The Russian Marimba Concerto: each
Composer: Golovko Sergei
Composer: Sergei Golovko
Instrument: Marimba and Orchestra (piano reduction)
Level: Advanced
Published: 2016, First performance in Melbourne, 3 Dec 2016 with Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra.
Duration: 20-22 min.
Legends and tales are a part of culture, traditions, customs and history of people. Growing up like many generations of children, I was brought up with glorious and magnificent Russian and Ukrainian folk tales.
Migrating to Australia in 1996 and finding a new home in the beautiful country that Australia is, I still feel a strong Russian influence on my playing and composition style.
Like any other composer/performer who uses traditional melodies of their native country in their pieces, I often play Russian melodies and find myself improvising on them. This is how I came up with idea of writing The Russian Marimba Concerto.
By composing this concerto, I would like show my enormous love and appreciation to Russia and the Russian people, respect to my friends and colleagues in the past, and to pay tribute to my teachers.
The concerto consists of three movements: Untold Legends (Allegro resoluto, ma non tanto), Stories of Old (Lento) and The Fair “Maslenitsa” (Allegramente di bravura).
The first movement displays a contrast between the Russian history associated with many wars and legends about Russian warriors from fairytales (like the famous Illia of Murom for instance). The middle section in this movement depicts how Russians very much appreciate peace.
The second movement is very dramatic. It starts with a famous Russian folk song, which was sung by slaves. There is a lot of emotional pain and also protest, believing for peace and happiness in the future.
In contrast to the second movement, the third movement is about the celebration of the rite of spring. People are saying goodbye to winter, and inviting the new season, spring. The music is full of smiles, jokes and hope for a better life. In the middle section of this movement you can hear a melody of the famous Russian folk dance “Barynya” used by many Russian composers in the past.
Sergei Golovko
Orchestral material available to hire
Instrumentation
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in Bb
2 Bassoons
2 F/horns in F
2 Trumpets in Bb
2 Trombones
3 Percussion
Timpani
Solo marimba
Strings
Also available optional extra parts:
3rd and 4th F/horns in F
3rd Trombone Tuba
