SPHERICAL MUSIC (1985, rev 1998)
12 players on 6 marimbas
or
solo marimba and pre-recorded marimbas
Spherical Music was written in 1985 as part of an electronic piece called The Garden of Cyrus. (A recording of that piece is available on my CD Overstepping.) At the time, I made a version for twelve marimbas which Daniel Druckman recorded and performed (with eleven parts on tape. Several years later, Danny called and asked me to make a version for twelve players on six marimbas. I made substantial revisions in the orchestration for this version, and I think it’s beginning to approach what I was hoping for it to be in the first place: an algorithmic music where the rule-based events feel like more than mere arithmetic, where they become a kind of magic numerology.
There’s a quotation from the Divine Comedy that embodies what I was aiming for when I wrote the piece:
E come l’alma dentro a vostra polve
per differenti membra e conformate
a diverse potenze si resolve,
così l’intelligenza sua bontate
mulitiplicata per le stelle spiega,
girando sè sovra sua unitate.
Dante, Paradiso II: 133-138
And as the soul within your mortal clay
is spread through different organs, each of which
is shaped to its own end; in the same way
the high angelic Intelligence spreads its goodness
diversified through all the many stars
while yet revolving ever in its Oneness.
John Ciardi’s translation
click to listen to a MIDI demo of the piece:
Here's the score of the 1998 twelve player version (pdf)
Here's a set of parts for performing or recording the piece (zipped pdf)
There are a number of ways of performing a solo version with eleven pre-recorded parts: the version below is only one possible solo version of the piece. If you want to do this version, you will first want to record all twelve parts (download the parts above) and then mute the parts you want to play live.
possible solo version (pdf)
However, once you’ve recorded all twelve parts yourself, you are likely to have your own favorite path through the piece, so I encourage you to make your own solo performance version. If you want the score in Finale or SMF format to make editing your own version easier, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Jane Boxall's solo version is available on CD here.
A faster all-electronic version of this piece is March 3rd in A Book of Days.
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