Yoi Eki by Cornelius Hirsch

YOI EKI by Cornelius Hirsch is a four mallet solo scored for 4.3 octave marimba. The Japanese title “YOI EKI”, which roughly means “good railway stations”, is not a programmatic indication but wants to stimulate both the player’s and the listener’s courage and delight in free association. The absence of themes and a rhapsodic structure in detail are used to achieve this effect and give the listener the impression of an extensive improvisation, which rests on a mirror-inverted structure as its basis in space and time. 

YO EKI was composed at the suggestion of Peter Sadlo who asked for a piece that should set new standards in marimbaphone music. Thus, the piece requires utmost virtuosity with regard to both the player’s skill and the variety of interpretation and expression.