Ford-Stubernic (SP)-M (Player 2 plays from score)

Stubernic (pronounced "Stew-bur-nick") is a unique, challenging marimba trio for one 4 1/3-octave marimba shared by three performers. Dedicated to Stefan and Mary K. Stuber--and their music studies in Nicaragua--the title suddenly makes sense: "Stuber-Nic" (leave it to Ford to personalize a composition to this degree). This single-movement, three-part work should be memorized. Player 2, situated in the center of the instrument, has the most difficult part, in that the four-mallet middle section is a rhapsodic, guitar-like cadenza. Players 1 and 3 (tacet for most of the middle section) are positioned on either end of the marimba's range and provide clever accompaniment to Player 2. At one point, Players 1 and 3 must develop an ostinato on the frame and resonators of the marimba. The composition's first section sounds minimalistic and modal, and there is evidence of Ford's musical humor in that the performers rotate up the marimba_in the fashion of a Central American marimba family playing musical chairs--before returning to their original register. The final section is truly an ensemble tour-de-force in that the parts are virtually all doubled in octaves at the end. There is also evidence of a set of variations on the modal melodic material presented in the first section. Players 1 and 3 utilize two-mallet technique throughout this ten-minute work. Stubernic is a spectacular ensemble for three mature keyboard percussion performers."

- Jim Lambert Percussive Notes, December 1995

Number of Players: 3
Difficulty: Grade 5
Instrumentation: 1 Marimba

Mark Ford is the coordinator of percussion activities at The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas and Immediate Past-President of the Percussive Arts Society. He is a marimba specialist and the director of one of the largest percussion programs in the United States at UNT. Ford has premiered a variety of new works for solo marimba, and he is the author of Marimba:Technique Through Music, a marimba method book. Ford has been a featured performer/clinician throughout the states at universities and at music conferences including PASIC, MENC, TMEA, Mid-West and CBDNA. Mark has also performed at International Music Festivals in South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. With several marimba and percussion CDs to his credit, Mark's recordings have further established his dedication to excellence in music.