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This concerto contains a lively presentation of Brazilian rhythms and beautiful South American melodies. It has become a staple for percussion repertoire at the university level worldwide spanning over two decades. I am going to give a description of this timeless composition as it is a wonderful concerto for your students to learn.
The concerto is divided into four movements: Saudacao, Lamento, Danca, and Despedida. Each of these movements are contrasting in style and flavor. The movements all provide different technical and musical challenges for your students. Performing all four movements will greatly advance the technical proficiency of your students' four mallet playing.
Movement I. Saudacao (Greeting)
This is a very lively movement that is in A, B A form. It contains contrasting rhythms, melodies, and dynamic expression. It is upbeat with a fast BPM. The biggest challenges for this movement are the shifting and changing time signatures. In the beginning, a musical phrase containing 6/8, 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 repeats in a musical ostinato setting up the complexity of the movement and creating an exciting, unsettling, and aggressive opening for the concerto. A right-hand melody enters while the left hand of the marimba player continues the ostinato. The right hand plays a melody based on...