Quartet is a collaboration of developing concepts apparent in my works as a composer, and my interest in furthering the Western marimba’s voice in modern chamber music.
In Quartet, thematic material becomes the essential tool for trading parts, here often reminiscent of the Romantic era, with instruments making offerings, mimicking each other, and expanding on what each has to offer. Quartet is moody, sometimes heralding, sometimes descending in despair, sometimes reminiscent of the Shostakovich and Smetana piano trio repertoire.
As improvisation has been borrowed from the jazz tradition, so too the ensemble playing near the end of the first movement comes from modern big band “shout” sections.
During the second movement the musician is being given a greater responsibility and additional freedom by my asking the ensemble for input on what they might like to explore. The notes leave the written page, and this helps make each performance unique.
As the young Western marimba continues to find its place in modern chamber music, Quartet picks up where my composition El Sol Del Sur (for 2 pianos and 2 percussion) left off. The percussionist’s possibilities are explored with more lyrical opportunities traditionally offered to the strings (the horizontal), while still driving vertical rhythms on marimba and drums. The versatile piano works to bridge this territory between percussion and strings, at the intersection of the horizontal with the vertical.