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Finding Home
Finding Home by Ian Alward is an evocative work for solo marimba playable on a 4.3-octave (low A) instrument. Born during the COVID-19 pandemic, the piece represents the composer’s technical and musical explorations while confined to a smaller range instrument.
From the composer’s own words: “Throughout the piece you will hear struggle and pain that over time turns into beautiful discoveries.”
Finding Home ships as a professionally bound folio with a color cover.
Marimba — low A
This new solo was written while the composer was playing around with some different permutations that he found interesting. The first section focuses on a four-mallet permutation in a polyrhythmic feel over a 5/4 time signature. Consisting of straight sixteenth notes, the composer states that performers should feel free to play around with the tempo and even dynamics of the section to make it their own. In a section like this, focused more on changing chords and less on melody, that will be highly necessary to really evoke the meaning in this work.
The second section consists of a chorale that includes some one-handed rolls. Again, this focuses more on the switching of harmonies and less on melodies. The last section is in 12/8 and has the left hand doing straight eighth notes while the right hand moves around harmonically over the left-hand ostinato. The ending is a quick reminder of the chorale as the music fades out.
This work would be great for a student working on double lateral strokes, specifically of the right hand, although the left hand has some as well. The beauty of the exercise is that the double laterals also occur at different intervals, from octaves to fourths, focusing on the different amount of rotation required. Along with double laterals it also involves one-handed rolls and the seamless melding of those rolls into double vertical rolls.
Overall, this would be an excellent work for an undergraduate student to work on those techniques, along with the musicality needed to effectively perform a piece of this style. Ian Alward has done an excellent job of providing us with not only a nice piece of music, but a wonderful technical exercise as well.
—Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 62, No. 4, August 2024
Finding Home by Ian Alward is an evocative work for solo marimba playable on a 4.3-octave (low A) instrument. Born during the COVID-19 pandemic, the piece represents the composer’s technical and musical explorations while confined to a smaller range instrument.
From the composer’s own words: “Throughout the piece you will hear struggle and pain that over time turns into beautiful discoveries.”
Finding Home ships as a professionally bound folio with a color cover.
Marimba — low A
This new solo was written while the composer was playing around with some different permutations that he found interesting. The first section focuses on a four-mallet permutation in a polyrhythmic feel over a 5/4 time signature. Consisting of straight sixteenth notes, the composer states that performers should feel free to play around with the tempo and even dynamics of the section to make it their own. In a section like this, focused more on changing chords and less on melody, that will be highly necessary to really evoke the meaning in this work.
The second section consists of a chorale that includes some one-handed rolls. Again, this focuses more on the switching of harmonies and less on melodies. The last section is in 12/8 and has the left hand doing straight eighth notes while the right hand moves around harmonically over the left-hand ostinato. The ending is a quick reminder of the chorale as the music fades out.
This work would be great for a student working on double lateral strokes, specifically of the right hand, although the left hand has some as well. The beauty of the exercise is that the double laterals also occur at different intervals, from octaves to fourths, focusing on the different amount of rotation required. Along with double laterals it also involves one-handed rolls and the seamless melding of those rolls into double vertical rolls.
Overall, this would be an excellent work for an undergraduate student to work on those techniques, along with the musicality needed to effectively perform a piece of this style. Ian Alward has done an excellent job of providing us with not only a nice piece of music, but a wonderful technical exercise as well.
—Josh Armstrong
Percussive Notes
Vol. 62, No. 4, August 2024
