Saxophone Quartet

Saxophone Quartet was composed especially for presentation at the Montana Saxophone Festival and is dedicated to the festival’s director, saxophonist Brooke Ferris. The first movement, Calliope, juxtaposes mechanized rhythmic patterns against legato, lyric melodies. The second movement, Chorale, explores homophonic, harmonic textures which alternate with lyric and contrapuntal passages. The last movement is a fugue. The outer movements were written during the summer of 1997. Chorale was adapted from a short work composed for saxophone quartet in 1975. Saxophone Quartet was premiered at the 1997 Montana Saxophone Festival by a quartet which included the international virtuoso Frederick Hemke.