for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.
difficult. exploits altissimo register for all instruments. changing time signatures. very dissonant.
This was my first truly substantial piece, written soon after I had started studying with Larry Bell. Now I rarely write anything without knowing who is going to be playing it, but then I just felt like writing a saxophone quartet, despite the fact that I didn't know anyone in a saxophone quartet. I finally found people to play it after joining Anti-Social Music in New York. While this work is rather different from much of what I write now — for example, I'm less interested in using traditional forms than I was back when I started doing this whole composing thing — there are still plenty of Andreaisms: dissonance with humor, rock/jazz/funk rhythms, sharp contrasts, and the like.
ca. 12'
1997.
performance history:
26 March 2003. Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center CUNY. Jeff Hudgins, soprano saxophone; Argeo Ascani, alto saxophone;
Peter Hess, tenor saxophone; Ken Thomson, baritone saxophone.
recording of this performance:
movement i
movement ii
movement iii
22 February 2003. Renee Weiler Concert Hall at the Greenwich Music House, New York. Jeff Hudgins, soprano saxophone; Argeo Ascani, alto saxophone; Peter Hess, tenor saxophone; Ken Thomson, baritone saxophone.