Cart is empty
As one of the most famous songs of all time, Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz is a timeless treasure. Robert Oetomo’s masterful solo marimba arrangement has now been adapted to be accompanied by a trio of mallet players on vibraphones, glockenspiel, and a second marimba.
As in the marimba arrangement, it combines jazzy harmonies, quasi improvisation, and classical romantic influences to create a rendition that is mysterious, lyrical, and heartwarming. Meant to be played as if within a classical concerto setting, the arrangement represents an excellent vehicle for expressive ensemble playing. You’d be hard pressed to find a more beautifully adapted rendition of this classic song.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and a set of printed parts.
Several issues back, I had the pleasure of reviewing Robert Oetomo’s solo arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” and suggested that he had effectively deco-rated it in such a way that “the end result seems less an arrangement and more of an exquisite new work for marimba solo.” Oetomo has now taken that process one step further and scored a percussion trio accompaniment to his beautiful marimba arrangement. The arrangement is rubato throughout, and frequently contains rhythmic divisions of 7, 10, 11, 12, etc. that will require a professional level of ensemble awareness and attentive cooperation from all members of the quartet. All four parts also require advanced four- mallet technique.
Opening with various sequenced and hand-to-hand roll patterns in the solo part and two bowed vibes, the first min-ute of the work sets a beautiful ensemble texture that prepares the listener for the signature octave leap for which the tune is most known. As the soloist embellishes the melody in a rubato-like setting, the accompaniment marimba part provides a sustained chordal passage to be played with “very soft chorale mallets.” The vibraphone parts are used to emphasize certain chords and melodic lines in the solo voice, and Oetomo makes particularly effective use of the two players and instruments to allow each to sustain as necessary while the other picks up with a new line presented in the solo voice. The glockenspiel enters briefly in the bridge as the color of the ensemble shifts slightly to the metallic voices at a very soft volume, followed by a majestic return to the chorus with arpeggiated figures and rich sustained chords from the full ensemble. As in the solo version, the final eight measures serve as a coda that allows the work to end in a similar manner as it began.
A popular tune in its original form, “Over the Rainbow” has been elevated by Oetomo to a beautifully contemporary art music arrangement appropriate for professional or university performance in a way that allows any audience to appreciate the musical possibilities of a keyboard percussion chamber ensemble.
–Josh Gottry
Percussive Notes
Vol. 54, No. 2, May 2016
As one of the most famous songs of all time, Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz is a timeless treasure. Robert Oetomo’s masterful solo marimba arrangement has now been adapted to be accompanied by a trio of mallet players on vibraphones, glockenspiel, and a second marimba.
As in the marimba arrangement, it combines jazzy harmonies, quasi improvisation, and classical romantic influences to create a rendition that is mysterious, lyrical, and heartwarming. Meant to be played as if within a classical concerto setting, the arrangement represents an excellent vehicle for expressive ensemble playing. You’d be hard pressed to find a more beautifully adapted rendition of this classic song.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and a set of printed parts.
Several issues back, I had the pleasure of reviewing Robert Oetomo’s solo arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” and suggested that he had effectively deco-rated it in such a way that “the end result seems less an arrangement and more of an exquisite new work for marimba solo.” Oetomo has now taken that process one step further and scored a percussion trio accompaniment to his beautiful marimba arrangement. The arrangement is rubato throughout, and frequently contains rhythmic divisions of 7, 10, 11, 12, etc. that will require a professional level of ensemble awareness and attentive cooperation from all members of the quartet. All four parts also require advanced four- mallet technique.
Opening with various sequenced and hand-to-hand roll patterns in the solo part and two bowed vibes, the first min-ute of the work sets a beautiful ensemble texture that prepares the listener for the signature octave leap for which the tune is most known. As the soloist embellishes the melody in a rubato-like setting, the accompaniment marimba part provides a sustained chordal passage to be played with “very soft chorale mallets.” The vibraphone parts are used to emphasize certain chords and melodic lines in the solo voice, and Oetomo makes particularly effective use of the two players and instruments to allow each to sustain as necessary while the other picks up with a new line presented in the solo voice. The glockenspiel enters briefly in the bridge as the color of the ensemble shifts slightly to the metallic voices at a very soft volume, followed by a majestic return to the chorus with arpeggiated figures and rich sustained chords from the full ensemble. As in the solo version, the final eight measures serve as a coda that allows the work to end in a similar manner as it began.
A popular tune in its original form, “Over the Rainbow” has been elevated by Oetomo to a beautifully contemporary art music arrangement appropriate for professional or university performance in a way that allows any audience to appreciate the musical possibilities of a keyboard percussion chamber ensemble.
–Josh Gottry
Percussive Notes
Vol. 54, No. 2, May 2016
