Ralph Vaughan Williams – Concerto Accademico (Marimba & Piano version)

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote Concerto Accademico between 1924 and 1925. It was originally written for violin and string orchestra and is dedicated to the soloist who gave the premiere performance, Jelly d’Aranyi. The concerto is in traditional three-movement form and features a driving, rhythmic first movement followed by a rich, poetic slow movement. The final movement takes the form of a lively jig, borrowed from Vaughan Williams’ opera Hugh the Drover.

In 2005 David Danford arranged the concerto for marimba and vibraphone. He gave the first full performance with piano at Oystermouth Music Festival in June 2006 and the orchestral premiere with the RNCM String Orchestra in February 2008.

Instrumentation:
Marimba
Vibraphone
String Orchestra

Despite being scored for performance on a five-octave marimba (and three-octave vibraphone), the majority of the concerto can be performed on a 4 1/3 octave instrument. Simply omit the low D at the Presto in Movement I and the lower octave in the final six bars of Movement III.

Duration: 17 minutes