Very fun composition to listen to, it really opens up my imagination! 👏🏻👏🏻

I like this style of solo songs. It was good.

this slaps bro i recommend keeping it up gang

I really enjoyed how energetic this piece is!

Complex and beautifully performed. very easy to listen to.

Written: 2021
Duration: ca. 5'
Instrumentation: solo five-octave marimba (four mallets)
Commissioned by Micheal Barnes
Performed by Michael Barnes (World Premiere)
Upcoming World Premiere: Recital, Michael Barnes, marimba, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, April 4, 2024.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: https://billholabmusic.com/product/pyro/

PROGRAM NOTES
The word ‘pyro' has a few different meanings. It can denote fire, heat, or temperature, but the meaning that most inspired this piece comes from the word 'pyromaniac', which is used to describe someone who has a compulsion to set things on fire. In particular, I was most influenced by a by a surreal, somewhat grotesque artwork by David Lynch called Boy Lights Fire (2010), in which a boy holds a book of matches in his left hand and a lit match in his right hand, while someone (perhaps his mother) appears in the distance, arms stretched out, seemingly in shock. I imagined the boy lighting their house on fire, and the house gradually burning to the ground. Pyro was commissioned by Michael Barnes.

Pyro for Solo Marimba

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

Comments

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