tracks

Saxophone Concerto: 1. Prologue And Concertante
Saxophone Concerto: 2. Dialogue, Toccata, And Remembrance

notes

The Composer Speaks:

"The Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra is a large two-movement work intended to introduce a more innovative, uniquely challenging, and my attempt at a musical approach to modern saxophone writing. Written for Jordan Randall Smith, Sean Meyers, and Symphony Number One, it combines the musical virtuosity of the saxophone with an actively responding orchestra, resulting in an intense musical experience created through the essential and intricate dialogue taking place among the musicians of the orchestra."

"The 1st movement begins dramatically and sets the pensive and melancholy mood of the opening. The saxophone introduces the main material, which binds the piece and develops through several soloistic cadenzas. The mood from the beginning transforms into an uplifting resolution through a powerful crescendo. A final cadenza segues into the more upbeat Concertante, which further develops the musical material while adding rhythmic complexity and dynamic interest. The movement ends with a cathartic wash of sound by the entire orchestra. The 2nd movement combines elements of musical contrast with instrumental timbres bound by an underlying theme first introduced in the clarinet in the Dialogue. This section contains a pastoral undertone which then leads to a highly energetic Toccata. The unyielding music in the Toccata soon merges with the slower music from the Dialogue to create a final, powerful orchestral climax. The music then settles and resolves into a peaceful and transcendent finale which brings back previously heard material."

credits

Co-producer – Jordan Randall Smith
Leader – Nicholas Bentz
Producer – Dan Rorke
Recorded By – Charles Street Sound

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