The Russian Marimba Concerto

Sergei Golovko

General Info

Year of published: 2016
Publisher: Edition Svitzer
Level: Advanced
Price: €30.00

Instrumentation

Soloist

Marimba

Orchestra

Woodwinds

2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in Bb
2 Bassoons

Brass

4 French Horns in F
2 Trumpets in Bb
2 Trombones
Tuba

Percussion

3 Percussion
Timpani

Strings

Violins
Violas
Cellos
Double Bass

Movement

Movement 1: Untold Legends (Allegro resoluto, ma non tanto)
Movement 2: Stories of Old (Lento)
Movement 3: The Fair “Maslenitsa” (Allegramente di bravura)

Premiere Details

Soloist: Sergei Golovko
Orchestra: Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne, Australia
Conductor: Christopher Kopke
Date: 3rd December 2016

Description

Legends and tales are a part of culture, traditions, customs and history of people. Growing up like many generations of children, I was brought up with glorious and magnificent Russian and Ukrainian folk tales. Migrating to Australia in 1996 and finding a new home in the beautiful country that Australia is, I still feel a strong Russian influence on my playing and composition style. Like any other composer/performer who uses traditional melodies of their native country in their pieces, I often play Russian melodies and find myself improvising on them. This is how I came up with idea of writing The Russian Marimba Concerto. By composing this concerto, I would like show my enormous love and appreciation to Russia and the Russian people, respect to my friends and colleagues in the past, and to pay tribute to my teachers.

The first movement displays a contrast between the Russian history associated with many wars and legends about Russian warriors from fairy tales (like the famous Illia of Murom for instance). The middle section in this movement depicts how Russians very much appreciate peace.

The second movement is very dramatic. It starts with a famous Russian folk song, which was sung by slaves. There is a lot of emotional pain and also protest, believing for peace and happiness in the future.

In contrast to the second movement, the third movement is about the celebration of the rite of spring. People are saying goodbye to winter, and inviting the new season, spring. The music is full of smiles, jokes and hope for a better life. In the middle section of this movement you can hear a melody of the famous Russian folk dance “Barynya” used by many Russian composers in the past.