SAXOPHONE QUARTET
Droste Dances (2013)
Commissioned in the summer of 2013 by Roy Allen Jr., this piece was premiered at the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conference at the University of Illinois in Champagne, IL in March 2014, by the TWU & Brookhaven College Saxophone Quartet under the direction of Roy Allen Jr., director for instrumental studies at Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX. Click here to view that performance.
It was also performed by the same quartet at their annual Chamber Ensemble Concert at Brookhaven College on Saturday, May 3, 2014. (Video provided on the right.) Imagine a picture. Now a imagine a picture of that picture inside that picture. The phenomenon I am attempting to explain, in art, is called the Droste Effect. I was intrigued by the Droste Effect and even though this piece does not contain the structural implications of this effect, I was inspired to write the resulting music after having discovered what the Droste Effect was. "Droste Dances" is mostly through-composed. However, there are instances in which a melodic figure in the foreground is repeated (or transformed in the repetition), but the counterpoint in the background is changed, which changes the feel of the foreground melodic material. |
Schadenfreude Quartet
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Scherzo (2013)
This piece was most recently performed at the 2013 NASA Regional Conference at TCU in Fort Worth, TX (top video). The day before that performance, at the University of North Texas, it was performed because of my involvement in a composer exchange with the UNT composition studio (bottom video). I can't decide which recording I like better so I provided both video recordings for you. I suppose you can decide for yourselves which is a better recording (as if it's a contest).
In addition to those two performances, the piece was also performed in March 2013 at the annually given Dean's Honors Concert in Baylor's Roxy Grove Hall. Earlier that same year, the world premiere was given in Meadows Hall at Baylor at a master class with world-renown saxophonist Claude Delangle. Before I explain the piece, I'd like to shift the focus to the other members of this quartet. Seriously. Without these three individuals, this piece would simply not exist. These are some truly fantastic musicians whose diligence in learning this challenging music, and their professionalism - treating it with as much respect as they do the staples in the saxophone repertoire - is deserving of the highest of praise and my deepest gratitude. When I say that III. Scherzo would not exist if not for the members of this quartet, I mean that quite literally. You could say that they acted as the creative impetus for this music. Before writing any piece, I've found that knowing who it is I am writing for is often the most inspiring element. Created the instant I know who I'm writing for is a mental image. As I learn more of the logistics that surround the performance - most importantly the possible venues - the mental image becomes more vivid and specific. The image is the period of brief silence that always precedes the music, frozen in time. Since I have such a strong image in my head of what the highly-coveted pre-musical silence may potentially look like, it is easy to place myself in this moment. Now, all that needs to happen is for me to press play. What happens next - the music - is controlled by my imagination so it is unlimited in that sense, but it is also fully informed of the situation that the original image created. It's like part of me wants to believe that I created this music, but the other knows that it already existed and was waiting on an informed imagination to uncover it and realize it into musical notation. In short, it was the image of myself, Eric Williams (alto), Jake Barr (tenor), and Chelsea Sentell (bari) on stage at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, preparing to perform my piece for an audience of learned saxophonists. I could ramble about the specific features of the music, but I'd like to think those speak for themselves. |
from left to right: Chelsea Sentell, myself, Eric Williams, Jake Barr
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