Marimolin

Marimolin, commissioned by and dedicated to Nancy Zeltsman and Sharan Leventhal, is a work in three parts in the familiar “fast-slow-fast” format of a classical concerto. In fact, it is loosely based on one aspect ofStravinsky's Concerto in Ré (1946) for string orchestra in that the first movement, in triple meter, and the last movement, in duple meter, are written at the same metronome marking of = 126. The middle movement, slow andmolto cantabile, is the centerpiece and focal point of the entire work. The “concerto” character is preserved in Marimolin not only by the timbral contrast between the marimba and the violin, but by the soloistic rolesthat each instrument is asked to perform. Consequently, the contrapuntal nature of the work is revealed and intensified. –Thomas Oboe Lee