Singleton, Alvin: Argoru VI

for marimba

Commissioned by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for John Kasica, this short piece provides a musical platform for sheer virtuosic display. The term "argoru" is a word from the Ghanaian Twi language meaning "to play". With the meter set on "Presto" Alvin Singleton’s wit shows through in that there are so many wide gaps of silence separating the notes in the early pages that it is not until the middle of the piece where the notes come bunched, hot and heavy, that the listener realizes that this is a very fast and driving piece.