Project Description
Solo Marimba
1980
10 min.
Grade 4
Listen Now
Katuizyna Mycka
On the album Marimba Spiritual (2000)
Preview Score
Movements
- Madrigal: My lady white
- Spring…birds sing…a gift of rings
- For pretty Alison
Description
My Lady White is a collection of three songs for solo marimba. All three are very beautiful pieces and are among the best tonal literature for solo marimba today. These can be performed individually or as a set and would be appropriate for a jury, recital, or audition.
Program Note
The title, My Lady White, is a reference to a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer; an elegy for a woman named Blanche who was his devoted courtly love who he described as “supremely modest, yet easily approachable, refined, temperate, lighthearted and pious without sternness or coldness.” I call the three movements of My Lady White madrigals because the remind me of those brief, intimate, emotional song forms. The words, A Gift of Rings, from the title of the second piece are the title of a poem by the modern English poet Robert Graves. Graves also spent his life searching for the ‘White Goddess’, which is the name of a book that he wrote. For Pretty Alison: Alison is my wife, my best friend, and in many ways my own ‘Lady White’.
Program Note by David Maslanka
Further Reading
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 112, Angels
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we are excited to feature three of David's works that make either direct or indirect reference to angels: Symphony No. 4, My Lady White, and Angel of Mercy.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 92, New Performances of Percussion Music
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we feature three new outstanding performances of some of David’s works for percussion: My Lady White, Hohner, and Song Book for Alto Saxophone and Marimba.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 67, New Performances of Marimba Music
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we feature three new performances of some of David’s most familiar marimba music: Variations on Lost Love, Concerto for Marimba and Band, and My Lady White.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 55, Alison
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week we celebrate the life of Alison Matthews by featuring three of David's works that have a movement dedicated to her: "Alison" from Symphony No. 10, "Song for Alison" from Song Book for Alto Saxophone and Marimba, and "For Pretty Alison" from My Lady White.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 45, References to Color
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we feature three compositions in which David references a color in the work's title: My Lady White, “Out of the Blue” from This is the World, and Golden Light.
David Maslanka: Works for Younger Wind Ensembles
Here are more than twenty works for wind ensemble, arranged in approximate ascending order of difficulty, with commentary by David Maslanka
Recording the Wind Ensemble Music of David Maslanka
Mark Morette of Mark Custom Recording shares his extensive experience in recording wind ensembles.
