It is difficult to have a conversation about marimba literature without using the name Gordon Stout. This 5.0-octave marimba solo, while not full of Stout’s customary intricacies and technical challenges, is intensely poetic and passionate — a performance challenge in and of itself. Lasting around five minutes, the solo is written for Joshua Oxford, a former student, who was injured in a car accident in 2010 and to whom all royalties from sales will go.
The nature of the piece is that of a lullaby. With a quarter-note pulse that is woven throughout, the music has a lilting and rocking quality. Marked at quarter note equals 1–, rhythms never get denser than eighth notes, which further contributes to the serene character of the piece. Stout primarily utilizes intervals of major and minor sixths and major and minor sevenths that are written in parallel fashion, at times shifting for harmonic progressions, at other times moving to flesh out melodic statements.
In the beginning, Stout offers a style indication of “profoundly lyrical,” a quality that should be embraced for a successful performance of this solo. In terms of performance practices, this piece requires lyricism and patience in order to communicate the depth of expression contained in the notes.
— Joshua D. Smith, Percussive Notes — November 2011