I was delighted when Eric got in touch to ask if I might arrange some of his choral music for marimba. I first met and worked with Eric in 2012, when I was invited to organize the percussion elements of his debut BBC Proms Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.
His music contains many of the things I love in choral music; lush harmonies, strong audience engagement and a firm spiritual connection. We also share a similar taste in 1980's pop, although I would be the 4th member of A-ha, not the 5th member of Depeche Mode!
I began with three pieces from the album Light and Gold, which sit perfectly for marimba quartet, positioning four players at two marimbas.
I transcribed “Sleep” replacing the voices with the warm, earthy tones of the marimbas to make a seriously special marimba chorale. To contrast “A Boy and a Girl” contains some eighth note passages to convey momentum, whilst “Lux Aurumque” employs up to twelve mallets across the instruments to keep the original division of parts.
For “October” I added two vibraphones (played without motor) to the marimbas to utilize the wider sound pallet of the mallet quartet. Using the choral reworking “Alleluia” this music chimes and sparkles, a humble meditation on the glory of autumn.
Joby Burgess, Arranger
Instrumentation
Instrumentation
Number of Parts
Pages Per Part
FULL SCORE
1
11
VIBRAPHONE 1
1
3
VIBRAPHONE 2 SHARE MARIMBA 2
1
3
MARIMBA 1
1
3
MARIMBA 2
1
3
Product Details
#HL 295955
9781540057495
888680950507
Prices and availability subject to change without notice.
