Fourtissimo

This percussion quartet from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire spoke to Welsh harpist Claire Jones about performing at the Royal Albert Hall

Fourtissimo is a percussion quartet from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire put together by Mark Wagstaff to provide challenging ensemble opportunities for four of the brightest young percussionists in the Yorkshire region.

The group have all become good friends and enjoy playing a diverse range of repertoire. All four players aspire to have careers in music and already have busy musical lives.

The ensemble will perform Okavango by Damien Harron which is a powerful fanfare for four African djembes. It features lots of strong rhythms and displays layers of polyphony between the quartet. They are also performing Cross Talk by Richards Charles which features two talking drums which have conversations with each other. The piece begins in a very calm fashion with the marimba and vibraphone setting the scene for the interaction of the two talking drums. The tuned percussion instruments then take the music into a groovy finale with the djun djun and gankagoui adding to the dramatic interjections of the talking drums.

Musical Director: Mark Wagstaff

Age range of performers:  14-18

Performing:
Okavango - Damien Harron
Cross Talk Richard Charles