Five Fantasies of Natural Origin

Five Fantasies of Natural Origin carry titles derived from the animal kingdom and were inspired by the composer’s brother who has had a lifelong love of creatures of all sizes. Challenging arpeggio patterns predominate but lush, warm chordal phrases provide interesting contrasts. The fourth movement incorporates bowing the marimba bars with a bass bow to provide a different tone from the instrument. While the piece may not specifically depict the animals in the titles, the somewhat “impressionistic” approach to the musical development of the characters seems to stir the imagination of the listener and encourage an especially creative approach to the work.

Program Notes

Five Fantasies of Natural Origin was commissioned by Elizabeth Sadilek and Barry Larkin of Iowa State University. All five movements carry titles derived from the animal kingdom and were inspired by the composer’s brother who has had a lifelong love of creatures of all sizes. The first movement, “Soaring on the wings of an eagle,” reflects the swift and graceful flight of this large and elegant bird with sweeping lyrical lines in the flute and marimba. The fourth movement, “Slow dance of the last living dinosaur,” is the quintessential movement of the work, being inspired by the composer’s brother’s ground breaking research of the Tuatara lizard in New Zealand. This lizard is, in fact, the last living dinosaur and its mating dance is described by the German term, “Stoltzer gang,” meaning “proud walk.” Challenging arpeggio patterns predominate but lush, warm chordal phrases provide interesting contrasts. The fourth movement incorporates bowing the marimba bars with a bass bow to provide a different tone from the instrument. While the piece may not specifically depict the animals in the titles, the somewhat “impressionistic” approach to the musical development of the characters seems to stir the imagination of the listener and encourage an especially creative approach to the work.

Grade Level: 4
Copyright: 2004
Number of Players: 2
Duration: 17:00

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Instrumentation

Flute
Marimba (5-octave)