STILLNESS

for oboe and marimba (six-mallet)

Written: 2012
Duration: ca. 6'
Instrumentation: oboe and five octave marimba (six-mallet version)
World Premiere: American Modern Ensemble, featuring Makoto Nakura and Robert Paterson marimbas; Robert Paterson, marimba, and Keve Wilson, Oboe, November 14, 2012, Rubin Museum, New York, NY.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music

Note: there is also a version a version for alto flute and marimba (four-mallets), and a setting for a cappella choir entitled Lux Aeterna.

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Introduction to My Six-Mallet Technique | Basic Six Mallet Exercises

Program Note

Initially, Stillness was the only work I've ever written without a program note. For a work so close to my heart and with so much personal meaning, I initially couldn't bring myself to write one. After a long period of time and reflection, it seems like a program note is necessary. Stillness was inspired by my wife Victoria having a miscarriage during her second trimester and the sense of loss, grief, and hopelessness we experienced when this happened. As a small source of comfort and to help us find a way forward in our hearts, I composed this piece in memory of our unborn child, with the notion that perhaps our child's spirit is in a happy place or at least the memory of who our child would have been can live on in our hearts. Miscarriages are often not discussed openly, so this piece is just one small gesture of love and support for all women who have endured this experience in their lives.

Stillness exists as this version for oboe and marimba played with six mallets, another version for alto flute and marimba played with four mallets, and also as a choral version, a setting of Lux Aeterna.