Aravot Lousaber

Aravot Lousaber, written for marimbas in 2013, is originally a sacred Armenian chorale that has been recorded innumerable times by choirs around the world. Here it has been expanded and embellished to feature the marimba duo or trio in the unique setting of performing a chorale. The melody was left intact and for the most part, the harmony was too. However, an introduction that returns just before the final section, an optional third obbligato part, and some exploratory harmony were all liberties taken in creating this version of the chorale. The harmony in the final section was largely a result of what could be performed with Marimba 2 using 5 mallets. The overall concept of the arrangement was to give a chorale to a marimba duo that begins with minimal voices and ends with the power of the “mega- marimba tremolo” in 9-10 voices, depending on whether there is a third player. With the right mallets and acoustical space, this work can be an arresting 9 minutes of lush harmonies. This is always an audience favorite and they usually comment that they didn’t want it to stop, so fill the space and be patient when performing this work. ~M.C.