Victor Caccese
Mallet Quartet - Steve Reich
"Mallet Quartet" was composed by Steve Reich in 2009 for the percussion groups Amadinda, So Percussion, and Synergy Percussion. The piece is composed in three movements, fast, slow, fast, a compositional technique used in other Reich pieces such as Electric Counterpoint and New York Counterpoint. Some other characteristics can be heard in "Mallet Quartet" such as the steady rhythmic hocket in the marimbas in the first movement and the emphasis on canon in the two vibraphone parts. However, possibly the one thing that stands out the most is the second movement. There is an incredible amount of space within the structure of the movement. Very few notes are used to the point where it sounds like it could be too thin or possibly not hold together. Lastly "Mallet Quartet" is the first piece where Reich has written for the low C on the 5 octave marimba. This gives a lot of support for the bass harmony and allows us to drive to the end in the third movement.
This is a recording session done at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in the Spring of 2011. The recording and audio editing was done by Dan Price and video editing by Victor Caccese.
The performers are...
Sao Aoki
Garrett Arney
Victor Caccese
Cristobal Gajardo