Mallet Quartet is a composition by Steve Reich scored for two marimbas and two vibraphones; four marimbas; or one percussionist and tape. It was co-commissioned by the Amadinda Quartet in Budapest, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, by Nexus in Toronto, So Percussion in New York, and Synergy Percussion in Australia. It received its World premiere in December 2009 at the Bela Bartók National Concert Hall in Hungary and its US premiere at Stanford University on January 9, 2010.
Contents
Structure
Mallet Quartet is in three movements, with its entirety lasting around 14 minutes:
- Fast
- Slow
- Fast
The second movement, slow, is one of his most thinly textured works with acoustic instrumentation, as admitted by Reich himself.
Performance
The piece can either be played with 2 marimbas and 2 vibraphones, or with 4 marimbas. There is no version for solo percussion and tape.