Fantasy Concerto for Marimba and Chamber Ensemble (2017)
This piece is an experiment: can the Classical concerto idiom be realized by a marimba? The instrumentation is likewise eccentric, with alto saxophone and bass clarinet in place of standard Classical winds, and a mixed ensemble of mostly winds instead of a string-predominant orchestra. The novelty of the marimba timbre did inspire a few oddities – for example, the piece modulates to the bVII key area in the exposition – but the overall structure and orchestration employed the paradigms of Mozart’s piano concertos. Though very different, the featured instruments contain a few important similarities. Like the marimba, the piano’s tone is percussive and clear, and both can execute similar runs and arpeggios. Mozart’s Concerto-sonata form guided the structure of the piece, and the piano in the Fantasy Concerto takes the functional place of the string section.
Fantasy Concerto for Marimba