Brostrom-2nd Flight of the Bumblebee (SP)-2M - Product Information
The Second Flight of the Bumblebee by Tobias Brostrom for two marimbas (one 4.6-octave and one 5-octave). Both players are required to use four mallets. This piece was originally written for two pianos and takes its inspiration from Witold Lutoslawski's Paganini Variations, a highly original transformation of the 24th Caprice for solo violin by Niccolo Paganini. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the well known Flight of the Bumblebee as part of his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and to quote Brostrom, "I have taken the liberty to borrow the main theme from it - my sincere thanks and apologies to Rimsky-Korsakov!" Following the presentation of the original and second themes, the development section witnesses the two engaging in an intense battle. The piece is three minutes of busy, buzzing music, with the chromatic fragment of the original theme a constant presence.
