Legacy Square
for percussion ensemble
Legacy Square by Stephen Primatic is a spirited work for large percussion ensemble in three main sections — a rousing opening, mysterioso middle section, and groove-based third section — ending with a reprise of the opening material.
Being largely keyboard driven, the work also incorporates piano and drumset parts to fill out the texture with added flavor and groove.
Although no 4-mallet technique is required, the piece will demand great listening and ensemble awareness as the parts alternate between melodic and support roles.
Legacy Square ships as a fully bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for either printing or tablet viewing.
- Glockenspiel
- Chimes
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
- 3-4 Marimbas — marimbas 1&4 may share
- Piano
- 4 Timpani (optional 3 drums?)
- Drumset
- Drums — concert bass drum, concert toms (4)
- Cymbals & gongs — 2 suspended cymbals, hand cymbals, tam-tam
- Accessories — cabasa, castanets, mark tree, ribbon crasher, shekere, tambourine, triangle
Reviews
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Josh Gottry –
Scored for large percussion ensemble, “Legacy Square” is presented in three distinct sections, each with a lyrical melody set against a faster moving ensemble accompaniment. The melodies are newly composed by Stephen Primatic but have a familiarity to them, and his use of the orchestration is quite effective in generating exceptional contrasts in energy and texture.
The work opens in 12/8 with flowing eighth notes in the marimbas, xylophone, and piano, over which Primatic layers the melody in the metal keyboards. This opening section has a cinematic character, supported with majestic punctuations and brief solos in the timpani along with some compound-meter, march-like writing for snare drum. This section closes with a dynamic taper and gradual subtraction of instruments before transitioning to the most thinly scored portion of the work, 18 measures of which include only the vibraphone and glockenspiel.
This second section is set in a quick 3/4 and has a bit of a music box or dreamlike quality that it maintains even as the ensemble participation grows from the initial duet scoring. In the middle of this section appears a 20-measure interruption of sorts, set in 4/4 and diatonically in C-sharp minor, but avoiding tonic as a landing point for the melody. The ensemble then quickly moves back to a full ensemble presentation of the waltz theme.
Again utilizing diminuendo and instrument subtraction, Primatic leads us into his third section, a minor jig-like dance in 12/8 and opening in the Marimba 4 part. There are nine measures of a lyrical and slow melody presented in the vibes, but this section settles into a more rhythmic melody driven by motivic repetition and orchestrated throughout the ensemble. After a layered statement that builds up from the piano and adds each of the keyboards, the work jumps back into the opening theme and ends with a joyous ensemble final statement.
There are a few key changes within the piece, but very little of the composition is strictly diatonic, so performers will be expected to comfortably navigate accidentals. All of the keyboard parts are playable with two mallets, the piano part is accessible by an intermediate player, and much of the keyboard accompanimental writing is based on chordal arpeggiations and is fairly repetitive. The drumset part is fully notated and more a collection of the instruments of a drumset than a typical drumset role. The two other percussion parts utilize a variety of instruments but are not technically or rhythmically difficult.
The challenge of this piece for intermediate high school or college percussion ensembles will be in its seven-minute length and the soloistic exposure at some point of almost every keyboard player, but the reward is compelling and this is a well-scored work for a large percussion ensemble.
—Josh Gottry
Percussive Notes
Vol. 63, No. 2, April 2025