THE SOLO MARIMBA COMMISSIONS
Volume 1
Payton MacDonald

Available Online at Your Favorite Download Site.

The multi–talented Alarm Will Sound composer/percussionist, offers up his third Equilibrium recording, this time providing the listener with four new works for solo Marimba written for Payton who describes Marimba Variations by Charles Wuorinen as "colorful, inventive, and challenging". It is a compelling tour–de–force that has has an auditory logic, which reaches out to the listener. Caleb Burhans wrote Lullaby for Madeline for Payton MacDonald. The composition, built in two sections comprised of gentle floating chords followed by a music box which slowly winds down at the end, honors the birth of Payton and wife, Jessica Jonhson's first born child. Payton commissioned David Saperstein's 2009 composition, Three Marimba Solos. The composer writes: "Each of the three solos can either be performed separately, as a standalone concert piece; or the three can be played together, in which case they take on the form of a single work in three movements. At Mr. MacDonald's request, the three pieces stay within a 4 1/3 octave range, with the 2nd A below middle C being the work's lowest note".

The New York Times has described MacDonald as an "energetic soloist" and The Los Angeles Times has described him as an "...inventive, stylistically omnivorous composer and gifted performer..."

REVIEWS

American Record Guide – September/October 2011

Super Marimba II, by Payton MacDonald, is still one of my favorite albums that I have reviewed. His latest effort, a collection of solo marimba commissions, removes the technological effects and concentrates on exploring the instrument's wooden sounds. His performance is strong and he displays a large range of dynamics and impeccable rhythmic precision. Lullaby for Madeline, by Caleb Burhans, is filled with gently rolled chords and expressive arpeggios that push and pull the tempo. Rolls dominate I of David Saperstien’s Marimba Solo, becoming points of return after rising lines as well as slow, separated pieces of a melody. The finale's quickness points out MacDonald's dexterity with some extremely fast runs that he absolutely nails. Wuorinen's Marimba Variations is the low point of the record. It, like Finnegans Wake, starts and ends mid-sentence. The numerous tempo changes supply a disjointed listening experience that estranged me.
LAMPER