Percussion Quartet
Alice Shields
About this work:
I was inspired to compose this energetic little piece for the Bay Area Women’s Percussion Troupe, and have dedicated the piece to them in celebration of their first year of performances. I chose the four instruments to be very close in range so they could exchange bits of melody. The delicate bell-like glockenspiel and the marimba exchange little bits of melody with each other, and with the bouncy wood sound of the xylophone, and the resonant soft tones of the vibraphone. The four instruments play a contrapuntal game, listening to each other, fitting into the spaces between each other’s notes. The particular way in which they do this is influenced by my experience of performing as a musician in an Indian classical Bharata Natyam dance troupe. In my piece each little musical section is separated by a pause. Eventually all the instruments start playing similar material, and crescendo together to the end of the piece. --Alice Shields
Version: Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:07:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice
Instrumentation: 1 Other Percussion Instrument(s)
Instrumentation notes: glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone, xylophone