Composed in 2016, BECAUSE is a nice chamber music piece to work the sound, the dynamics and the intonation with other baritone saxophones.
Everette Minchew is a saxophonist and composer from the USA, which his pieces have been performed all over the world. Read more about him on his website.
Characteristics of the work
Never Theme Twice, 2016. 4 pages. Duration: 4 minutes, minimum. Contemporary music. EASY level.
Range (written): F3 – C#5 (1st baritone) / C#3 – A4 (2nd baritone) / D#3 – F4 (3rd baritone)
Technical skills: Soft dynamics. Intonation. Breathe (long notes).
Performance skills: To create a calm and interesting atmosphere with long notes and rests.
Apart from the control of soft dynamics and the breath (the work has very long notes between pp and mp), the easy technical elements of the piece should allow the performers to listen to each other in order to find a rich and homogeneous sonority and to find a perfect balance between sound and rests, which is one of the goals of the performance.
Originally written for Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone and Bassoon, BECAUSE can be also played with three baritone saxophones or three bass clef instruments. The audio recording below is from the three baritone saxophones version premiere at Andorra Sax-Fest (Andorra, Europe), on April 2017.
Listen to the audio:
Comment of the composer
“For the past few years, I have been preoccupied with the idea of “quiet music”. I feel there is nothing sweeter than a terse chord played pianissimo. Because was originally composed for bass clarinet, baritone sax and bassoon, but it can really be performed by any low instruments. It is a re-imagining of my earlier work Open Piece No. 2, but in a more structured environment which allows for the harmonies to drift a bit more into new destinations”
Everette Minchew, 2017
