Difference between revisions of "Merlin"
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== General Info == | == General Info == | ||
| − | '''Year''': <br /--> | + | '''Year''': 1985 <br /--> |
| − | '''Duration''': c. <br /--> | + | '''Duration''': c. 10:00 <br /--> |
'''Difficulty''': (see [[Ratings]] for explanation)<br /--> | '''Difficulty''': (see [[Ratings]] for explanation)<br /--> | ||
| − | '''Publisher''': | + | '''Publisher''': [[Margun Music]] <br /--> |
'''Cost''': Score and Parts - $0.00 | Score Only - $0.00<br /--> | '''Cost''': Score and Parts - $0.00 | Score Only - $0.00<br /--> | ||
==Movements== | ==Movements== | ||
| − | + | I. Beyond the faint Edge of the World<br> | |
| + | II. Time’s Way<br> | ||
<!-- Enter the title and duration of individual movements. Make sure the movements are listed by number, and use a line break <nowiki>( <br /> )</nowiki> at the end of each line. If this is a single movement work, please delete the entire category. You may delete this text once this is done. --> | <!-- Enter the title and duration of individual movements. Make sure the movements are listed by number, and use a line break <nowiki>( <br /> )</nowiki> at the end of each line. If this is a single movement work, please delete the entire category. You may delete this text once this is done. --> | ||
== Instrumentation == | == Instrumentation == | ||
| − | + | [[Marimba]]<br> | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
<!-- Use the above format for entering instrumentation for chamber works or pieces with multiple performers. Make sure you use a line break <nowiki>( <br /> )</nowiki> at the end of each line to achieve the desired effect (a vertical list, view any composition page for an example). If you do not know the instrumentation, you can enter {{help}} instead. You may delete this text once this is done.--> | <!-- Use the above format for entering instrumentation for chamber works or pieces with multiple performers. Make sure you use a line break <nowiki>( <br /> )</nowiki> at the end of each line to achieve the desired effect (a vertical list, view any composition page for an example). If you do not know the instrumentation, you can enter {{help}} instead. You may delete this text once this is done.--> | ||
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== Works for Percussion by this Composer == | == Works for Percussion by this Composer == | ||
| − | + | [[Thomas, Andrew Works]] | |
<!-- Enter the composer's other works for percussion. You may delete this text once this is done. --> | <!-- Enter the composer's other works for percussion. You may delete this text once this is done. --> | ||
Revision as of 22:10, 25 April 2015
General Info
Year: 1985
Duration: c. 10:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Margun Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00 | Score Only - $0.00
Movements
I. Beyond the faint Edge of the World
II. Time’s Way
Instrumentation
Errata
Program Notes
Merlin is a marimba solo that was written in 1985 by Andrew Thomas. Commissioned by William Moersch, Merlin was premiered in 1987 at the Merkin Concert Hall in New York. Since then Moersch has performed this work extensively in his concert touring. Inspired by the Edwin Arlington Robinson poem, Merlin, which describes King Arthur's court and its destruction, this marimba solo is composed in two movements. The first movement is a slow chorale-like work. According to Thomas it depicts the knight Gawaine "looking from the battlements of Arthur's castle towards the horizon, sensing the terrible events to come."As expected the music creates an eerie atmosphere of an unsettled calm. Rarely is the chorale predictable as it moves to a loud climax before it drifts into a fading diminuendo. The second movement could easily be the battle after the calm. However, Thomas cites that this movement "is concerned with time and the dissolution of order during time's passage. Here the perceived downbeat of the music constantly shifts, creating a flickering texture with no resting point.” This reference is less of a programmatic point of view than the first movement, but none the less in a dramatic sense. The second movement is a fast virtuosic work that is full of musical and technical challenges. Rhythm is Thomas' vehicle as the music lifts and falls in shifting groupings of sixteenth notes over different meters. The work gradually increases in tempo as it approaches a charging fortissimo ending. Andrew Thomas' Merlin is an outstanding composition for solo marimba. It is approximately eleven minutes long and requires a low "F" instrument as well as an advanced marimbist. Performers who put in the time and dedication to preparing this music will easily be able to find a place on a recital program for Merlin. Hopefully Thomas will elect to compose more works for the marimba in light of Merlin's success. - Mark Ford, October 1993
Awards
Commercial Discography
Recent Performances
To submit a performance please join the TEK Percussion Database
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Additional Resources