Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra, composed in 1947, was later rearranged by the composer in 1952 as Suite concertante pour piano et orchestre.
Composer Biography
Darius Milhaud, a key member of the Parisian group 'Les six', is considered one of the great classical figures of 20th-century music.
Historical Context
Percussion instruments, while possibly the oldest of all musical instruments, have undergone the most rapid and comprehensive development in recent times.
Composition History
Alfred Fissinger, born in 1925, wrote his best-known work, a Suite for Marimba, in 1950 at the age of 25.
Composer Biography
Arthur Lemba, born in Tallinn in 1885, studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire with teachers including Anton Rubinstein, Alexandr Glazunov, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Historical Context
The movement titles of Alfred Fissinger's Suite for Marimba are reminiscent of World War II, in which the composer participated.
Compositional Technique
Milhaud's music is characterized by a fresh, often ironic, tonal idiom and a preference for polytonal effects, using two or more keys simultaneously.
