Percussion Quartet No. 2 (Hollinden)
General Info
Year: 1999
Duration: c. 14:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Dave Hollinden Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $60.00 | Score Only - $0.00
Movements
Instrumentation
Player I: large tom, snare drum, cowbell, 2 auto springs, 2 triangles, slit drum, 3 cymbals
Player II: large tom, snare drum, cowbell, high-hat, 4 flower pots, sandpaper blocks, bass drum, small tam tam, wind gong
Player III: large tom, field drum with snares, high tom, cowbell, 2 brake drums, 2 metal pipes, clave, vibraphone
Player IV: large tom, snare drum, medium tom, cowbell, 4 crotales (a,c,e,g ascending), metal chain, bell plate, tin can, tambourine without head, 5 temple blocks, 4 timpani
Program Notes
The piece begins pianissimo (cymbals, snare w/brushes, vibes, timpani) with a four note theme on the timpani and the instruction "Sly, stealthy". The energy slowly builds to a huge, expressive climax marked "Wham!" (snare, bass drum/tamtam/wind gong, snare, timpani) which dissolves to piano at "Hush, hush" (metals, tamtam/gong, vibes, timpani). The piece then proceeds through a series of increasingly soft and spacious sections marked "Crisp and Brittle", "Delicate, ethereal", and "With a whisper" as the performers move from metals and flower pots with lighter and lighter beaters to the wood instruments with their finger tips. This is interrupted at "POW!" with fortississimo unison drumming on large toms, snares and cowbells through a series of sections marked "Punched", "Angular", "Kaleidoscopic" and "Jagged". "Fickle" signals a return to a more abstract, spacious feel as the instrumentation turns toward metals and flower pots. The four note theme returns as the piece drifts into a pianissimo texture of cymbals and gongs, metallic scrapes and fingers on timpani, ending with a hand on the bass drum.[1]
Review
This composition requires four percussionists, each with a large setup. Between the four players there is a mass of textures and colors including drums, metal, wood, and clay flower pots. The only tuned instruments are four crotales, timpani, and vibraphone. Typical of Hollinden's style, the work is packed with rhythmic syncopation and energetic motives. In contrast to his compositions "Whole Toy" and "Release," this quartet moves from section to section with meter changes rather than rhythmic modulation. There are two cadenza passages in which all four percussionists play in unison at a fff level that will probably work the audience into a frenzy. The work will, no doubt, be popular and appear on numerous programs.
George Frock, Percussive Notes, June 2000.[2]
premiere: Central Washington University Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Andrew Spencer, Percussive Arts Society Day of Percussion, Boise, ID, April, 1999
Errata
Awards
Commercial Discography
Recent Performances
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Works for Percussion by this Composer
A Different Drummer - Multiple Percussion
Alchemy - Percussion Duo
Boundary Conditions - Multiple Percussion; String Quartet
Cold Pressed - Multiple Percussion
Dusting the Connecting Link - Multiple Percussion
Flux - Marimba; Flute; Clarinet; Alto Saxophone
Immersion - Percussion Quartet; Saxophone Quartet
In Time to Come - Marimba; Alto Saxophone
Lead - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Of Wind and Water - Marimba
Percussion Quartet No. 2 (Hollinden) - Percussion Quartet
Platinum - Multiple Percussion; Piano
Reckless - Percussion Octet
Release (Hollinden) - Percussion Octet
Six Ideas for Snare, Bass, and Cymbal - Multiple Percussion
Slender Beams of Solid Rhythm - Multiple Percussion
Surface Tension - Percussion Duo
The Whole Toy Laid Down - Percussion Quartet
what clarity? (with perc. ens. version) - Multiple Percussion; Percussion Ensemble (11)
what clarity? (with strings version) - Multiple Percussion; Orchestra
Additional Resources
References