About the creation

MIZMOR for marimba and orchestra

In 1982, Mr. Joseph Ben-Israel from the Israel Broadcasting Authority asked me to write a piece for santour, a Persian musical instrument, and orchestra. The Radio's Oriental Music Dept. was celebrating, at the time, its twentieth anniversary and among the special events honouring the occasion they wished to include a piece combining oriental elements (including the instrument) with contemporary composition techniques.

I met with Menashe Sasson, the santour player, and was introduced to the technique of playing the delicate sounding instrument. Its limitations forced me to form a special mode (a kind of scale) on which the work was based. I also decided to choose a two-partite structure customary in Oriental music: a slow and pensive section, leading to a fast and more rhythmical one. Between these two sections I inserted, according to the player's request, a cadenza-like improvisational part, and another improvisational part towards the end of the piece (as is customary also in classical concerto movements).

After the work has been performed and broadcast several times, it crossed my mind to arrange the solo part for a more common percussion instrument, and I revised it for xylophone and wind instruments. However, the arrangement for marimba has been done with the kind help of the soloist, William Zien. Actually, it was he who revised the original solo part and for this I am grateful to him.

The work, lasting about 9 minutes, includes tunes and rhythms characteristically influenced by Oriental music and is reminiscent of my style up to the mid-sixties, in which Oriental elements were quite prominent.

Zvi Avni