We were shelving music this morning, and The Sean asked whether I was going to go see the Britten. Like, duh! They're still my ensemble, even if Celia is borrowing them for a while; of course I'm going to go see them play for Lucretia. What I said was actually, "Sure! I'll be there with bells on," which was a silly thing to say, since bells at a musical performance would be awfully disruptive. So I amended it: "Silent bells."
"Silent bells," said The Sean. "That sounds like a percussion solo."
"It does!" I said. "Except I'd remove it one more step: 'Echoes of Silent Bells'? 'Memories of Silent Bells'?"
The Sean had pointed out sometime earlier in the summer that marimba solo titles always (practically) have some reference to nature and some ridiculously atmospheric sensory image. Interestingly, those are also requirements for classical haiku.
So here's the fun challenge for the day: Which of the following are the actual titles of solos for marimba or xylophone, and which are excerpts from haiku by Matsuo Basho? Answers (and more!) in the comments.
a. echo rhythm
b. memento
c. autumn evening
d. the night is gone
e. from the kiri tree
f. butterflies, mountains, bamboo
g. over a withered moor
h. life's questions
i. enough to bend the leaves
j. thoughts and loneliness
k. from the edge of the frame
l. silence again
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a. echo rhythm - marimba solo
ReplyDeleteby Brett E. E. Paschal: "Echo Rhythm was inspired by my wife's pregenency with our first child. The work is dedicated to Anita and our baby, Rhythm Ellis."
b. memento - marimba solo
by Ivan Trevino, second-place winner in the 2007 Percussive Arts Society International Composition Contest.
c. autumn evening - haiku excerpt
No one travels
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
d. the night is gone - haiku excerpt
Harvest moon:
around the pond I wander
and the night is gone.
e. from the kiri tree - haiku excerpt
Won't you come and see
loneliness? Just one leaf
from the kiri tree.
f. butterflies, mountains, bamboo - marimba solo
by Stephen Crawford, Associate Professor of Music History & Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.
g. over a withered moor - haiku excerpt
Fallen sick on a journey,
In dreams I run wildly
Over a withered moor.
h. life's questions - marimba solo
by Brett E. E. Paschal, who is overrepresented in this quiz.
i. enough to bend the leaves - haiku excerpt
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
j. thoughts and loneliness - haiku excerpt
The years first day
thoughts and loneliness;
the autumn dusk is here.
k. from the edge of the frame - marimba solo
by Stephen Crawford, again.
l. silence again - haiku excerpt
An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Ivan is my friend from Rochester. Yay!
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