Cross Court Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble (2018) by Nicolas Scherzinger Duration: 12 minutes LISTEN
Above live performance is by the Mana Quartet with the Syracuse University wind ensemble, Bradley Ethington, conducting.
click here to go back to LIST OF WORKS page MUSIC (SCORE and PARTS) - download a PDF copy Click here (Full Score) to download a copy of the published score.
A complete set of parts is available as PDF copies that you can print out for performance. Please contact Nicolas Scherzinger directly to receive a full set of parts. Send an email to Nicolas Scherzinger, making sure to include
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MUSIC (SCORE and PARTS) - order a hardcopy To order a hard copy of the music, please contact Nicolas Scherzinger directly (email below). A paypal option to order hard copies of music will be available soon (2012). Send an email to Nicolas Scherzinger directly, with
the title of the piece you would like to order. NOTE: whether you download a copy of the score,
or order a hardcopy, if you decide to perform the piece in public, please
let me know about it via email, or even send me a program. click here to go back to LIST OF WORKS page PROGRAM NOTE “Cross Court,” for saxophone quartet and wind ensemble, was composed in the winter of 2017/2018 and was completed in February 2018. The piece features an SATB saxophone quartet as soloists with a traditional, Frederick Fennell style wind ensemble. The piece is virtuosic for both the soloists and the larger ensemble and is very fast, relentless and energetic throughout. As I began work on this piece, it was hard not to think of the model of concerto that I grew up studying, with the heroics of the solo-plus-orchestra concept of the nineteenth century concerto. Rather than completely abandon that model I wanted to re-think it. In recent years, I began to pick up the sport of tennis again, having played the sport a great deal in my youth, and as I started formulating my early musical ideas for this piece, I had visions of intense tennis that fit with the music. It seemed only natural that this would then become the stimulus for the piece. This work is very much a “tennis match” between the saxophone quartet soloists and the wind ensemble. Musical material is passed (or rather “hit”) to and from the soloists and the ensemble. Sometimes one of the “players” makes a dramatic or offensive move to try to shake or startle the other. Sometimes both the soloists and the ensemble try to get into a groove, hitting musical material back and forth, avoiding the dreaded unforced error. I won’t tell you who wins, you can decide that for yourself, and hopefully you won’t need a line judge to make the “right call” for you. “Cross Court” was composed for the Mana Quartet and the Syracuse University Wind Ensemble, Bradley Ethington, director, and is dedicated to them with gratitude and admiration. |
