Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano
Steve Cohen
About this work:
Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano – Steve Cohen (2009)
PROGRAM NOTES
The Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano was written in 2009. It was commissioned by, and is dedicated to saxophonist Jordan Smith.
Jordan convinced me to write the Sonata by using the same argument James Noyes used to convince me to write the Sonata for Soprano Saxophone and Piano in 2002; both soprano and tenor saxophones languish in comparative neglect, as the bulk of recital literature for saxophone is written for alto saxophone.
Rather than follow my usual practice of writing in three or four movements, I opted to write only two movements, allowing each movement to be larger in scope. The impulse to write one slow, serious movement followed by a fast, light-hearted one reminded me of that old emblem of the theater, the twin masks of Tragedy and Comedy.
I prepared to write by thinking of all the associations I have for the tenor saxophone, and all the various players who have contributed to the tenor’s sound and personality. In considering the tenor saxophone in symphonic music, I remembered that whenever Sergei Prokofiev used a saxophone in his orchestra, the instrument he wrote for was invariably the tenor saxophone, in such pieces as Alexander Nevsky, Romeo and Juliet and the Lieutenant Kije Suite. Prokofiev’s rationale may have been that the tenor saxophone uses the same transposition as the bass clarinet, both of which sound a major ninth below the written pitch. It would be quite easy to substitute a bass clarinet if no tenor saxophone were available.
The first movement, marked Andante moderato, is earnest and passionate, as befits its commissioner and dedicatee. A somber and austere opening gives way to an ardent, lyrical theme. Jordan encouraged me to consider using the extended range of the tenor saxophone, the so-called “altissimo” register, which adds at least a fifth above the high F of the normal register. Reaching this rarified plane became the dramatic goal of the movement. The sax can be heard pounding away at the high F, in anger and frustration, before finally breaking through into the stratosphere above high F.
The second movement, marked Allegro giocoso, is jovial and energetic, in contrast to the first movement. It draws freely from the vocabularies of mambo, samba and ragtime, and is as “New World” as the previous movement was “Old World.” A jagged introduction, built on the interval of the seventh, introduces the main theme, highly syncopated and playful. The secondary motive deserves some explaining:
I thought it would be a nice idea to “immortalize” my commissioner and dedicatee by sneaking the name Jordan into the music, much the same way cartoonist Al Hirschfeld used to hide his daughter Nina’s name in his caricatures. I found the ideal subject in, of all places, Richard Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” Act I, Scene 1 takes place in church, and, as it opens, the choir sings a grand Lutheran chorale, ending with the line “Receive us graciously at the River Jordan.” (“Nimm uns freundlich an, lo dort am Fluss Jordan.”) It seemed to me that any excuse to have fun at Wagner’s expense would be a good one! The quotation, very jazzed-up, appears first in the piano, high and sprightly, and is taken over by the sax, and finally comes back in grand augmentation over busy iterations of all the motives of the movement.
Year composed: 2009
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Keyboard plus One Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Tenor Saxophone, 1 Piano