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Dance of the Music Box Figurines [DIGITAL]
Genre: Marimba (4-mallet)
# of Players: 1
Level: Medium | Duration: 4:15
Publisher: C. Alan Publications | Copyright: 2019
Download mp3 | Click on images to left for score sample
Rating:
Price:
$18.00
Item #:
26030D
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Notes & Instrumentation
Robert Clayson's new piece Dance of the Music Box Figurines is scored for 4.3-octave marimba solo and is a musical portrayal of a ballerina dancing gracefully to music played by an antique music box. This piece gives the performer many opportunities to explore a wide array of different playing styles from beautifully to aggressively.
Genre: Marimba (4-mallet) | # of Players: 1
Level: Medium | Duration: 4:15
Instrumentation
Solo Marimba (4.3-octave)
Program NotesDance of the Music Box Figurines, written for a 4.3-octave marimba, is a musical portrayal of a ballerina dancing to a tune played by an old music box. Like the dancer it calls to mind, this piece is fluid and full of movement. Full of lyrical and expressive opportunities, it is a great piece to bridge the gap between intermediate and advanced marimba solos.
The piece opens with deep, resonant harmonies before introducing a delicate, tinkling melody that evokes the image of the dancer coming to life. She rises from her arabesque with a grand sweep of her arms before beginning her pliés and pirouettes.
Percussive instruments themselves, old fashioned music boxes are complex but beautiful bits of mechanical engineering. Sound is produced by a rotating drum of tiny metal pins striking a steel comb with teeth of varying lengths. Thanks to this rotating motion, the song repeats until the music box has wound itself out. You can hear this repetition in Dance of the Music Box Figurines as the main melody resurfaces several times throughout. The piece also features an odd section to represent the old music box skipping, giving the dancer pause before resuming her graceful movements once the gears click back into place.
With its rich harmonies and expressive melodies, Dance of the Music Box Figurines will please both audiences and performers alike.
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Product Reviews
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Percussive Notes New Literature Review
This beautiful marimba solo is perfectly designed for the developing four-mallet player. The composer states that it “is a great piece to bridge the gap between intermediate and advanced marimba solos,” and I agree completely. From the variety of techniques used required and only requiring a 4.3-octave marimba, this piece works well as a stepping-stone piece to more advanced material.
The piece is meant to evoke a ballerina dancing in a music box. The composer captures this idea both with the tonality of the work as well as the fluidity and movement in the musical phrases. Robert Clayson has done a number of things well to make this piece successful musically and pedagogically. The opening choral section contains breaks of a running eighth-note gesture, allowing for a number of moments for the player to develop musical phrases. The second area moves us into a section of running sixteenth notes, creating an opportunity for performers to develop this more linear style of playing and a variety of stickings. A third section contrasts the running sixteenths with slower, broken up phrases before returning to previous material.
The stickings in the second section are clearly notated, and Clayson does a good job of indicating musical direction while leaving room for performers to make the piece their own. Clayson has provided a lovely work for students as they gain more experience with four-mallet playing. Chorales, long legato phrases, mixed sticking, and single-handed octaves are just some of the skills players will develop as they learn this beautiful work designed for the developing high school or undergraduate percussionist.
Brian Nozny
PERCUSSIVE NOTES
VOL. 59, NO. 3, JUNE 2021 Brian Nozny on Jun 29th 2022
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