Marilyn Kind Currier’s works have been performed around the United States in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Her major works include a concerto for violin, a concerto for viola, Vanzetti Mass - a work for chorus, orchestra and soloists dealing with the Sacco and Vanzetti case, combining the text of the Latin Mass with letters of Vanzetti written in prison - and several settings of poetry of Ted Hughes.
The Boston Globe wrote of her music that “its impact is immediate and spontaneous," adding that "Currier is a composer whose music is ‘for’ the instrumental and vocal means she uses, not arbitrarily assigned to it. It ‘sounds’ as a result, and strikes the listener as real.”
Her choral work Quadrille for Two Marriages, which sets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, and contrasts their marriage with that of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, was considered “very striking” by New York Times critic Raymond Ericson, who also noted that in this work "her harmonic vocabulary is extended,” calling it both “complex” and yet “sensitively treated in mood and structure.”
Her Sonata for Guitar was composed for guitarist Eliot Fisk and premiered by him at Carnegie Recital Hall. Composer George Crumb wrote that it was "beautifully written for the instrument," and the New York Times said it was "well written for the guitar," and noted that the work "makes fine use of its introspective nature." The piece was later recorded by guitarist David Tanenbaum for Neuma Records, and played by him in Germany, Sweden and the United States.
Quadrille For Two Marriages
A song cycle on texts of Ted Hughes & Sylvia Plath, and Robert & Elizabeth Barrett Browning
More Listening
Songs for a Windy Night (Songs 5, 6)
Hampton's Throne
Violin Concerto (excerpt, opening)
Winter Bagatelles, Mvt II (Toccata)
Sonata for Violin and Piano (complete)
Sonata for Guitar (Mvt. I)
Songs from Crow (excerpt, opening)
Sonata for Cello and Piano (excerpt)
River Songs (excerpt, opening)
works list
Vocal Chamber Music
Songs for a Windy Night
for bass with piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, harpsichord (amplified), piano (1975)
Dorion Gray: the Portrait Dances
for mezzo soprano with flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, guitar, timpani (2 players), harp, piano (1976)
Crow Songs
for tenor, soprano saxophone and piano (1986)
River
for tenor, bass clarinet and piano (1988)
River (ensemble version)
for tenor with flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, bass and piano (1989)
"His Highness the Prince...."
for mezzo soprano with piano (19xx)
Instrumental Chamber Music
Piano Trio
for violin, cello and piano (1972)
Violin Sonata
for violin and piano (1975)
Quartet #1
for string quartet (1975)
Cello Sonata
for cello with piano (1988)
Quartet #2
for string quartet (1990)
American Overture
for soprano (or alto) saxophone and piano (1997)
Mood Swings: for the Ides of March
for piano and string quartet (2008)
Solo Instruments
Sonata
for guitar solo (1978)
Overture Fugue and Epilogue
for solo piano (1985)
Winter Bagatelles
for solo piano (1995)
Essay
for cello solo (19xx)
One Small Voice
for cello solo (2005)
Orchestra
Concertato for Viola and Orchestra
for viola solo with classical guitar and 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 1 bassoon, 2 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, xylophone, piano, strings (1974)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
for violin solo with 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (2 doubles on alto saxophone), 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, percussion (1), strings (1983)
The Scarlet Letter: Images for Orchestra
for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, bass drum, strings (1985)
Hampton’s Throne
for 3 flutes (3. doubling on picc.), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 1 bass clarinet in B flat (doubling on alto saxophone in E flat), 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, percussion (2 players): (percussion 1. - vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone, temple blocks (5), suspended cymbal) (percussion 2. - chimes, glockenspiel, vibraphone, snare drum, bass drum, crotales, tamtam, timpani) piano, harp, strings (1990)
Choral works
Vanzetti Mass
for baritone soloist and mixed chorus, with piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, timpani, strings (1985?)
Quadrille for Two Marriages
for mixed choir a cappella (1978)
Orchestra with voice
A Lady Macbeth Soliloquy
for mezzo soprano with
2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets in Bb, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns,
3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings (1969)
score library
Chamber Works
Violin Sonata
Cello Sonata
Piano Trio
Solo Works
Essay for Cello
Sonata for Solo Guitar
Choral/Vocal Works
Quadrille for Two Marriages
Crow: Three Songs from Ted Hughes' Crow
Orchestral Works
Hampton's Throne