Nocturne of the Water Lilies by Winton Yuichiro White

Nocturne of the Water Lilies is a piece that I wrote for my fellow musical colleague and friend Asako Okamoto. She came to me one day, after having listened to my compositions, asking to write a piece for an upcoming recital of hers at the Floral Museum in Chiba, Japan. This was a special performance in which she was to perform along side to the well-known oil paintings of Claude Monet: the Water Lilies series. I began brainstorming for this piece to figure out my approach to this composition. To give my brain a rest, I went on YouTube and came across this video montage of Monet’s Water Lilies with Claude Debussy’s Claire de Luneplaying in the background. The music matched the montage of oil paintings so well! Right then and there, I decided the marimba piece would be most fitting in an impressionistic style while retaining rhythms, harmonies, and melodies that reflect my writing. I guess you can say this piece was indirectly inspired by a YouTube video.