Mallet Quartet
General Info
Year: 2009
Duration: c. 14:40
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Parts Only (print) - $40.00 | Score Only (print) - $24.99
Movements (played without pause)
1. Fast – 6:40
2. Slow – 3:00
3. Fast – 5:05
Instrumentation
Full Score
Percussion (4 Players), including:
- Marimba I-II (I 4.5 octaves; II 5.0 octaves)
- Vibraphone I-II
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
One of the most thrilling experiences in performing Reich’s music is the moment when the separation between players disappears and individual identities are swallowed up into a seamless composite. In the first and third movements of Mallet Quartet (2009), the two marimbas create an interlocking rhythmic machine often found in Reich’s work, an interwoven foundation over which the vibraphone melodies unfold. The delicate middle movement builds a different kind of “meta-instrument,” more like an organ or a chorus, with long melodic lines emerging from a texture of rich harmonies. This second movement is a stylistic departure for Reich, and creates a stark suspension of the relentless forward momentum of the rest of the piece.
- Program Notes from liner notes of Cedille CD Third Coast Percussion
Mallet Quartet is a composition by Steve Reich scored for two marimbas and two vibraphones, or for four marimbas. It was co-commissioned by the Amadinda Quartet in Budapest, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, and by Nexus in Toronto, So Percussion in New York, and Synergy Percussion in Australia. It received its world premiere in December 6, 2009, at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Hungary and its U.S. premiere at Stanford University on January 9, 2010.
- Program Note from New England Conservatory Percussion Group concert program, 23 December 2020
Commercial Discography
- Audio CD: Third Coast Percussion (Chicago, Ill.) – 2016
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Percussion Group (Will Hudgins, conductor) – 23 December 2020
- Sandbox Percussion (New Haven, Conn.) – February 2012
- Amanda Quartet (Budapest, Hungary) – December 2009 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- City Life (arr. Fiumara) (1994/2005/2007)
- Drumming (1971)
- Four Log Drums (1969)
- Mallet Quartet (2009)
- Music for Pieces of Wood (1973)
- New York Counterpoint (1986)
- Sextet (1986)
- Six Marimbas (1977/1986/1992)
- Vermont Counterpoint (1982)
Resources
- Reich, S. (2013). Mallet Quartet [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: New York.
- Steve Reich website Accessed 5 April 2020