The Fairview Hymns (Holst & Vaughan Williams)
A Medley of In the Bleak Midwinter and Come Down O Love Divine arranged for solo marimba
The Fairview Hymns is Brian Mueller’s arrangement of two traditional English hymnal melodies for solo marimba. The two melodies differ in their character but with Mueller’s clever abilities as a performer and arranger, the two melodies cohere into one brilliant musical experience.
The piece begins with Gustav Holst’s slow and melodious treatment of In the Bleak Midwinter. Mueller adds dissonant harmonies and slight blues inflections to make the piece more soloistic and idiomatic for the marimba. The piece ends with Ralph Vaughan William’s treatment of Come Down O Love Divine, a much more rustic and dance-like piece that functions as a great closer to this intricate marimba solo.
This piece ships as a fully bound score or as an instant PDF download for printing or tablet viewing.
- Marimba (low C)
Reviews
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George Frock –
Two well-known hymns, “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Holst and “Come Down O Love Devine” by Vaughn Williams, are combined to create a wonderful solo for marimba. The writing features numerous contrasts of block chords and arpeggios, creating a free rubato feel throughout the work.
After the completion of the “Midwinter” section, which is in F major, the arranger presents some rhythmic ostinato patterns that serve as a bridge to the second tune, “Devine.” This material takes on a dance-like feeling in which the melodic motives and rhythmic patterns are mixed, and could even be developed into some improvisation if desired.
This is an excellent publication, and each solo could be performed alone or together, as the publication suggests. This work is excel- lent for recitals, or even in church, which is where the composer presented the premiere performance.