THAWST II: for Saxophone Quartet





THAWST II, op.20: composed for saxophone quartet.

Duration: 10 minutes.




Premiere information:

The American University Saxophone Quartet.

Emily Warden, soprano; Helen West, alto; William Kammerer, tenor; Alex Mensing, baritone.

Dr. Noah Getz, Ensemble Director.

International Saxophone Symposium, George Mason University, January 15, 2010.



THAWST II: Program Notes


THAWST II belongs to a series of compositions for small chamber ensembles under the generic title THAWST . This present work is set for saxophone quartet.

The title is derived from TH (=threads) + A (=Alpha) +W (=Omega, W being the closest equivalent of the Greek letter Omega) +ST (=strings). Or, simply put, "Threads and Strings across a AW axis".

My fascination with the String Theory in Physics and my vivid imagination are the tools here: "AW" (Alpha-Omega) deals as an imaginary "black hole" in space, where all matter is sucked and maybe re-spitted out again. In every composition of the series, and facing the challenge of diverse instrumentation, I try to create a new/imaginary situation of cosmic turbulence.

Added to that, the tonal system used here is that of the Ancient Greek tetrachords, as delivered to us by the Pythagorean theories.




THAWST II:
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