Carmenates' intricate arrangement of Jettatura tests the capabilities of the percussion duo just as much as Psathas' original version challenges the pianist. Here, the percussionists must keep precise time to navigate Jettatura's rapid-fire waves of notes, which can find themselves fragmented and dovetailed between instruments. The rumble of the piano's lower register is supplanted by the damp, woody resonance of the marimba's lowest octave, while the vibraphone's mellow timbre features in the work's more subdued middle section. Standing out most, however, is the punchiness of the marimba's middle-to-upper register, which dominates the animated outer sections of the work, maintaining the bold character of the piano version.
John Psathas is a New Zealand freelance composer and teacher who, at a relatively early stage in his career, has established an international profile and receives regular commissions from organisations both in New Zealand and overseas. His works are championed around the world by a growing number of leading international artists, one of the most consistent of whom has been the Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Initially making a name for himself as a composer of high-energy percussion music, more recently the composer has concentrated on a series of larger-scale concertante works. A major career highlight to date has been the commission to compose the ceremonial music for the opening and closing of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In 2005 John Psathas was created an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to music.
