Mistral

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Description +
- Duration: 5 min.
  Dedicated to Michael J. Burritt
  
  In the early 2000s, I had the pleasure of teaching and performing together with the American marimba legend, Michael Burritt at a couple of summer courses. In one concert, I remember him presenting his new solo piece ‘Scirocco’ with fast-moving and swirling melodic lines – inspired by one of the eight desert winds across the Mediterranean Sea. The year after, Michael played the first performance of his lyric ‘the Offering’ and both pieces are now standard works for marimba.
  
  Almost twenty years later, I got the opportunity to write a solo piece for Michael Burritt and I want to catch the positive energy from his personality and his strong virtuoso and lyrical playing. And as a greeting to Michael and with a little humour, the piece gets name after another desert wind across the Mediterranean Sea.
  
  The harmonies in ‘Mistral’ is chosen by overtones from the lower octaves of the marimba. Together, the notes in the chords form a tone colour that is unique to the instrument.
Instrumentation +
- Marimba (5-octave)
About the composer +
- Daniel Berg is a Swedish composer, musician and professor in classical percussion. He combines the role of writing music with being a versatile musician and teaches solo percussion and chamber music at the University College of Music in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Örebro in Sweden.
  
  In his passion to promote the marimba as a solo- and chamber music instrument, Daniel has worked intimately with a number of composers who have written original music for the instrument. This includes more than 250 world premieres for solo and chamber works. Daniel Berg is an artist of Bergerault Marimbas and Elite Mallets.
  
  As a composer Daniel has written a lot for percussion published by Edition Svitzer like his Kroumata for percussion sextet, Images for Percussion Duo and Yán Jiāng (Magma) for solo marimba - a commission from the Taiwan World Percussion Competition 2020.
Reviews +
- Review (Percussive Notes, October 2021)
  
  “Mistral” is a short solo inspired by Michael Burritt’s “The Offering” and “Scirocco,” and it pays homage to his personality as both a performer and composer. Much like “Scirocco,” the piece gets its title from one of the eight desert winds that come across the Mediterranean Sea. As stated by the composer, “The harmonies in ‘Mistral’ are chosen by overtones from the lower octaves of the marimba; together, the notes in the chords form a tone color that is unique to the instrument.”
  
  This solo is divided into three broad sections: two faster sections that bookend the work and one composed of rubato gestures, lyrical playing, and “free tempo” indications. It requires fourmallet technique and solid control of melodic lines executed by the inner two mallets. Additionally, players must be able to comfortably perform one-handed rolls that transition from metered to unmetered at the interval of a second. Most notable are the frequent and complex meter changes used throughout the piece, including 21/16, 28/16, 11/32, 42/16, and others.
  
  While the piece is challenging, it looks harder than it is. There is plenty of room for expressivity and musical exploration, and it is well suited for an upper-level collegiate percussionist.
  
  —Danielle Moreau
Credits +
- Art work (photo): Bengt Berglund
  Front Cover: Gaia Gomes
  Photo: Per Buhre
  Engraving: Johan Svitzer / Daniel Berg
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright © Edition SVITZER
  www.editionsvitzer.com

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