Traveller is a commission from Andy Harnsberger for marimba and percussion trio – an ensemble I've never written for before. I met Andy while studying composition and percussion at the Eastman School of Music – my instrument was the marimba which I planned on continuing throughout my career, but composition slowly took over as commissions came in. I still adore writing for the instrument though, even though I rarely play it. The idea of the work comes from a piece I wrote while at Eastman in the early 90s, Kembang Suling – with the sub-title 'three musical snapshots of Asia'. I am very much a traveller, and have been around the world many times – particularly in Asia – and have a big interest in Ethnomusicology.
Traveller is in three movements, and is a reflection of the musical experiences I've had since Kembang Suling. The movements are Guangzhou (China), Gamelan (Indonesia), and Tala (India). I've written the percussion trio parts in a style representative of the musical style of the region, wth the marimba part completely independent and not locked into the stylistic idioms. It's a fiercely difficult virtuoso marimba solo with percussion backing, and I'm so grateful to have a fierce virtuoso player like Andy to realise it.
