Mitchell Peters Yellow After The Rain

The piece chosen for performance in the April Honors Recital and as the topic for this research paper is “Yellow After the Rain” by Mitchell Peters. “Yellow After the Rain” is written for solo performance on the marimba and features the four mallet technique unique to mallet instruments. Mitchell Peters was born on August 17, 1935 and is a well-known percussionist and composer. He is known for having composed pieces such as “Sea Refractions” and “Yellow After the Rain” as well as writing percussion method books. Peters is also said to have had a prodigious sight-reading ability. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in music performance from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under William Street, the professor of percussion

Peters has wrote that he originally composed “Yellow After the Rain” for his students because he was unable to find musical compositions that are both musically interesting to play and can introduce students to four mallet technique on marimba. The piece is considered standard four mallet marimba repertoire and is widely known as a good starting point for percussions students to use of four mallets on marimba. “Yellow After the Rain” was published by initially by Mitchell Peters himself in 1971, but is now published by TRY Publishing Company and distributed by Professional Drum Shop,

The melody is initially played by the right hand while the left hand plays chords in a perfect fourth from one another. After a small transition, the role of the two hands in swapped so that the left hand has the melody and the right hand plays the same chords to back up the melody. Soon after, Peters writes a section that acts as a build up to the next section. This section changes key into B-major from Bb-major. The performer then plays a sixteenth note run that transfers the momentum built up in the section to the next section. This next section features sixteenth note marimba laterals, which give off a sixteenth note feel while each mallet only plays quarter notes that are offset by sixteenth notes. The interval between the two mallets on one hand is kept at a fifth, allowing the performer to focus more on the musicality of the piece as opposed to technical aspects of playing. This interval continues until the end of the section, where the interval changes into a fourth and the duration of notes slow down to give off an impression of a rallentando. The music then suddenly goes back to the A section and repeats the melody, which undergoes a change after the first instance of the theme. The melody then transforms into sets of parallel chords, where the mallets on one hand are spaced