Rhythmic Etude No. 2 is a ten-minute percussion ensemble composition scored for seven percussionists using standard orchestral percussion instruments: two cowbells, temple blocks, triangle, gong, snare drum, suspended ctymbal, bongos, four concert tom-toms, four timpani and bass drum. This etude, composed in 1987, is a sequel to Rhythmic Etude No. 1 (1984). As Ernest Muzquiz states, “This work bears many similarities to that earlier composition (style, structure and instrumentation) but there are significant differences: (1) the predominant meter is 9/8; (2) this work includes a rhythmic fugue.”

Rhythmic Etude No. 2 is exciting for both the players and the audience. Its continuous 8th-note pattern provides an obvious internal drive that holds one’s attention. Even in the slower middle section the feeling of movement is apparent and provides a rhythmic bridge into the last section, which contains a grand fugue followed by a rousing ending of 9/8, 3/4 and 12/8.

–John Beck, Percussive Notes, June 1996