Shostakovich-Andante from Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102 arr. Papador (SP)-4M

Dmitri Shostakovich composed the Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1957 for his son Maxim's 19th birthday and graduation from the Moscow Conservatory. The second movement (Andante) is comparatively subdued to its playful outer movements. It begins solemnly in C minor, with a short introduction before the entrance of a beautiful and mournful triplet theme in the parallel major. Although it remains slow and quiet throughout, it is marked by the recurrence of melodic polyrhythm, as well as a remarkable amount of expressiveness for such a seemingly simple piece.

The sustained beauty of Shostakovich’s harmony in the Andante is well suited for the timbre of the marimba. In this arrangement, the piano solo has been transcribed and split into two parts (right and left hand, primarily), which is played by Marimbas 1 and 2, respectively. Players 3 and 4, for the most part, play a reduction of the orchestral score.

• Number of players: 4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Instrumentation:
• Player 1: Marimba (4 octave)
• Player 2: Marimba (4 octave)
• Player 3: Marimba (4 octave)
• Player 4: Marimba (4.3-4.5 octave)