Smit-Quartet (SP)-2B/2X/Cro./P

Andrew Smit’s Quartet for percussion was written in January of 2020 as a compositional exploration of expand upon one simple, repetitive idea. Smit drew his inspiration from Steve Reich, the father of minimalist percussion music, specifically his piece Music for 18 Musicians.

Smit used Reich’s technique of adding one note at a time to a melody as well as a limited range for the melody. Another element at work in the piece is Smit’s use of polyrhythms, which he explores brilliantly by having certain parts feel as though they’re written in 3/4 time and others as though they’re written in 4/4. The result is a meditative and rhythmically complex fabric, tightly woven with relentless groove.

This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.

• Number of players: 4
• Difficulty: Intermediate/advanced
• Instrumentation:
• Player 1: glockenspiel, 4 crotales (A, E, A, E-one from each octave)
• Player 2: glockenspiel, triangle
• Player 3: xylophone, tambourine, castanets, 3 temple blocks
• Player 3: xylophone, 3 concert toms, castanets, 3 temple blocks