Underwood Concerto

Written for marimbist Michael Burritt, this virtuosic three-movement work is a first-rate piece of music. The solo marimba part is extremely virtuosic and challenging, demonstrating an exciting ensemble between the soloist and orchestra featuring state of the art four mallet technique for the marimba soloist.

Genre: Solo Marimba with Orchestra | # of Players: Standard + 1
Level: 5 | Duration: 12:30

Instrumentation
Marimba (5-octave)

Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bb Clarinet
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon

F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
Bb Trumpet 1
Bb Trumpet 2
Trombone
Tuba

Timpani (5) (log drums, afuche)
Percussion 1 (5 toms, temple blocks, log drums, sleigh bells, suspended cymbal, marimba, afuche, slapstick, timbales)
Percussion 2 (tam tam, 2 wood blocks, bongos, castanets, bass drum, slapstick, suspended cymbal, snare drum, water gong, temple blocks, banboo wind chimes, bell tree, ago-go bells)
Percussion 3 (afuche, suspended cymbal, slapstick congas, wood block, temple blocks,snare drum, rainstick, gliss gong)

Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Bass

Program Notes
This is the orchestration of the popular Concerto for Marimba, Percussion, and Synthesizers, the most performed work of it’s genre, ever. The three movements, I. Melismatic, II. InaMst, and III. Rokit!, demonstrate an exciting ensemble between the soloist and orchestra featuring state-of-the-art four-mallet technique for the marimba soloist.

The title “Underwood” refers to percussionist Ruth Underwood who performed and recorded with Frank Zappa in the late 1970’s and 80’s. The unusual means of featuring virtuosic keyboard percussion in a rock/jazz setting was an inspiration for much of McCarthy’s percussion and mallet music. This concerto is dedicated to her.