Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ
Encyclopedia
Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ is a 1973 composition by American composer Steve Reich
. The piece is scored for glockenspiel
s, marimba
s, metallophone
(vibraphone
without resonators), women's voices, and organ
, and runs about 17 minutes.
The piece is in four sections, played without a break, marked off by changes in key and meter: 1) F dorian, in 3/4 time; 2) A flat dorian, in 2/4; 3) B flat minor, in 3/4; and 4) D flat, in 3/4.
The piece polla two interrelated musical processes: the building up of a duplicate of a preexisting pattern played by the marimbas and the glockenspiels, and the augmenting (lengthening of the duration of notes) of repeated chord cadences of the women's voices and organ. The women's voices sing a simple vowel sound, "ee," doubling upper notes of chords played by the organ. The piece is in four sections, with changes of key and meter between the sections.
The decision to double organ and women's voices was made by Reich after several months of experimentation. First he tried doubling four wind instruments with two men's and two women's voices. One attempt along this line was made with two bass clarinet
s and two clarinet
s; another involved bass trombone, trombone
, flugelhorn
, and trumpet
. He found that the performers, both the wind players and the vocalists, had difficulty keeping in tune for long chords. Reich substituted organ for the wind instruments, and then eliminated the men's voices to avoid a sound that was "too heavy and slow moving."
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
. The piece is scored for glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
s, marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
s, metallophone
Metallophone
A metallophone is any musical instrument consisting of tuned metal bars which are struck to make sound, usually with a mallet.Metallophones have been used in music for hundreds of years. There are several different types used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan ensembles, including the gendér, gangsa...
(vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
without resonators), women's voices, and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, and runs about 17 minutes.
The piece is in four sections, played without a break, marked off by changes in key and meter: 1) F dorian, in 3/4 time; 2) A flat dorian, in 2/4; 3) B flat minor, in 3/4; and 4) D flat, in 3/4.
The piece polla two interrelated musical processes: the building up of a duplicate of a preexisting pattern played by the marimbas and the glockenspiels, and the augmenting (lengthening of the duration of notes) of repeated chord cadences of the women's voices and organ. The women's voices sing a simple vowel sound, "ee," doubling upper notes of chords played by the organ. The piece is in four sections, with changes of key and meter between the sections.
The decision to double organ and women's voices was made by Reich after several months of experimentation. First he tried doubling four wind instruments with two men's and two women's voices. One attempt along this line was made with two bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
s and two clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s; another involved bass trombone, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
, and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. He found that the performers, both the wind players and the vocalists, had difficulty keeping in tune for long chords. Reich substituted organ for the wind instruments, and then eliminated the men's voices to avoid a sound that was "too heavy and slow moving."