This is a new effort from Germany, and it even has two more channels than there are players. As with most sax quartets, the Tetraphonics play many diverse genres of music – often in transcriptions. However, they have also premiered many compositions written especially for them and have interpreted works by such leading composers as Xenakis, Keuris and as on this SACD, Philip Glass. In addition to running the gamut of music types, the quartet has involved itself in projects with dance, recitations and theatrical elements.
Philip Glass’ work for sax quartet was originally commissioned by the Rascher Sax Quartet and premiered in 1995. He wrote two versions of the work – one an actual concerto with orchestra and the other a very dense version using only the sax quartet, which is the version heard here. Glass feels the instrumentation gives the effect of a Baroque concerto grosso, and a comparison to some of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos would not be out of place. His minimalist patterns work beautifully in the sax quartet setting and especially with the spatial enhancement of surround sound playback.
Barbara Thompson is a British saxist and composer well-versed in classical music but inspired by Ellington and Coltrane. She has played on more than 30 albums, collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on his musicals, and did an arrangements of Kurt Weill songs for sax and string quartet. There are only a few hints of jazz in her not-always-tonal Second Quartet, whose six movements are all named for colors and moves from darkness to light – starting with black and ending with white. This was connected with a time in her life when illness prevented her from play the sax. The last movement has the other three players switching to soprano sax for an effect similar to female voices.
The bonus track of a Bach selection reminded me of how well Bach adapts to almost any instrumentation, but sounds especially good on saxophones. The variety of subtle sounds that issue from the spatially-separated soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes are captured with great transparency and presence by Cybele’s 5.1 channel SACD surround.
– John Sunier
