not thinking about the elephants (2018)
saxophone quartet and live-electronics
18′
WP 17.04.2018, l’amphithéâtre du Gesù, Montréal Quebec
Quasar Saxophone Quartet
Edition Juliane Klein Order No.: EJK0810
Score Preview (Publisher, pdf)
The quartet has been severed. Two members are isolated, in separate rooms. They are only connected to the other members of the quartet via live audio transmission. Their signals are projected to the two saxophonists on stage by means of two mini-loudspeakers that are inserted in the bell of the other saxophonists.
The divided ensemble allows for certain acoustic phenomena to come into focus- the sound of the missing saxophonists is filtered by the embouchures and keychanges of the tenor and baritone saxophones, or mixed with their sound in such a physical proximity that combination tones are audible. More psychological implications of isolation, separation, and absence is made audible in a tightly-woven counterpoint in which the exterior voices colour, shadow, reciprocate, refute or eventually overpower the interior voices.
Annesley Black