 STOCKHOLM SAXOPHONE QUARTET |
| Saturday 22/11 2003 16.00, Norrtullskolans aula, Växjö | |
| Swedish recent works by Thomas Liljeholm, Rickard Scheffer, Ylva Nyberg, Victor Varela, Ylva Q Arkvik, Arne Mellnäs and Maurizio Pisati |
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PROGRAMME
Ylva Q. Arkvik (b. 1961) - Que for saxophone quartet
Víctor Varela (b. 1955) - Equinox per quartetto di saxofoni
Rickard Scheffer (b. 1971) - Fair Play for saxophone quartet
Arne Mellnäs (1933 - 2003) - Stampede (1985)
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Stockholm Saxophone Quartet
| Thomas Liljeholm (b. 1944) - INTERACTION for saxophone quartet
Ylva Nyberg (b. 1967) Omen
Maurizio Pisati (b. 1959) Sax Stories (1998)
The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet´s, current cast of performers will soon celebrate twenty years of music-making. Per Hedlund, Leif Karlborg, Jörgen Pettersson and Sven Westerberg have specialized in Swedish and international chamber music for saxophones as well as in advanced electroacoustic music. More than 200 works have been written especially for the quartet - close collaboration with established Swedish and international composers is a hallmark of their artistry. The quartet also collaborates with promising young composers, primarily from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Plans are near completion for similar collaboration outside Sweden´s borders, in Moscow and Cairo for example. The quartet holds seminars, participates in larger concerts, and collaborates with artists across multiple disciplines - in international festivals, in opera and concert halls. Their particular way of working has accelerated the development of their style and dexterity - they rank among Sweden´s leading interpreters of works in their areas of specialization. The quartet´s unbridled passion for redefining and extending the limits of what is artistically possible constantly drives them forward.
With the establishment of their own studio in Sweden´s capital, the quartet´s ability to stimulate interest in contemporary music has become more readily available. Located on Tulegatan 53 and providing office, rehearsal and provisionary recording spaces (a professional recording space will soon be available), the studio has quickly developed into a busy hub for musicians, composers, artists, choreographers, writers. Seminars, workshops, conferences, discussions and a small-scale concert series are among the many activities out of which exciting collaborations are forged. The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet would like to make Tulegatan 53 synonymous with a bustling center for Swedish and international contemporary music, as well as for artistic activities intimately related to music. The quartet has toured widely in Europe (in the Baltic states, England, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, and the Ukraine) and in Japan, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Mongolia and the USA. Tours to China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, and Taiwan are in the works. The members of the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet are ambassadors of music in its broadest sense - spreading Swedish music to the rest of the world and taking the musical experiences they´ve acquired abroad home to the Swedish public.
Commentaries
Que for saxophone quartet by Ylva Q. Arkvik
Many deep undertones run through this work, ostensibly based on four tones, than even I would care to admit.
Ylva Q. Arkvik
Equinox for saxophone quartet (2002-2003) by Victor Varela
Equinox refers to the saxophone quartet´s organic character. The traditional ensemble has been replaced by 1 alto, 2 tenor, and 1 baritone sax; an idea suggested by the quartet itself. The general intention has been to explore darker intonations. The work has four parts related to different idiomatic articulations, such as flutter tongue, slap tongue, drills, etc. Equinox was composed 2002-2003 with the support of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.
Victor Varela
Fair play for saxophone quartet (2003) by Rickard Scheffer
In this piece I have continued to develop my work with what I have come to call "reminiscence-technique." I have long been interested in the role the listener plays in the performance of newly composed music. Without compromising my own esthetic, timbral, structural (and other) values, I would like to lead the listener through the piece in a way that engages them in its progression instead of making them give up and disconnect from it. In this particular context, "reminiscence-technique" points to a kind of personal variations-on-a-theme. Related musical events recur with slightly-changed building blocks and in somewhat-new forms, in a way that approximates how I experience the workings of memory and perception. In my earlier attempts to create tomorrow´s music today, I had distanced myself from everything that had to do with tonality, consonance, scales, sequences and chords. Needless to say, I was myself most surprised to discover that a way to engage a listener in a piece was through the use of precisely these same elements, albeit in a completely different musical context. At the same time, this new approach to the use of music´s building blocks was a necessary framework within which I was able to change and reinvigorate my way of composing.
Rickard Scheffer
Stampede for saxophone quartet (1985) by Arne Mellnäs
Stampede was composed in Houston, Texas, during a period when Mellnäs was a guest professor. The introduction is inspired by material from a compilation of traditional cowboy songs, "bedtime lullabies" that the cowboys sang to calm and settle the cattle hordes. "Stampede" connects musically and form-wise to the chain of events set off by cattle thieves who crept into the midst of dozing cattle and deliberately fired panic-creating gunshots.
Interaction for saxophone quartet (2002-03) by Thomas Liljeholm
I have for several years strived to link "music´s intrinsic energy and power" to an associative thought process inspired by tradition, codes, and patterns. The saxophone/saxophone quartet has always fascinated me with its relatively recent history and its willing propensity to explore and engage in widely disparate styles, genres and cross-disciplinary means of expression. With its complex network of connotations, the saxophone quartet creates dynamic ambiguity and reflection.
"Interaction" comes in three parts. The material in each part is independent yet at the same time allows itself to be influenced by and to influence the other parts. The inclusion of the sopranino and bass saxophone expands the saxophone quartet into an incomparably powerful instrument, simultaneously transforming it into an instrument with four wills, communicating in alternation and interaction.
Part one, almost like a cadence, leads with its irregular tempo displacements into a more meditative second part with sacred undertones. Reminiscenses from the first part echo at the same time that something new is foreshadowed. Without much notice, the sequence of events tranform into a pulsing machination, a third and final part inexorably reaching for its violent outcome.
"Interaction" does not want for humorous undertones and can also be described as a paean - to the saxophone quartet in general, and to the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, to which the work is also dedicated, in particular.
Thomas Liljeholm
Omen for saxophone quartet by Ylva Nyberg
Omen is a portent of things to come, a preview of a longer work for electronics and the saxophone quartet. The sounds for the next version are from a trip to Mongolia in 2003 where Omen was performed by the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet during "The Roaring Hoofs," a nomad festival. Omen is a small experiment with saxophones and glissandoes of different kinds in a simple structure of relatively melodic character. A piece that would be simple to rehearse, fast to write, and still at the same time, be me.
Ylva Nyberg
Sax Stories for saxophone quartet (1998) byMaurizio Pisati
According to the composer, Sax Stories is to be played by musicians standing in a row behind each other. They cannot see each other, they have to communicate without signals and gestures; only their breathing maintains the tension. The ensemble becomes a "sounding machine" that propagates its aura forward - the listeners should actually also be lined up in rows facing the musicians. The effect may be overwhelming for those closest to the musicians but should nevertheless also reach those furthest away. In this work, Pisati is not interested in stereophonic listening; sometimes the sound is remote, sometimes quite near. According to him, in the ideal case, it is not the music that is in stereo but rather, the public itself. Pisatis "Sax Stories" is an aggregate of several narratives told in a single context. "Slancio" begins the work and is followed by "Respiro" and "Incessante", which eventually leads to "Largo-Song Without Snow." The Largo segues to a "Slow Tango" which is immediately followed by "Tango-Fueye" with "Incessante" concluding the work.
"Sax Stories" was written for the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet in 1998 and premiered in Rome.
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