Swingin' Christmas Quartets. The concept of the successful Swing Quartets, Jazz Quartets and Groove Quartets publications is now also available in a Christmas edition: Bert Lochs has arranged four traditional Christmas songs in a swing style with combo accompaniment. The Swingin' Christmas Quartets are available for trumpet, flute, clarinet and alto saxophone quartets, and all four versions can be combined to create whichever instrumentation you require. The online audio for each piece contains not only a demo version with a full line-up?and a pure playback version?but additionally four versions in which each of the four wind voices is omitted in turn, making them ideal for practice purposes

3 Original Pieces for Saxophone Quartet. Three works with quotations from well-known composers are contained in this tongue-in-cheek collection. Otto M. Schwarz has produced an outstanding recording of these works with members of the Slovak Philharmonic, which is available on all streaming and download platforms. 1. THE AMADEUS WATCH: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?s own watch ? if he had one ? ticks away. The ticking carries us back in time with a piece that stylistically imitates the music of the 18th century in melody, harmony and rhythm. 2. COMPOSERS DINNER IN HEAVEN: At the music publisher De Haske, a composers? dinner was an integral part of trade fairs or meetings. The dinner was very popular among anyone who sat at it, not least of all because it offered one the opportunity to chat informally. ?Based on such a meeting, Otto M. Schwarz has a composed a work that describes an imaginary dinner of great classical masters on a cloud in the sky. Guess which composers are present by the references in the form of musical quotations and stylistic devices! 3. SCHERZO FOR SAXOPHONE QUARTET: The work, in 12/8 time, moves in a rapid furioso. Underscored by a continues eighth note rhythm, the work creates in the listener the sensation of a frantic rollercoaster ride. The theme moves throughout all the parts and, following a chromatically moving chord sequence, ends in a dramatic crescendo.