Mallet Ensembles Vol. 1

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Description +
- Duration: 15 min.
  
  Daniel Berg has a great passion for teaching and a dream that more children and young people will find the melodic percussion instruments. In Mallet Ensembles the level is a little more difficult compared to his earlier booklets for Youth - Easy Solos, Easy Duets and Easy Marching Percussion. The hope with these scores is to awaken a curiosity and a bridge to the classical repertoire for mallet instruments, but also an encouragement to play music with each other!
  
  These three songs are orchestrated for a couple of mallet instruments – to get a rich and ”fat sound”, please double each part on both marimba and vibraphone in several octaves.
  
  Index:
  Celebration
  Walking' in Central Park
  Mallets for FONK!
Instrumentation +
- Marimba Ensemble:
  
  Glockenspiel (or Crotales)
  Vibraphone
  2 Marimbas
  Percussion/Drum Set
  Bass
Watch+
- Celebration by Daniel Berg (from Mallet Ensembles Vol. 1)
  Performed by Hulebäck High School
  
  Walkin' in Central Park by Daniel Berg (from Mallet Ensembles Vol. 1)
  Performed by Hulebäck High School
  
  Mallets for FONK by Daniel Berg (from Mallet Ensembles Vol. 1)
  Performed by Hulebäck High School
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 +
- Percussive Notes, November 2016
  
  This collection features three short pieces for beginning to intermediate mallet players. In score order, the tunes are “Celebration,” “Walkin’ in Central Park,” and “Mallets for FONK!” Technically, the Marimba 2 part is the most difficult in the bunch. The other parts can easily be executed by first- or second-year mallet players.
  
  “Celebration” features jaunty, syncopated melodic lines in 16-bar phrases over an AABA form. The short B section is at half tempo. The melody is unique and incredibly catchy—the kind that one might be humming for hours. In contrast, “Walkin’ in Central Park” feels quite different, with the rhythmic groove being a laid-back rock shuffle. The final tune, “Mallets for FONK” seems to be an amalgamation of a few of the composer’s favorite things. The bass line is similar to Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” and the opening background lines are reminiscent of the iconic horn figures from Miles Davis’ “So What.” The primary melodic riff is bluesy, and young ears will have no trouble picking up the harmonic progressions.
  
  The drumset part is improvised, with only a few sparse hits and fills suggested in the notation. The bass part could be performed on acoustic or electric bass, bass marimba, or even synth/piano. Players can easily begin to explore improvisation by playing over the (unwritten) changes and opening up the form for solos if desired.
  
  Daniel Berg states that he hopes to write music that will inspire fun and excitement in younger players while making music on the keyboard percussion instruments. He seems to have squarely hit that mark with this short collection.
  
  —Phillip O’Banion
Credits +
- Front Cover layout: Gaia Gomes
  Photo: Per Buhre & Harry Friberg
  Engraving: Johan Svitzer
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright © Edition SVITZER
  www.editionsvitzer.com

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