Royal Quartet

for keyboard percussion ensemble

Nathan Hawk

Level: Med-Advanced

Duration: 4:15

Personnel: 4 players

State Lists: Missouri | Texas | Florida

Release Date: 2022

Product ID : TSPCE22-010

Price: $38.00

Item #: TSPCE22-010

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Description

Composer Nathan Hawk describes Royal Quartet as "a vehicle for performers to explore emotion and musicality. It takes the players through a melancholic journey, ebbing and flowing subtly to give listeners an intricate soundtrack for their thoughts and feelings."

The piece, scored entirely for mallet instruments, drives forward with an expressive energy. Grooves in 4/4 frequently alternate with 16th note passages in 7/8, leading to an engaging mix of musical ideas. Calmer moments see the vibraphone voices featured in a lyrical fashion, while the "moto perpetuo" of the marimbas provides a wave-like feel. Using every 4-mallet technique in the book, this work provides the opportunity for intermediate-advanced quartets to display a mastery of chamber musicianship skills. A wonderful addition to recitals or contest repertoire!

Royal Quartet ships as a printed, professionally bound score, and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or tablet viewing.

Instrumentation

Crotales (low octave)
2 vibraphones
2 marimbas — (1) low E, (1) low A

Reviews

Nathan Hawk’s new mallet quartet is a pleasing intermediate-level work described by the composer as “a vehicle for performers to explore emotion and musicality.” There is certainly a lot of room for musicality, as along with the written dynamics there are opportunities for performers to give the frequent melodic lines a sense of musical direction and shape.

“Royal Quartet” has a tonal minimalist quality to it that will undoubtedly please a large number of listeners and performers. The music follows a standard fast-slow-fast structure, utilizing descriptive words including “contemplative” and “energized” to help set the proper mood.

Each of the parts requires four-mallet facility, with the Vibraphone 2 part being the least “notey,” therefore potentially making it suitable for a slightly less advanced player than the other parts. Each performer needs to be adept at counting in 7/8, with the changing time signatures sounding, according to the composer, “free of mathematical restraint.” Because the groove continues mostly unabated throughout the piece, “Royal Quartet” is an ideal work to perform unconducted.

—Joseph Van Hassel
Percussive Notes
Vol. 60, No. 5, October 2022