Uninhabited Admittance is a many faceted composition for solo 5.0 marimba. It is lyrical, jazzy, rhythmically varied, and a great deal of fun to play. This should be an audience favorite, being in a largely tonal harmonic style, but with Stout’s unique vocabulary. Highly recommend for the advanced marimba recital.
One of the latest pieces in the oeuvre of Gordon Stout is “Uninhabited Admittance,” for solo marimba. The piece itself is much more textural than melodic, which creates multiple challenges for the performer, both technically and musically. As is typical of Stout’s music, the harmonies are tonal and have a jazz base, yet not as centric as those used in his more popular works like “Astral Dance” or “Two Mexican Dances.”
Anyone wanting to perform this piece must be able to flow in and out of multiple time signatures seamlessly, keeping the groove throughout. Since there are few breaks in the music for the auidence (or performer) to catch their breath, good endurance will definitely aid the performer. Overall, this piece is, rhythmically, pretty simple, but the constant interval and spacing shifting in both hands makes it technically challenging.
All markings and notations are very clear and well-marked throughout the score. There are no recommendations for mallet choice, but I would recommend a graduated set of mallets from soft to medium hard to get the best sound out of each register of the instrument. This piece would work very well in an upper division or graduate recital.
— Marcus D. Reddick, Percussive Notes — March 2017
