Dark Shadows

Item details

Description +
- Duration: 6 min.
  Performing Artists: Georgiana Hughes, flute and David Westerbrand, marimba
  
  Preface
  For many years, the successful Duo Nimm (flautist Åsa Karlberg and percussionist Olle Pettersson) have performed my work Kinkaku-ji, a meditation for Flauto Alto and Vibraphone. One day, Åsa told me about her new Robert Dick Glissando Headjoint and at the same time asked if I could possibly write a new piece for flute and percussion with her new mouthpiece in mind. In contrast to the calm Kinkaku-ji, I began to compose a work with a lot of speed.
  
  At this time, I was in a state of darkness where people in my presence showed a shadow of hatred and evil I didn't think existed. The power of the music is incredibly strong and through the composition I was able to somehow react and express my feelings. The harmonies are therefore dark, the rhythms give a feeling of worry and the flute's glissando amplifies the inner pain - an attempt to musically describe the Dark Shadows.
Instrumentation +
- Flute and Marimba
Watch+
- Dark Shadow by Daniel Berg
  
  Dark Shadow by Daniel Berg
About the composer +
- Daniel Berg is a Swedish composer, musician, and professor in classical percussion at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and at the Academy of music and drama in Gothenburg.
  
  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 300 world premier for solo and chamber works. Daniel Berg is a marimba artist of Bergerault and Elite Mallets.
  
  As a composer Daniel has written a lot for solo marimba like Mistral (for Michael Burritt), Phoenix (for Robert van Sice) and Yán Jiâng (for the Taiwan World Percussion Competition). His music for percussion ensemble have been appreciated and often performed like Kroumata (for sextet) and Arctic Nights (for quintet) - all published by Edition Svitzer.
Reviews +
- Review (Percussive Notes, October 2021)
  
  In this duet for alto flute and 5-octave marimba, the outer sections are characterized by the moto perpetuo style presented by an arpeggiated harmonic pattern in the marimba, on top of which the flute performs enticing melodic lines. The opening section affords the marimbist an opportunity to perform melodically, as the flute takes on the accompaniment role at points. While the marimba and flute parts are rhythmically active and advanced, they are, for the most part, idiomatic. The middle section is spacious and free, with each performer presenting musical material alone, and then together in a less frantic manner than the opening section. The final section is essentially a recapitulation of the opening section, with a coda-like closing section.
  
  Harmonically, the work is fairly dark, utilizing chromaticism throughout. An appropriate description might be “pan-hexatonic,” where the composer is using hexatonic tonal collections while not being bound by any specific set. Daniel Berg’s harmonic choices work quite well for the acoustics of the marimba.
  
  Lasting around 5½ minutes, “Dark Shadows” is appropriate for advanced collegiate musicians, and would serve well as a flashy opener or as an encore.
  
  —Jamie Wind Whitmarsh
Credits +
- Enamel painting (front cover): Bengt Berglund
  Front Cover: Ronni Kot Wenzell
  Photo (Daniel Berg): Jon Liinason
  Translation (English): Robert Oetomo
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright © Edition SVITZER
  www.editionsvitzer.com

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