Ross Edwards

Marimba Dances (1983)

Australian composer Ross Edwards (b. 1943) says he "seeks to reconnect music with elemental forces and restore such qualities as ritual, spontaneity and the impulse to dance." With his work the award winning composer strives to celebrate Australia's cultural diversity, and he says that it draws many of its shapes and patterns from the natural environment of his homeland, including birdsong and the "mysterious drones of summer insects." Edwards' early teachers included Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, Sandor Veress, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

The composer writes that his Marimba Dances (1983) "is a light-hearted (though highly virtuosic) piece that consists of two radiant dances framing an introspective, recitative-like interlude. ...The marimba writing is influenced by a transcription I made of music for African harp in my reconstruction of a Madegascan folksong." More at: www.rossedwards.com.

--June 24, 2006 (UNF Percussion Quintet)