Lost and Found (2018)
for prepared marimba
21 minutes
7 movements
Program Notes
The summer after my freshman year in college I worked as a lifeguard at my home town’s community pool. In the back of the guard room lived a pile of miscellaneous items - towels, goggles, shirts, and various other things left by patrons. The lost and found was both forgettable and fascinating, mostly inconsequential, but occasionally irresistible. At the end of that summer, I surreptitiously took home a T-Shirt from the pile. It remained one of my favorite shirts for over a decade, only recently tidied out of rotation (thank you Marie Kondo). In a way, this piece is also a rediscovery of lost musical materials. The original idea for the Marimba preparations developed years ago at the start of another project. After meticulously cataloging and sampling all the sounds for that project, I rather abruptly changed course and soon forgot about the unusual collection of objects.
Affectionately referred to as ‘Janky Marimba’, the idea resurfaced when Mike Compitello approached me about writing a solo piece. The result, Lost and Found, integrates objects and normal Marimba tones to create a kind of hybrid-sound, freely weaving together both altered and normal notes to build a series of distinctive textures and timbres. Cast in seven movements, the work opens with Spiders, an exploratory movement full of scratches and scrapes where the percussionist discovers and awakens the lost objects. The second movement Half Asleep, begins to explore the full keyboard, rambling up and down in a free-exploration of this new space. Things heat up in the third movement, Shakedown. Wide awake and rowdy, the musician relishes the altered Marimba’s clangorous possibilities, banging out a brash and raucous groove. Following this spirited romp, Spiders returns, a short respite before the fifth movement, Everything is OK. A kind of affirmation, Everything is OK fully embraces the objects, seamlessly integrating them into the Marimba’s rich colors. One more Spiders interlude follows before the final movement, Coda, rounds out the piece with a somewhat sentimental and heartfelt conclusion.
Lost and Found was commissioned by Michael Compitello and a consortium of thirty three percussionists, including: Megan Arns, Mark Boseman, Michael Burritt, Matthew Carey, Benjamin Charles, Gabriel Costache, Gwen Dease, Corey Denham, Matthew Ernster, Thomas Faulkner, Maria Finkelmeier, Ben Fraley, Adam Groh, Piero Guimares, Sean Harvey, Ji Hye Jung, Ayano Kataoka, Tony Kirk, Terry Longshore, Colin Malloy, Dan Morphy, Chris Jackson, Yun Ju Pan, Robert Rocheteau, Matt Sharrock, Chris Sies, Neil Sisauyhoat, John Smigielski, Jeff Stern, Jen Torrence, Mike Truesdell, Eric Willie and Andrew Wright. It was premiered September 22, 2019 by Michael Compitello on the Tribeca New Music Festival at the Cell Theater, New York, NY.
Instrument List
5-Octave Marimba
Plastic tub with kick pedal attached
Tambourine
2 resonant metals (one high, one low)
Small baking tin
2 Jam blocks
Guiro
Cylindrical plastic shaker
3 glass bottles (high, medium, low)
Piccolo wood block
Purchase
Performances
March 24, 2022 Katzin Concert Hall, Arizone State University, Tempe, AZ. Anthony Kirk.
November 1, 2019 Swarthout Recital Hall, Lawrence, KS. Michael Compitello.
October 18, 2019 Lawrence Public Library, Lawrence, KS. Michael Compitello.
October 15, 2019 University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA. Michael Compitello
September 22, 2019 The Cell, New York, NY. Michael Compitello.