Kazak Lullaby (2002)
Keiko Abe (b.1937)
Marimba
Kazak is from Keiko Abe’s Three Monologues for Solo Marimba. The work includes a trio of short (about 6 minutes) marimba solos that heavily favor a more Western style of composition, unlike the Western/Japanese mix she is normally associated with. In this middle movement Abe takes a dark sadder turn bassing the solo off of a Russian folk song. The work mostly remains in a minor key in a chorale like style, but still has the normal Abe flair in the cadenza before the work slowly tapers out into silence. This movement is a great contrast to many of Abe’s more flashy works.
Annotated by Chandler Beaugrand