SKU: HL.49003302
ISBN 9790220119491. UPC: 073999740745. 8.25x11.5x0.324 inches.
Distant Variations is a one movement concerto (or more correctly, a concerto grosso) for saxophone quartet and wind orchestra. It was commissioned by the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for Timothy Reynish and the RNCM Wind Orchestra for its first performance with the Apollo Saxophone Quartet at the Barbican in March 1997.
SKU: PR.446411060
UPC: 680160096275. 11x14 inches.
Steven Stucky has described the saxophone quartet as surprisingly comparable to the string quartet as a classic chamber music medium, while in the concerto format providing a worthy counterweight to the string orchestra. At times, the saxophones in Music for Saxophones and Strings “whisper, murmur, sigh, sing, squeal, or even scream†as the composer has written in notes about the work. Commissioned for the Raschèr Quartet, the work falls into two main sections. The composer continues that “the opening slow movement is dark, nocturnal, troubled; the language is densely chromatic. Mysterious, barely audible rustlings become increasingly more alarming; creatures cry in the night; and the movement climaxes in a lyric outpouring of melancholy, even tragic character. The music subsides by way of cadenzas for the baritone and tenor saxophone. The second, fast movement arrives almost unnoticed, since at first it too is made up of disconnected fragments — quirky, skittish, playful. There are irregular rhythmic accents, gliding quarter-tone runs, scurrying saxophone figures (suggesting, perhaps, a distant echo the bebop style), and screaming excursions into the altissimo register. Briefly the melancholy of the slow, nocturnal opening returns, before a quick coda leads to an emphatic conclusion.â€.
SKU: FL.FX072849
Instruments: Soprano Saxophone Solo (1 part) Alto Saxophone Solo (1 part) Tenor Saxophone Solo (1 part) Baritone Saxophone Solo (1 part) Flute 1 (1 part) Flute 2 (1 part) Flute 3 (1 part) Oboe 1 (1 part) Oboe 2 (1 part) Bassoon 1(1 part) Bassoon 2(1 part) Bb Clarinet 1 (4 parts) Bb Clarinet 2 (4 parts) Bass Clarinet (1 part) Alto Saxophones 1&2 (2 parts) Tenor Saxophones 1&2 (2 parts) Baritone Saxophone (1 part) Bb Trumpet 1 (1 part) Bb Trumpet 2 (1 part) Bb Trumpet 3 (1 part) F Horn 1 (1 part) F Horn 2 (1 part) F Horn 3 (1 part) Trombone 1 (1 part) Trombone 2 (1 part) Bass Trombone (1 part) Bb Baritone / Euphonium B.C. (1 part) C Tuba (1 part) Double Bass (1 part) Vibraphone & Timpani (1 part) Glockenspiel & Xylophone (1 part) Suspended Cymbal/Tambourine/Bass Drum (2 parts) Triangle/Cymbal/Chimes/Snare Drum/Wood Block (2 parts)Additional Parts: C Baritone / Euphonium T.C. (1 part) Bb Baritone / Euphonium T.C. (1 part) C Euphonium B.C. (1 part) Bb Tuba (1 part) Eb Tuba (1 part); Difficuly Level: Grade 4; Duration: 11 mn 30 s; Musical Style: Classical; Category: Original Composition; Composer: Gilles ARCENS;.
SKU: HL.350778
ISBN 9781705106624. UPC: 840126935820. 9.0x12.0x0.334 inches.
Premiered by the PRISM Quartet with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Jahja Ling on October 20, 1999. Movements: I. Lively, II. Song Without Words, III. Valse, IV. Badinerie. Versions with band and orchestra accompaniment are available for rent.
SKU: PR.114417130
ISBN 9781491110409. UPC: 680160626687. 9x12 inches.
A recipient of the New Music USA 2013 Live Music For Dance Award commissioning grant, Not Alone is inspired by the ancient Chinese poet Li Bai's poem Drinking Alone under the Moon with the Shadow. The premiere was given on April 26, 2014 by the PRISM Quartet with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which commissioned the work to celebrate its 25th Anniversary NYC Season. From the Program Note by Matthew Levy (The PRISM Quartet), Not Alone (2014) is an interdisciplinary work...but it stands alone in a chamber music setting. The work spans a stunning range of textures, from introspective solos for each of the four saxophones to majestic hyper-active gestures. The PRISM Quartet recorded Not Alone for a 2017 release on XAS Records titled Paradigm Lost. But we're excited for a wider community of saxophonists to embrace the work, and share it with their own audiences. Not Alone is published together with Happy Birthday to PRISM, a brief miniature that Chen Yi wrote for the quartet's 20th anniversary celebration in 2004. For advanced performers._________________________Text from the scanned back cover:NOT ALONE for Saxophone QuartetHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PRISM for Saxophone QuartetNot Alone is a 14-minute saxophone quartet and dance score inspired by the ancient Chinese poet Li Bai’s “Drinking Alone under the Moon with the Shadow.†The expansively-textured sax quartet matches the exploratory and dramatic movements and gestures in the dance. NOT ALONE was commissioned by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company which premiered the work in collaboration with the PRISM Quartet. Also included in this publication is Chen Yi’s fascinating take on “Happy Birthday to You,†composed in celebration of Prism’s 25th anniversary season.A recipient of the New Music USA 2013 Live Music For Dance Award commissioning grant, Not Alone is inspiredby the ancient Chinese poet Li Bai’s poem “Drinking Alone under the Moon with the Shadow.†The premierewas given on April 26, 2014 by the PRISM Quartet with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which commissioned thework to celebrate its 25th Anniversary NYC Season. Program Note by composer Chen YiThe original inspiration for this work for both the choreographer and the composer came from the Tang Dynasty poem - Alone Under the Moon by Li Bai. The poem describes the poet being alone in a garden. The moon and his shadow became his companions that night. The choreographer brings this idea to modern life in an urban setting. She created a series of “mindscapes†which are the result of the exploration of the different mental and physical states of being alone.Through self-examination, the choreographer raises the question: are we ever really alone? Our physical being may be standing by itself, but what about our introspective self? When we are still, we let our thoughts pass by like flowing water. If we could engage with our shadows, what would it be like?Program Note by Matthew Levy, The PRISM QuartetThe PRISM Quartet has commissioned a great many composers since our founding days in 1984. Chen Yi is among ahandful of our very favorites, and one to whom we’ve returned time and time again. Her music is powerful, expansive,intimate, and draws connections between Eastern and Western, ancient and modern traditions in a voice all her own.Chen Yi has written or adapted four works for the PRISM Quartet. She penned a wonderful miniature called HappyBirth day to PRISM to celebrate the ensemble’s 20th anniversary back in 2004 (Dedication, Innova Recordings).We subsequently commissioned her to compose Septet (2008) for Erhu, Pipa, Percussion, and Saxophone Quartet(2008), premiered and recorded with the New York ensemble Music From China (Antiphony, Innova Recordings 2010).In 2015, the PRISM Quartet performed and recorded (XAS Records) a new version of her saxophone quartet concerto,BA YIN, with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Ensemble under the baton of Steven Davis (originally writtenfor the Rascher Quartet and scored for saxophones and string orchestra.).Finally, Not Alone (2014) is an interdisciplinary work written for the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company with the PRISMQuartet, but it stands alone in a chamber music setting. The work spans a stunning range of textures, from introspectivesolos for each of the four saxophones to majestic hyper-active gestures. The PRISM Quartet recorded Not Alonefor a 2017 release on XAS Records titled Paradigm Lost. But we’re excited for a wider community of saxophonists toembrace the work, and share it with their own audiences.In his liner notes for the recording, WNYC’s John Schaefer writes: “As with much of her music, Chen employs percussiveeffects and glissandi; in Chinese music these are not considered “extended techniques†or special effects, but animportant part of the performer’s arsenal. Here, they help create the twilit mood of the opening moments. The piecesoon becomes more dramatic, suggesting the arrival of the drinker’s companions (real or imagined) and his or herincreasingly garrulous outbursts. Passages of consonance and discord can easily be heard as companionable singingand bouts of drunken argument. The piece bustles along on a kind of restless energy, until, finally, that restlessnesssubsides, giving way to a gently humorous ending where a short falling phrase signals the drinker falling asleep.â€.
SKU: SU.80600691
Set of solo saxophone partsSax Quartet & Band or Orchestra (Sax Parts) Composed: 2000 Published by: E.B. Marks Also available: Piano Reduction Score - 80600690 Band parts on rental from Theodore Presser Co.
SKU: SU.80600690
Sax Quartet & Band or Orchestra (Piano Reduction) Composed: 2000 Published by: E.B. Marks Also available:Solo Quartet Parts - 80600691.
SKU: PR.11641867S
UPC: 680160683208.
Contextures: Riots -Decade '60 was commissioned by Zubin Mehta and the Southern California Symphony Association after the successful premiere of the Concerto for Four Percussion Soloists and Orchestra. It was written during the spring and summer months of 1967. Riots stemming from resentment against the racial situation in the United States and the war in Vietnam were occurring throughout the country and inevitably invaded the composer's creative subconscious. Contextures, as the title implies, was intended to exploit various and varying textures. As the work progressed the correspondence between the fabric of music and the fabric of society became apparent and the allegory grew in significance. So I found myself translating social aspects into musical techniques. Social stratification became a polymetric situation where disparate groups function together. The conflict between the forces of expansion and the forces of containment is expressed through and opposition of tonal fluidity vs. rigidity. This is epitomized in the fourth movement, where the brass is divided into two groups - a muted group, encircled by the unmuted one, which does its utmost to keep the first group within a restricted pitch area. The playful jazzy bits (one between the first and second movements and one at the end of the piece) are simply saying that somehow in this age of turmoil and anxiety ways of having fun are found even though that fun may seem inappropriate. The piece is in five movements, with an interlude between the first and second movements. It is scored for a large orchestra, supplemented by six groups of percussion, including newly created roto-toms (small tunable drums) and some original devices, such as muted gongs and muted vibraphone. There is also an offstage jazz quartet: bass, drums, soprano saxophone and trumpet. The first movement begins with a solo by the first clarinetist which is interrupted by intermittent heckling from his colleagues leading to a configuration of large disparate elements. The interlude of solo violin and snare-drum follows without pause. The second movement, Prestissimo, is a display piece of virtuosity for the entire orchestra. The third movement marks a period of repose and reflection and calls for some expressive solos, particularly by the horn and alto saxophone. The fourth movement opens with a rather lengthy oboe solo, which is threatened by large blocks of sound from the orchestra, against an underlying current of agitated energy in the piano and percussion. This leads to a section in which large orchestral forces oppose one another, ultimately bringing the work to a climax, if not to a denouement. Various thematic elements are strewn all over the orchestra, resulting in the formation of a general haze of sound. A transition leads to the fifth movement without pause. The musical haze is pierced gently by the offstage jazz group as if they were attempting to ignore and even dispel the gloom, but a legato bell sound enters and hovers over both the jazz group and the orchestra, the latter making statements of disquieting finality. Two films were conceived to accompany portions of Contextures. The first done by Herbert Kosowar, was a chemography film (painting directly into the film using dyes and various implements) with fast clips of riot photographs. The second was a film collage made by photographically abstracting details from paintings of Reginald Pollack. The purpose was to invoke a non-specific response - as in music - but at the same time to define the subject matter of the piece. The films were constructed to correspond with certain developments in the piece and in no way affect the independence and musical flow of the piece, having been made after the piece was completed. Contextures: Riots - Decade '60 is dedicated to Mehta, the Southern California Symphony Association and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The news of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King came the afternoon of the premiere, April 4, 1968. That evening's performances, and also the succeeding ones, were dedicated to him and a special dedication to Dr. King has been inserted into he score. All the music that follows the jazz group - beginning with the legato bell sound playing the first 2 notes to We shall overcome constitutes a new ending to commemorate Dr. King's death.