Description on Youtube:
With the University of Southern Mississippi (under the direction of Dr. John Wooton).
Mallet selection includes the Ney Rosauro Signature Series by Vic Firth: http://www.vicfirth.com/products/rosauro.php
ABOUT THE PIECE:
The Concerto No.2 for Marimba was originally written for five octave marimba and full symphony orchestra. The work was composed during the summer of 2001 and was sponsored by a grant from the University of Miami. The concerto lasts approximately 24 minutes and is dedicated to the marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe. The concerto is written in three movements:
I) Water Running in High Mountain has two contrasting themes and depicts the way water makes its path down rocky mountain slopes.
II) Reflections and Dreams starts with a quote from J.S. Bach and develops into a romantic and somewhat mystical atmosphere. Later, a new theme in a lively and contrasting tempo is introduced, which serves as a motive for a fugato movement that is developed before the main themes return.
III) Walking on Clouds has a lively tempo, but its soft melody and rhythmic structure in a 5/4 meter evokes an image of music coming from the clouds. The fugato idea that appears in the second movement returns in this movement before the solo cadenza. In the cadenza, the wooden sound played with the rattan handles of the sticks depicts an old tradition of African balaphones. A quote from a Keiko Abe theme follows, and excerpts of the main themes of the concerto reappear. After the re-exposition of the main themes, a coda using the same vigorous motive from the introduction concludes the work in an uplifting mood.
ABOUT NEY ROSAURO:
Ney Rosauro is recognized as one of the most original and dynamic symphonic percussionists and composers today.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 24, 1952, he started studying percussion in 1977 with Luiz Anunciação of the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr. Rosauro studied Composition and Conducting at the Universidade de Brasilia (Brazil). He then received the Masters Degree in Percussion at the Hochschule fur Musik Wurzburg in Germany under Prof. Siegfried Fink.
He completed his Doctorate at the University of Miami under the supervision of Fred Wickstrom.
From 1975 to 1987 he was percussion instructor at the Escola de Musica de Brasilia, and timpanist with the Orquestra do Teatro Nacional de Brasilia in Brazil.
From 1987 until 2000 he directed the Percussion Department at the Federal University of Santa Maria, RS in Brazil. From 2000 until 2009 he was director of Percussion Studies at the University of Miami, Florida.
As a composer he has published more than 100 pieces for percussion as well as several method books. His compositions are very popular worldwide and have been recorded by internationally acclaimed artists such as Evelyn Glennie and the London Symphony Orchestra. His Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra has been performed by over 2,500 different orchestras worldwide, and his nine solo CDs hav
