Saxophone Quartet Archive
GAVIN BRYARS: The Fifth Century; Two Love Songs – Prism Quartet/The Crossing/Donald McNally – ECM New Series
Music that sounds both ancient and modern and beautiful throughout. GAVIN BRYARS: The Fifth Century; Two Love Songs – Prism Quartet/The Crossing/Donald McNally – ECM New Series ECM2405, 50:58 [Distr. by Naxos] (11/18/16) 50:58 ****: I have always found Gavin Bryars’ music to be beautiful, mysterious, unique; sometimes a bit disturbing – but always worth investigating. Known for its often slow-paced and quiet kind of minimalist-inspired sound, his music continues this effect with The Fifth Century, a song cycle after the seventeenth-century English poet and theologian Thomas Traherne. The title is actually also the name of a treatise on the “essence of God” by Traherne. While the texts are steeped with imagery of the infinite, of the heavens and of eternity, the real attention-getting aspect of this piece is Bryars’ rich, yet sparse, chord progressions and voicings and the beauty they produce. The other aspect of this score that cannot be appreciated until heard is the use of a saxophone quartet to accompany the otherwise a capella choir. One would think that saxophone quartets in such a context would drown the vocals or be given some oddly out of place chordal progressions or exposed moments that sound very stereotypically “saxophone-like.” […]
“Balance” = CARTER PANN: The Mechanics; JOHN ANTHONY LENNON: Elysian Bridges; STACY GARROP: The Flight of Icarus; ALFRED DESENCLOS: Quatour– Capitol Quartet – Blue Griffin
Another refreshing and impressive collection from these outstanding performers.
The Gents Vocal Ensemble do GERSHWIN – Channel Classics
A definite change of pace for this classical choral music vocal group.
PHILIP GLASS & MICHAEL NYMAN Works for Saxophone Quartet = GLASS: String Quartet No. 3; Sax Quartet; NYMAN: Songs for Tony – sonic.art Sax Quartet – Genuin Classics NYU STEEL Plays PHILIP GLASS – Etudes Nos. 1 – 10 – NYU Steel/Josh Quillen – Orange Mt. Music
Two entirely different instrumentations of Philip Glass works.