(Another) Three Movements for Saxophone Quartet
Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone Saxophone)
Year Composed: 2008
Duration: 18 minutes
Pages in score: 35
Cost: Purchase: $35.00
Movements:
|
I. How It Begins II. A Sweet Song III. Bits and Pieces from the Recycling Bin |
Audio samples are from a live performance by the ELISION Saxophone Quartet
Play the first movement, How It Begins.
Play the second movement, A Sweet Song.
Play the third movement, Bits and Pieces from the Recycling Bin.
Program Notes:
(Another) Three Movements for Saxophone Quartet was co-commissioned by a consortium of saxophone quartets, including the Elision Quartet and the quux quartet, and I am exceedingly grateful for their support and their willingness to venture into an unknown work. Funding was provided by a generous grant from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio.
The saxophone lives comfortably in both the classical and jazz world, and the piece plays with this duality. The first movement begins with a riff on a traditional blues progression, but goes on in some quite different directions. The second movement, A Sweet Song, is my take on a slow jazz waltz. The final movement, Bits and Pieces from the Recycling Bin, is exactly that. There is a laconic jazzy tune that runs throughout the movement, but it is continuously interrupted by the rejected scraps and drafts for this piece that littered my piano. I guess that makes this a "green" composition.