Chamber Music Piano,
soprano Saxophone
SKU:
PR.114419990
Composed
by Carter Pann. Set of
Score and Parts. 28+12
pages. Duration 15
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-41999.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114419990).
ISBN
9781491134825. UPC:
680160685516.
An
extraordinary addition to
the saxophone repertoire,
Pann’s concerto is
alternately tender and
wild, yet idiomatic even
in the most challenging
pyrotechnics and
altissimo. The four
movements show off and
romance the soprano
saxophone from a
remarkable range of
angles, while always
maintaining beauty. The
published piano reduction
is fully suitable for
public
performances.
My
Soprano Saxophone
Concerto (2019) was
written for Christopher
Creviston and
commissioned by Chris,
the ASU Symphony
Orchestra, and the SUNY
Potsdam Symphony
Orchestra. The work lasts
about 15 minutes and does
what it can to show the
many sides of one of my
favorite musicians on the
planet. The work is cast
in four movements and
makes use of a varied
orchestral palette.I. The
Old Line (orchestra
without brass) presents
the soloist almost
immediately, akin to the
technique in
Mendelssohn’s
beloved Violin Concerto.
The saxophone weaves a
song-like melody
throughout, often
reaching for the highest
register of the
instrument.II. Aria:
Injurious Graffito (full
orchestra) was the first
movement to be written,
inspired by a line in the
old television series
Frasier. I fell in love
with the two words
“Injurious
Graffito†the way
they are delivered on the
show. The music, like the
TV show, is lofty and
somewhat arrogant.III.
Jump (full orchestra) is
a written-out
improvisation on the
saxophone. Chris is
particularly adept at the
leaps and quick changes
found throughout the
movement, which
culminates in a
straight-ahead tune
incorporating shapes that
foreshadow the tune in
the last movement.IV.
Hymn: A Love Supreme
(string orchestra and
harp) is a torch song of
unabashed sentimentality.
A surprising admission: I
was not thinking of John
Coltrane’s famed
album of the same name
when naming this last
movement. Perhaps it was
a subconscious decision,
but I was startled to put
two and two together upon
reacquainting myself with
the Coltrane once the
concerto was
completed.