The piece opens with soft, transparent sonorities and an unwavering pulse. Each phrase introduces new colors and rhythmic displacements, allowing the texture to evolve organically while maintaining a steady sense of forward momentum. As the music progresses, the mallets and piano intertwine to create an intricate balance between clarity and density.

Midway through, layers of 5-against-6 ostinati emerge, testing the ensemble’s rhythmic precision and internal pulse. In the latter half, the texture becomes increasingly dense and rhythmically saturated, demanding heightened focus and communication among players. Maintaining ensemble-wide clarity—particularly during transitions between overlapping rhythmic figures—is key to preserving the piece’s cohesion and sense of motion.

By the closing section, earlier motives reappear in new harmonic and textural contexts, eventually dissolving into overlapping rhythmic fragments that mirror the work’s beginning. With its reliance on recurring figures and polymetric interplay, “17 Hands” challenges performers to balance patience with precision, yielding a result that is at once meditative and mechanical—a sonic exploration of repetition as momentum.