Michael Horvit

Interplay

The title of this 3-movement work for percussion quartet indicates the intention. The first movement is contrapuntal (fugal), featuring multi-pitched sets of drums imitating and interacting with each other while supported by a steady rhythmic background which passes about the group. The second movement is coloristic; beginning tentatively with splashes of varying colors, it moves into a gradually rising undulating series of contrapuntal streams before dissolving into the coloristic material of the opening. The third movement features a driving ostinato, which gradually grows in complexity as the movement progresses and against which solo lines develop and combine, all increasing in intensity and accelerating toward the conclusion with it is suddenly interrupted by the coloristic material of the second movement, after which there is a pell-mell rush to the final cadence. This is superb contest choice for an advanced group of percussionists.