Saxophone Quartet No. 1
Steve Cohen
About this work:
My Saxophone Quartet #1 was written in 1980 at the request of its dedicatee, Paul Cohen. (Despite having the same last name, we are not related!) We had met earlier at the Manhattan School of Music. Paul played saxophone in a show I had written in 1976, and I was very impressed with the flexibility and nuance he brought to the instrument. In addition he was (and still is) a great proselytizer for new music written for the saxophone. This particular piece was first performed at an Alumni Composers Concert at Manhattan School of Music, April 14, 1980, and has been repeated often by student and professional groups including the Amherst and Allarian quartets.
My fascination with a quartet of saxophones as a medium for chamber music evolved gradually. As a composer I’m happiest when I feel my work in some way answers a need. I was reluctant to write a string quartet as there was already so much fine literature for that medium, but I felt there was more than enough room in the world for another saxophone quartet.
The first movement, marked Allegro, begins with a marcato introductory chordal motive which ushers in an active, gently flowing first theme first stated by the soprano sax (but hinted at beforehand) and an angular, quizzical second theme first stated by the tenor. A short development section consists of canonic statements of the opening motive, overlapping and gradually contracting in range to a dissonant cluster of half-steps. The two main themes are reintroduced, transposed and transfigured, and the chordal motive is stated again for a brief coda.
The second movement, marked Adagio, opens with a mournful, chant-like phrase, intoned in unison by all four saxes. They separate into a chord and evanesce, leaving the alto playing alone, joined gradually by the other voices. The mood is one of quiet desolation with an uneasy, almost ominous stillness. The music grows in depth and volume into a loud declamatory statement of the theme that is abruptly cut off and the piece ends quietly as it began, this time with a solo statement by the tenor.
The third movement is another Allegro, but this time the players are instructed to “swing the eighths.” This is a light-hearted, jazzy romp with two main themes, the first of which gets turned into a fugue subject during the middle section. The second theme is the first to return, sounding higher and lighter than its first statement. When the first theme returns, it is characterized by low coarse open fifths for the whole ensemble and exact parallel voicings, creating an odd bell-like sonority. The piece ends joyously with widely spaced D flat chords spanning the extreme high and low ranges of all the instruments.
Year composed: 1980
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Saxophone Quartet
Instrumentation: 1 Soprano Saxophone, 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Tenor Saxophone, 1 Baritone Saxophone
Instrumentation notes: 4 sax (sop, alto, ten, bar)