Home / Composition / Solo / 13 Morceaux (selections)

13 MORCEAUX (selections)
by Jean Sibelius

Medium: Solo Marimba
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Composed: 2001
Duration: 8:00
Difficulty: Grade IV

Instrumentation:
5-octave marimba
4-mallet

. . . . . . . .

NOTES
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) has become widely known for his impressive large-scale orchestral works such as Kullervo (1892) and Finlandia (1899).  For this reason, his solo piano works have been neglected and, in some cases, have been dismissed as insignificant.  However, one cannot overlook the one hundred piano pieces composed by Sibelius throughout his lifetime.

13 Morceaux, composed between 1911 and 1919, is a set of pieces that contain much variation in tempo and character.  The three selections I have chosen demonstrate this diversity – from the relaxed, yet melancholy, “Etude” to the was of sound created by the accented arpeggios of “Carillon” to the bright and sprightly character of “Humoresque.”  The pieces are heard note-for-note in the marimba version with the exception of one note left out of a few chords in “Humoresque” due to the limitations of having only 4 “fingers.”