Charles Wuorinen\u2019s Percussion Quartet was written in 1994 for The New Music Consort, New
\nJersey Percussion Ensemble, and the Percussion Group Cincinnati. It was premiered in 1995
\nby The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble.
\nWuorinen\u2019s Percussion Quartet is true to his mature style – it is dense, complex, athletic, and
\nchallenging. Performing this work is a herculean task, but the result is a thrill-ride adventure
\nthrough myriad textures and harmonies. The first movement is marked with vibraphone and
\nmarimba flurries, timpani choruses, anvil and almglocken rips, cymbal and gong splashes, wood
\nclouds, and drum cadenzas. Wuorinen stacks the voices, harmonies, colors, and textures into a
\nmulti-layered and multi-dimensional sound world, brimming with the energy of his musical
\nbrilliance and his performers\u2019 virtuosity. The second movement settles-not calmer but seemingly
\nmore organized in a lilting meter. The material is no less charged, no less sophisticated, but
\nappears more immediately clearer to the ear because of adherence to a central beat. This is a
\npercussion quartet after all, and one may expect four drummers to rock to the end with
\nexplosions and fireworks. If so, this work lives up to its title. – Program note by Samuel Solomon
\nInstrumentation
\nPlayer 1: Vibraphone, crotales, 6 anvils, 6 temple blocks, 2 bongos, 1 timpano
\nPlayer 2: Vibraphone, 4 almglocken, 6 temple blocks, 6 single-headed tom toms, 1 timpano
\nPlayer 3: Marimba (4.3 octave), 2 suspended cymbals, 4 double-headed tom toms, 1 timpano
\nPlayer 4: Marimba (4.3 octave), medium tamtam, 2 bass drums, claves, 1 timpano
\nDuration – 18\u2019~20\u2019 (Mvt I – 10\u201950\u201d, Mvt II – 7\u201930\u201d)<\/p>\n