Sandflower (Solo 4-mallet Marimba)

Sandflower is a cinematic 5-octave marimba solo inspired by the street on which Carr grew up. The musical ideas within consist of some old and some new, reflecting the younger self and who he has become. With beautiful melodies and grooving, rhythmic sections, this solo is meant to evoke nostalgic childhood memories.

Genre: Marimba (4-mallet) | # of Players: 1
Level: Medium Advanced | Duration: 6:40

Instrumentation
Marimba (5-octave)

Program Notes

Sandflower is a culmination of a lot of ideas I have had on marimba for a long time, but also some new ones. I was inspired to write the piece after attending a childhood friend’s wedding and remembering all the fun times we spent growing up on Sandflower Lane in Sugar Land, Texas. From my parents nursing me through my first flu, to the walkie-talkie ‘Toad Patrol’ hunts for toads in neighborhood valve boxes, to hurricanes flooding our cul-de-sac like a bowl of water, these are the memories that still make me smile. I like to think that pairing my old musical ideas with new ones creates a small portrait of who I was as a child and who I’ve become today. With that being said, this solo contains beautiful melodies, a few really groovy sections, and some cinematic moments that I hope evoke the warm feeling of watching a Studio Ghibli film.

– D.C.

Performed by Davis Carr