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Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major is a staple of string quartet literature. Its highly rhythmic second movement translates well to mallet percussion, as is evidenced by Stephen Primatic excellent arrangement that expertly captures the nuance and color of the original string quartet. In this mallet septet, the woods effectively emulate the opening pizzicato statements, while the lyrical passages are well matched to the metallic, sustaining instruments. A worthy challenge with an impressive musical result!
Use of this product is governed by the license terms outlined here.
Ravel’s “String Quartet in F” is one of my favorite pieces in the entire string quartet repertoire. Hopefully, this excellent arrangement of the second movement will contribute toward greater awareness of this music among percussionists. Stephen Primatic’s percussion version of the six-minute second movement is quite faithful to the original, with the wooden keyboards emulating the strings’ pizzicato passages and the metallic keyboards adding sustain for the more lyrical, arco phrases. The four marimba parts (Marimba 1 and Marimba 4 share the 5.0-octave instrument) carry the majority of the material and require both two and four mallets. The other three parts are all two-mallet, with some added octave doublings as the only significant alterations from the original.
The movement is in an ABA´, fastslow- fast form, with the A sections shifting between 6/8 and 3/4. However, the most challenging aspect for a successful performance will be to achieve the proper balance between voices in regard to melody and accompaniment. This attention to balance is unfortunately lacking in the otherwise capable demo performance provided by the publisher. Careful modeling on the nuances of balance and phrasing in a fine string quartet rendition will be necessary for this glorious music to be fully realized.
—William Moersch
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2, March 2014
Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major is a staple of string quartet literature. Its highly rhythmic second movement translates well to mallet percussion, as is evidenced by Stephen Primatic excellent arrangement that expertly captures the nuance and color of the original string quartet. In this mallet septet, the woods effectively emulate the opening pizzicato statements, while the lyrical passages are well matched to the metallic, sustaining instruments. A worthy challenge with an impressive musical result!
Use of this product is governed by the license terms outlined here.
Ravel’s “String Quartet in F” is one of my favorite pieces in the entire string quartet repertoire. Hopefully, this excellent arrangement of the second movement will contribute toward greater awareness of this music among percussionists. Stephen Primatic’s percussion version of the six-minute second movement is quite faithful to the original, with the wooden keyboards emulating the strings’ pizzicato passages and the metallic keyboards adding sustain for the more lyrical, arco phrases. The four marimba parts (Marimba 1 and Marimba 4 share the 5.0-octave instrument) carry the majority of the material and require both two and four mallets. The other three parts are all two-mallet, with some added octave doublings as the only significant alterations from the original.
The movement is in an ABA´, fastslow- fast form, with the A sections shifting between 6/8 and 3/4. However, the most challenging aspect for a successful performance will be to achieve the proper balance between voices in regard to melody and accompaniment. This attention to balance is unfortunately lacking in the otherwise capable demo performance provided by the publisher. Careful modeling on the nuances of balance and phrasing in a fine string quartet rendition will be necessary for this glorious music to be fully realized.
—William Moersch
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2, March 2014
