Product Description
Be Thou My Vision
("Slane") for solo marimba . . . .
. . . . traditional Irish tune
arr. Dan Heslink
This is a 4-mallet
marimba arrangement of the old Irish folk tune "Slane." It is named after a
place, in Irish called Baile Shláine, a quaint village in County Meath,
near Dublin, on a steep hill beside the River Boyne. Its history dates back
nearly 5,000 years and is dominated by its castle and hill, on which St.
Patrick is said to have defied the pagan King in the Fifth century. As an old
Irish folk song "Slane" is associate with the ballad "With My Love on the Road"
in Patrick W. Joyces "Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). It is an
attractive melody, cleverly constructed with a variety of creative melodic
patterns.
The form of this
arrangement is a set of strophic variations. It begins with a simple and pastoral setting
of the tune imitating the Irish whistle (tin whistle, or penny whistle). The
soloist plays the melody in sustained, continuous roll in the right hand,
executed by placing one mallet bellow the bars end and one above, operating
the wrist up and down. At the same time, the beginning of each melody note is reinforced
with a stroke from the left hand and accompanied with a simple bass and
intermittent counter melodies. The left-hand crosses over the right to move
from bass notes to counter melody notes.
The first strophic
variant, beginning at measure 19, opens up the vertical dimension in terms of
harmony and range. The left hand is again called upon to cross over the right,
moving between bass and chords, while the right-hand melody progresses in the
middle texture. The characterization of Irish folk music continues with the
typical melodic ornaments of the tin whistle roll (rapid ornaments achieved
through rolling the hand over some of the whistles tone holes).
The second variant,
beginning measure 35, is a three-part fugato. The developmental nature of a
fugato makes adherence to the strophe considerably freer, focusing on melodic
phrases as subjects and countersubjects in the counterpoint. The player is
encouraged to bring out the left-hand octaves in mm. 96-106, where most of the "Slane"
melody occurs in augmentation. A brief transition leads to the final variant, a
rapid and virtuosic conclusion in which passages of florid figuration are
sandwiched between the tunes phrases.
This arrangement will
work well as a secular piece in recital, referencing a favorite Irish tune
("Slane"), or as a marimba solo for church, referencing the spirit of the Christian lyrics. The
melody became a hymn tune when it was arranged by David Evans and set to the
Irish hymn "Be Thou My Vision." The best-known English version was translated
by Eleanor Hull and published in 1912. The arrangement will serve equally well
as an offertory or special music in a Christian service.
The arranger has assigned a
difficulty level of intermediate to advanced. Duration is 4:30. The arranger,
Dan Heslink, can be contacted at dan@dheslink.com.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.