For: Marimba soloist and small orchestra consisting of:
Flute / Oboe / Clarinet / Basson (dbl Contra)
2 Horns
Marima Soloist
2 Percussion / Harp / Piano
Strings
This was one of the very first large pieces of mine to be performed. I wrote it without a specific home, and was doubly-delighted when the Pro Arte Orchestra decided to play it. It wanders though an expanded tonal terrain.
The middle movement, Comedy, deserves a word of explanation. I added a drum kit such as would be played by a rock player. Several years before, I’d worked with a drummer who simply couldn’t hold tempo. Any sort of filagree would come with a slowing of tempo until the fast playing was done. The rest of us in the band got pretty good and slowing down a teensy until the downbeat of the next measure. The drummer will not be named, but the movement is dedicated to him.
The recording here is the first performance at Sanders Theater (Harvard University) under the baton of Neil Stuhlberg. Richard Flanagan is the soloist. The recording is in serious need of restoration. The hall is large and the concert was well-attended, so there’s quite a bit of noise. For that, I apologize.
……
This work is in three fairly substantial movements...The first, marked Lento, is full of intimations-hushed sustained harmonies in the orchestra, liquid rumblings from the soloist...The second, entitled Comedy, parodies the awkwardness of less-than-good pop bands such as Carnes knows from experience. But it is not only facetious; its complexity drives uncertainly at a deeper meaning. The finale, Metamorphosis, has a vague forcefulness and a vague plangency that likewise point to a meaningful center to which we are denied access. The concerto is a well-written and hard-striving work... The Boston Globe.
If you’re interested, you can request a score at the bottom of this page
Listen now
Complete piece.
1 - Lento
2 -Comedy
3 - Metamorphosis