Edmonds to Kingston
Chamber Instrumental
Instrumentation: saxophone quartet
Duration: 4:00
Premiered by ~Nois Saxophone Quartet at DePaul University Series for Contemporary Music (05/10/2023).
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Description:
Edmonds to Kingston is a process piece that explores sounds of airy pitch, the transformation of pitch content through pentatonic and modal tonalities, and techniques including multiphonics and pitch bends. The piece is inspired by an early morning ferry trip near Seattle, Washington and aims to portray the briskness of the morning air, the first beams of sunlight breaking through the sky, and the lull of a steady ship gliding through the waters of Puget Sound. Starting with an interplay between breath and fundamental pitch content, the composition uses hocketing to reveal a melody that will further be developed throughout the piece. The music was composed to portray various sound elements, loosely influenced by the initial inspiration, including both natural sounds of wind imposed upon by the more industrial sounds of a ship, represented through much of the multiphonic content. Nearing the end of the piece, the art of diminution is used to embellish the initial melody in order to create a dense wash of polyphony between the four instruments.