Phosphorus
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SKU: PE.PREPE123
Composed by Christos Hatzis. Marimba. Score & Audio CD. Duration 00:08:15. Edition Peters #PREPE123. Published by Edition Peters (PE.PREPE123).ISBN 9790674522366.
Phosphorus was written soon after the death of Cameron Haynes, the nephew of Hatzis’ wife. After a year-long battle with cancer, Cameron passed away just after his 25th birthday. Throughout his life, Cameron suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, requiring extra attention and care from his family and those close to him. Living in a small town and being educated in the public school system, not equipped to deal with children with special needs, he was often the target of bullying. This, along with the behavioural side effects of his condition, made his way though life rather challenging. All this notwithstanding, he remained positive and optimistic and, in the end, his battle with cancer revealed a person of courage, poetic strength and, however hidden and unarticulated, an empathy for others atypical of his condition.
Mysterious yet playful, Phosphorus opens with the marimbist playing a series of inquisitive phrases peppered with rolls, while the digital audio provides a steady crotchet pulse of marimba pitches beneath. After arriving at a long pause consisting of eerie electronic ambience, we are eventually introduced to our MC, who informs us that “Today we are talking about the phosphorus.” However, the voice and its underlying electronic beat quickly dissolve and the marimbist’s phrases resume, with rolls now dominating more of the material, while vestiges of the MC’s “phosphorus” chant periodically emerge from the backing track. The voice samples briefly return in solid form, heard alongside the marimba’s wavelike contours. A semiquaver pulse of synthesizer pitches then takes over the accompaniment, the marimba dancing around this rhythmic foundation in animated lines. Our lesson on the phosphorus abruptly resumes, the marimbist instantly falling into unison with the melodic motif in our MC’s underlying beat. The backing track then returns to motoric synthesized pulses, over which the live marimba dances, navigating a pulling back of tempo. Our MC interjects, his processed “phosphorus” chant and motivic hook now overwhelming the piece, while the marimba matches the excitement with upper-register chordal stabs that mutate into clusters. The marimbist is allowed a final, spacious monologue over pitch-shifting ambience before a syncopated percussive groove draws us to the conclusion of our lesson.