ssax.asax.tsax.barsax-2.2.2.0-4.0.0.0-timp-perc(5):tgl/woodbl/2bongos/3tom-t/SD/BD/cyms/susp.cym/gong/tam-t/vib/t.bells-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Sikorski
When I lived in Moscow, I wrote some compositions for saxophone quartet. They went back to an initiative of the wonderful clarinetist and saxophonist Lev Mikhailov, who founded the first saxophone quartet in Moscow. 1991 was the year I emigrated to England and one of my first commissions to compose was a piece for the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. Then there was a big break for me in this genre, but in 2022, when I received an order for the concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra, I looked through all my old pieces for saxophone quartet and tried to summarize all my experiences in this new composition.
The concerto begins with a cadence on the alto saxophone and has a second cadence at the beginning of the last part of the composition. But all the other three saxophones also have their short solos in the course of the piece. The horns in the orchestra play a very important role in this concert as the saxophone and horn quartets are in constant interaction. The music of the coda could be described as danse macabre.
Elena Firsova, 2023