Translations (2013)
saxophone quartet - 7'
I. The Ballad of Birmingham
II. Mushin no shin
III. Through a special pince-nose...
IV. The Story of a Minute
In Translations I explored the relationship between text and music. In the first movement, "The Ballad of Birmingham," that relationship is traditional: I originally wrote the music as a setting of Dudley Randall's poem for four female voices. The setting was very "instrumental" in character and lent itself well to the saxophone quartet. The other movements use texts that I wrote while writing the music, making the relationship between text and music more fluid and dynamic. In "Mushin no shin," the Asian style of the work (terse, poetic statements, frequent references to nature) forced me to think of music differently than I usually do. "Through a special pince-nose..." is a short lyrical love letter, and the musical setting mirrors the syntax, quirky rhythm, and structure of the text. "The Story of a Minute" is a fantasy variation on both Chopin's "Minute Waltz" and author Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour".
I. The Ballad of Birmingham
II. Mushin no shin
III. Through a special pince-nose...
IV. The Story of a Minute
In Translations I explored the relationship between text and music. In the first movement, "The Ballad of Birmingham," that relationship is traditional: I originally wrote the music as a setting of Dudley Randall's poem for four female voices. The setting was very "instrumental" in character and lent itself well to the saxophone quartet. The other movements use texts that I wrote while writing the music, making the relationship between text and music more fluid and dynamic. In "Mushin no shin," the Asian style of the work (terse, poetic statements, frequent references to nature) forced me to think of music differently than I usually do. "Through a special pince-nose..." is a short lyrical love letter, and the musical setting mirrors the syntax, quirky rhythm, and structure of the text. "The Story of a Minute" is a fantasy variation on both Chopin's "Minute Waltz" and author Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour".
MP3 download available - contact me.
