument, but from the time, at least, of Steve Reich's _Music for Eighteen Musicians,_ one or several marimbas, often with two players on each, has become a sort of expected standard member(s) in the ensembles a number of minimalist composers use.

Steve Reich:
Music for Mallet instruments Voices and Organ




Music for Eighteen musicians:




Six Marimbas:


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

One of the great discoveries of modern music is that everything sounds nice in the marimba (or similar instruments).


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Thanks for all the suggestions! Should keep me busy for a while...


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

A few more:

Joseph Schwantner: _Percussion Concerto_ (1996)

The marimba plays a prominent role. Here's a YouTube of the 3rd movement.






A recent performance of this work won great reviews and various awards:










Here's a solo marimba work by Schwantner, _Velocities_ (1990):






A very challenging -- and thrilling -- work is Charles Wuorinen's _Percussion Quartet_ (1994). This includes marimbas, vibraphones and much much else. Wuorinen had written a fascinating percussion symphony earlier in his career, back in the 70s.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Every time I hear marimba, I think my phone is ringing.

...also, what's going on with that Wuorinen album cover in the previous post? :lol:


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

brianvds said:


> Anyone else who enjoys the sound of the marimba? Any must-hear pieces? Any witty sarcasms or sarcastic witticisms?


I'm sure a Marimba takes far longer to burn than does a Viola compared to a Violin!


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> ...also, what's going on with that Wuorinen album cover in the previous post? :lol:


I don't know what the deal is, but he's apparently a cat-lover. Here's the cover of another of his records:










I only know his compositions, not his biography.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Every time I hear marimba, I think my phone is ringing.
> 
> ...also, what's going on with that Wuorinen album cover in the previous post? :lol:


It's because of another work on that disk that is not mentioned on the cover: "Four Lolcats" for marimba and prepared bagpipes.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

techniquest said:


> Erm...bagpipes?


Sure, but you'd have to remove the drone pipes first.


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