A Heaven Full of Stars (Solo 4-Mallet Marimba)

A Heaven Full of Stars is a lyrical marimba solo meant to evoke feelings of wonder and peacefulness. The work was inspired by the composer’s personal relationships and his feelings of awe when observing the night sky.

Genre: Marimba (4-mallet) | # of Players: 1
Series: N/A
Level: Medium Advanced | Duration: 6:00

Instrumentation
Marimba [5-octave]

Program Notes
A Heaven Full of Stars was written during the spring of 2016 as a tribute to my grandmother, Betty Jean Ellingson, who has always been a constant source of inspiration for me. I decided to use her initials, “B.E.” as the main thematic material for the work. At almost every point in the piece the pitches B and E can be heard.

During the early stages of writing the work I participated in a weekend retreat at a lake cabin in Minnesota, and remember looking up at the starry night sky for the first time without the hindrance of any artificial light. Experiencing the breathtaking beauty of seeing stars so clearly had a deep impact on me, and I tried to recreate those feelings of awe and wonder in A Heaven Full of Stars. The title of the piece comes from a Sara Teasdale poem entitled Stars:

Alone in the night
On a dark hill
With pines around me
Spicy and still,
And a heaven full of stars
Over my head,
White and topaz
And misty red;
Myriads with beating
Hearts of fire
That aeons
Cannot vex or tire;
Up the dome of heaven
Like a great hill,
I watch them marching
Stately and still,
And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty.

Betty Jean Ellingson passed away in the fall of 2023, and will always be remembered for the love and warmth she brought to those around her.

Paul Millette, marimba