We’re excited to kick off the summer segment of our new release calendar with two timeless classics, both of which are available today! We’ve been hard at work licensing these two new solos, which are the first of several that will be released in the coming months, and ensuring that the engraving and layout are painstakingly detailed. We think both will be surefire hits on your upcoming recital, so grab ’em now and be one of the first to play them this fall!
Smile
Theme from Modern Times
arranged for solo marimba by Alex Stopa
“Smile” was composed in 1936 by Charlie Chaplin as the love theme for his acclaimed final silent movie Modern Times. Some two decades later, Nat King Cole’s rendition landed a spot on the Billboard charts.
Alex Stopa’s arrangement for solo marimba highlights the warm and mellow characteristics of the middle to lower register of the instrument while giving a casual tip of the hat to ragtime pianists such as Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller and Jelly Roll Morton.
Over the Rainbow
from The Wizard of Oz
arranged for solo marimba by Robert Oetomo
As one of the most famous songs of all time, Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz is a timeless treasure. In this arrangement for solo marimba, Robert Oetomo combines jazzy harmonies, quasi improvisation, and classical romantic influences to create a rendition that is mysterious, lyrical, and remains as heartwarming as the original.
