By Any Other Name (2008) by Robert Moran
Players: 4
Instrumentation: 4 marimbas (1 5.0, 3 4.3)
Duration: 6 minutes
Program Note:
The first movement was inspired by a note written to me (complete with drawings) from the five-year-old son of a friend in Munich (a choral member there). The note, in the most basic of German, told about his kindergarten class and their pet ‘haus maus,’ with only minimal information on ‘Mimi’ the mouse. The second, slow movement, comes from the final scene of the Glass opera Satyagraha, in which he has the solo tenor singing this scale (upward from e to e with no sharp or flats) for something like 30 times! So I decided to turn it around, and have the marimbas play that same scale but downwards! It is all about subtle colors. And the last movement is definitely a drinking ‘song’ or just some basic party music. – Robert Moran