Ichiyanagi – Paganini Personal (1982)
Instrumentation:
● Marimba
● Piano
Duration: 10 minutes Program Note:
Paganini Personal, commissioned from marimbist and prominent conductor Hiroyuki Iwaki, is one of the most performed pieces in the marimba repertoire. This wonderfully imaginative two-mallet work for marimba with piano based on Paganini’s Cappricio No. 24 was received so successfully that Ichiyanagi made several other versions of the work, including a version for two pianos, and for marimba with orchestra. Iwaki, a former student of Asabuki, was conductor for a time with the NHK Symphony. According to Ichiyanagi, “[Iwaki] was one of the top three conductors in Japan.” Iwaki redefined himself as a marimba player with this work that he performed frequently with his wife (or occasionally Ichiyanagi) on piano.
-Ryan C.W. Scott
Annotated by Joanna Chen