Pale Blue DotPale Blue Dot
Click to enlarge

Purchase

Pale Blue Dot

for solo marimba
Level: Advanced
Duration: 7:15
Release Date: 2023
Product ID : TSPCS23-001
Price: $19.00
Item #: TSPCS23-001

Formats Available:


Description

Pale Blue Dot by Alex Stopa is an advanced level four-mallet marimba solo based on the imagery of Earth taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Shot from four billion miles away, the photograph shows our home planet, Earth, as a tiny point of pale blue light, barely visible in the enormity of space. Stopa notes that the image is at once humbling and awe-inspiring, highlighting the fleeting nature of human existence. The piece draws its emotional thread from a quote by American astronomer Carl Sagan that accompanied the photo. Sagan’s message stressed the importance of compassion and preservation of our planet.

Pale Blue Dot is a thought-provoking marimba solo that offers the performer unique musical and technical challenges. Repeated sextuplets flutter across the instrument creating a weightless and sparkling effect throughout the work. These patterns are encouraged to be performed in the same manner as a chorale with consideration toward melody, harmonic motion, and voice leading. The performer can play these figures in both triple lateral or single alternating sticking combinations.

Pale Blue Dot ships as a printed, professionally bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or tablet viewing.

Instrumentation

Marimba — 5-octave

Description

Pale Blue Dot by Alex Stopa is an advanced level four-mallet marimba solo based on the imagery of Earth taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Shot from four billion miles away, the photograph shows our home planet, Earth, as a tiny point of pale blue light, barely visible in the enormity of space. Stopa notes that the image is at once humbling and awe-inspiring, highlighting the fleeting nature of human existence. The piece draws its emotional thread from a quote by American astronomer Carl Sagan that accompanied the photo. Sagan’s message stressed the importance of compassion and preservation of our planet.

Pale Blue Dot is a thought-provoking marimba solo that offers the performer unique musical and technical challenges. Repeated sextuplets flutter across the instrument creating a weightless and sparkling effect throughout the work. These patterns are encouraged to be performed in the same manner as a chorale with consideration toward melody, harmonic motion, and voice leading. The performer can play these figures in both triple lateral or single alternating sticking combinations.

Pale Blue Dot ships as a printed, professionally bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or tablet viewing.

Instrumentation

Marimba — 5-octave



You may also like...

Relentless and lyrical, this solo version of She-e Wu’s Blue Identity is a virtuosic showpiece for advanced marimbists.
Duration: 5:30 | Level: Advanced
$19.00
An intermediate-advanced four-mallet marimba solo focusing on interconnected linear figures and musical decision-making opportunities.
Duration: 3:15 | Level: Med-Advanced
$12.00
A groove-based, rhythmically intense work, this solo draws its eclectic themes from infamous composers like J. S. Bach and John Coltrane.
Duration: 6:30 | Level: Med-Advanced
$17.00
Beautiful, wistful, and enchanting, this advanced solo for 5-octave marimba requires a soft touch and a strong sense of melody.
Duration: 4:00 | Level: Advanced
$16.00
#TAPSPACE