Manhattan Saxophone Quartet

This was, I do believe, my first encounter with a saxophone quartet. Similar to a vocal quartet (but not a string quartet), it has soprano (Jordan P. Smith), alto (Aaron Patterson), tenor (Daniel Kochersberger) and bass (Jay Rattman) saxophones. Don’t be fooled by the soprano sax, though; it looks like a fancy-schmancy clarinet, without the characteristic U-shape of a saxophone.

All of the works on the program were contemporary/modern classical compositions. This led to a sameness of sound from piece to piece and a sameness of compositional techniques. For the most part, I was more aware of the techniques than the music actually speaking to me as music.

The program: Rondo for 4 Saxophones, Op. 70 (1970) – Zdenek Lukás {sorry, my limited html cheat sheet does not have all of the necessary Czech characters} (1928–2007); Ebb and Flow (2008) – Nils Vigeland, b. 1950; Saxophone Quartet No. 2 (Op. 234) (2011)* – David Noon, b. 1946 – I. Prelude, II. Tango,
III. Waltz, IV. Lullaby, V. Hornpipe; Two Abstractions (2010)+ – Marc-Antonio Consoli, b. 1941; Saxophone Quartet (2010)+ – Robert Young McMahan, b. 1944 – I. Moderato, II. Moderato, A Short Walk to the Third Movement, III. Allegretto marziale {had to guess at some of those tempi, as they were announced from the stage}; and Scherzino (2004) – William Bolcom, b. 1938.

The playing was, to these ears, very good all around. The compositional techniques of loud bursts of sound, florid-runs-one-after-the-other-on-top-of-one-another, and chordal writing left me a bit cold. In fact, my scribbled notes include “some dissonance, some unison, not much form”, and “controlled cacophony, even in slow passages”. After that, I stopped scribbling.

Mr. Noon’s piece had the most standard format, and was my favorite of the afternoon. His program notes had some programmatic text concerning certain parts of certain movements (notably the Lullaby), but they were too subtle for these ears, at least on a first hearing. I also enjoyed the Bolcom (it was short!).

It is of some note that four of the five living composers on the program were actually in the hall. Obviously this quartet has a close link to the saxophone and contemporary classical music scenes. Will I seek out additional saxophone quartet concerts? Probably not—still, I’m glad I went. Oh, and Mr. Noon also has four Nadia Boulanger mysteries that I might try to look into.

ConcertMeister
* World Premiere
+ Written for the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet