In Spite of It All - Robert Clayson [DIGITAL]

In Spite of it All was completed in the spring of 2020 and is a lullaby inspired by a new kitten the composer had fostered. The piece is intended for intermediate to advanced performers and gives the opportunity to explore the marimba's expressive and lyrical qualities.

Genre: Solo 4-Mallet Marimba | # of Players: 1
Level: Medium | Duration: 5:15

Instrumentation
Marimba [4.3-octave]

Program Notes
In Spite of it All (Ellie’s Lullaby) is another piece born out of being restless during the Covid-19 pandemic quarantine. While it originally started out being a piece about the human spirit’s will to survive times of hardship, it soon became a piece about our second cat, Ellie, who has seen plenty of hardship herself. Ellie came to us as a stray kitten in a litter with three other kittens. My wife Caitlin and I had known for awhile that the stray mother cat was pregnant, and we were simply overjoyed when we saw her four kittens for the first time.

However, within a few short weeks of their birth, Ellie was the only kitten left. This sudden disappearance of three of the four kittens worried Caitlin and I, so we decided to officially adopt Ellie as an inside cat to try and take better care of her. We were a little apprehensive to take on this responsibility because we already had an older cat, Charlie. Knowing that stray kittens can carry diseases and require a lot of time and attention, we were concerned for Charlie’s health and comfort. However, our little kitten was given a clean bill of health by her vet and is now on the way to being a happy and healthy indoor cat that loves to play.

Ellie’s situation can serve to remind us that it is never too late to reach out a helping hand to someone no matter how bleak or hopeless things may seem. Despite losing three siblings in a week and the many dangers stray kittens face, Ellie is now happy, healthy, and alive in spite of it all.

–R.C.