Niflheim for Marimba Solo - 8 Min.; 4 Mallets

Every year a competition is held in Debrecen for the percussion and brass students of Hungarian music academies. This piece was composed for that event in 2010 as an obligatory piece in the 2. round at the request of Prof. István Szabó, the Head of the Percussion and Brass Department.

The piece is about 7-8 minutes and contains several virtuosic, fast and furious sections which require technical facility and stamina from the performer. On the other hand, it consists of numerous passages in which the musical skills of the performer can be expressed. The key of the piece is to find the right characters and the right tempos which are in constant change. The articulation of the phrases is also very important. Even if the piece, apart from a few passages, moves in a perpetual motion of sixteenth notes that flow continuously from the beginning to the end, there are different tempos and atmospheres to be shown.

The title Niflheim is a place of eternal cold, darkness and fog in the Norse Mythology located in the underworld. According to extant sources, it was one of the two primordial realms, the other one was Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began.

Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana for Marimba - 5 Min.; 5 Octave-Marimba; arranged by Eriko Daimo; 4 mallets; a lot of rolls, intermediate

Video

"That instrument makes a huge, warm sound, and the demeanour and virtuosity of soloist Eriko Daimo made this a performance to remember. Watching and hearing the four mallets play slow-moving, long-line, four-part harmony was extraordinary. No recording could capture that mesmerising combination of sound and sight."
 

マリンバから深く温かな音が奏でられ、卓越したソリスト大茂絵里子の感性と妙技が、観る者にとって脳裏に焼き付けられる忘れられない演奏となった。4本のマレットで、4部のハーモニーを美しく長いフレーズでたっぷり奏であげるのを目の当たりにして、実に桁違いの演奏である事を痛感した。生演奏であるからこそ、視覚的にも聴覚的にも双方向から訴えかけてくる絶妙なバランスを表現しており、録音物では絶対に捉え切ることは出来ない体験だ。

  
Martin Adams, editor
The Irish Times                                                             (March 2015)

Variations on lost love - Theme with 3 Variations, 4 Mallets; advanced

A beautiful to berserk theme and variations, Variations is a large scale work in four sections that has advanced technical challenges, but is within the reach of a good four mallet player. Lyrical use of the one-handed roll in octaves for a principal melody.

Sound samples: 1 2 3 4 5
A fun piece in five short movements: G. Hopp, Ballad of C Roach, Ant Invasion, Bness and Romance of the Moths - duration ca. 6'. Each movement attempts to convey physical motions or images of the insect represented in the title. Scored for 5-octave marimba, four mallets. adv. high school/college.

Sample page