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Marimolin Inventions (1990) |
Commissioned by Sharan Leventhal and Nancy Zeltman or Marimolin with funding from Massachusetts Council for the Arts.
Over the last few years most of my compositional activities have been concerned with evolving large-scale single-movement continuities. One of the most enjoyble aspects of writing 'Marimolin Inventions' was to create 'open' forms, each lasting between 3-6 minutes. At the outset, I was somewhat perplexed by the very novel instrumental combination, but found quite quickly that the unique nature of the two instruments' sonorities suggested the approach I was going to take. The first Invention is concerned with the 'parallel' rhythmic writing for the two instruments. At the beginning the violin generates an incessant syncopated musical line which is 'ghosted' harmonically on the marimba.
After two brief cadenzas from the violin (suggesting the forthcoming mood) the rhythmic character of the piece splinters and the two instruments separate from one another only to reform into a driving toccata-like linear texture. Just before the end of the movement the two instruments split again, coming together for a fragmented reprise of the opening music. The second invention is slow and sultry, a song without words, exploiting the expressive 'bluesy' character of the violin against a rich tremolandi harmonic texture from the marimba.
The final invention could be subtitled 'mechanisms'. My concern here was to create a piece where the violin and marimba play independantly over one another, creating a sort of mechanical polyphony where the two players are only united just before the end. It is music of great rhythmic complexity and instrumental virtuosity, and brings the set to a dramatic conclusion.
© Simon Bainbridge