An Evening With Brodie McCash Concert Programme

Bon Accord Baths, Justice Mill Lane

Saturday 23rd August 2025 6.30pm 

Programme:

A Little Prayer – Evelynn Glennie

In a Landscape – John Cage

Giles - Evelynn Glennie

Crowded In A Lonely Room – Brodie McCash

Light In Darkness – Evelynn Glennie

The Crisis – Ennio Morricone

Moon River – Henry Mancini arr. Reese Maultsby

Three Chorales – Evelynn Glennie

Glennie’s Three Chorales is made up of A Little Prayer, Giles and Light In Darkness. The three works were written as individual pieces and not originally intended to be played as a set.

A Little Prayer and Light In Darkness were written when Glennie was 13 years old, expressing her spiritual feelings whilst displaying a pleasantly relaxed dimension of the instrument. Giles was written and dedicated to a friend of Glennie’s who was tragically killed in a climbing accident.

All three pieces are in simple chorale style and take full advantage of the unique resonance of the marimba. This resonance is fully supported by the unique acoustics of the Bon Accord Baths.

In A Landscape – John Cage

Composed in 1948, this gentle, flowing piece shows a quieter side of Cage. Inspired by dance and meditation, it uses soft, repeating patterns to create a calm, dreamlike mood—very different from his later experimental music. Playing this work in such a space brings a new dimension to this piece as the melodies can hold on that little bit longer before dissapating.

Crowded In A Lonely Room – Brodie McCash

This piece had been written initially as part of the McDOOT concerts I am playing in November and was intended as a trio for marimba, baritone sax and bass clarinet. In the process of writing it, I realised it had potential as a marimba solo and so have written two variations for both instrumentations.

Through a progression of chords, I look to take you on an emotional journey with moments of light, dark and peace. The title came from a piece of creative writing I had written in high school (many years ago) called Lonely in a Crowded Room, a story about feeling isolated amongst the chaos of the school.
I have changed the title around as getting older, I find that it is much more common for me to have conversations racing and yet I look up and find that I am in fact just talking to myself internally. I feel that as we get older there can often be a fear of asking for help. This piece has a sense of hope before returning to a most assertive version of the introduction and a stronger tonal base.

The Crisis – Ennio Morricone

The Crisis is a short emotional work from the movie The Legend of 1900 a 1998 movie featuring Tim Roth as a pianist born lived, and died on a cruise ship. The music in the movie is all written by Ennio Morricone, and varies wildly in style.

The Crisis has a simply harmonic structure but the clashing minor second in the third beat each bar and the uncertainty between major and minor helps in creating a beautiful tension throughout the piece.

Moon River – Henry Mancini arr. Reese Maultsby

Written in 1961 with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Moon River became an iconic ballad after featuring in Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn. Its gentle melody and nostalgic mood capture a sense of longing and adventure. This slow chorale arrangement for marimba aims to capture this feeling of nostalgia for the past and hope for the future.