Laura Jordan- "Velocities" for Solo Marimba by Joseph Schwantner

Laura Jordan: Solo Percussion Recital South Carolina State University, October 13th, 2009 Joseph Schwantner, Velocities (1990) was commissioned, along with Jacob Druckmans Reflections of the Nature of Water and Roger Reynolds Autumn Island, by the National Endowment of the Arts Commission, led by William Moersch, Leigh Howard Stevens, and Gordon Stout. Originally, a work was to be commissioned from John Corigliano, but Corigliano later abandoned the project in favor for a commission from the Metropolitan Opera. Stevens knew Schwantner from the Eastman School of Music and invited him into the project. Stevens premiered the work in the autumn of 1990. This continuous moto perpetuo is an A B A form with a coda. It utilizes techniques pioneered by Stevens, such as playing on the edge of the bar with the wooden part of the marimba mallets. Considered a technical rite of passage, Velocities is a seminal member of the concert marimba repertoire and is asked on almost all marimba competitions. Additionally, it is one of the most popularly performed and recorded works for the instrument. (program notes (c) Laura Jordan)