Composer's Notes: Afta-Stuba! is a sequel to my 1988 composition, Stubernic. Like Stubernic, Afta-Stuba! Is written for three players on one low A marimba. This composition can be performed after Stubernic or independently. A few Stubernic motives are utilized in Afta-Stuba!, and the main theme at bar 20 is derived from the first three notes of the theme of Stubernic. In this piece, each player plays in every register of the instrument at different times in the music. The work calls for the players to alternate positions behind the marimba, and even play the instrument from the front side. My goal for Afta-Stuba! was to combine quality music with a little fun to celebrate the potential of the marimba. t was premiered at the 2000 PASIC in Dallas, Texas with Christopher Deane, Shawn Hart and myself as performers.
"Premiered at PASIC 2000, "Afta-Stuba!," which is written for three marimbists performing on one low-A marimba, is a sequel to Mark Ford's "Stubemic." (Ford suggests that both pieces could be performed in sequence on the same program.) Those who have played "Stubemic" will recognize motives shared by both pieces. In fact, the main theme of "Afta Stuba!" derives from the first three notes of the theme of the previous composition. In "Afta-Stuba!" Ford exploits the spatial idiosyncracies of the marimba keyboard. The three marimbists must address the keyboard from all points of the compass in order to execute the tightly-written, closely coordinated, three-part counterpoint that characterizes the work. The result is a piece that provides as much fun for its performers as it does for the audience, and one that should be regularly heard on college percussion recitals. " - John R. Raush Percussive Notes, June 2001.
