MANA QUARTET | Sven David-Sandström MOMENTS MUSICAUX (1985)| Sound Wired Concerts Chicago (LIVE)

The MANA Quartet performs Sven David-Sanström’s masterwork for saxophone quartet Moments Musicaux (1985) on the Sound Wired Concert Series in Chicago on March 16, 2014.

The Mana Quartet (2014)
Michael Hernandez - soprano
Thomas Giles - alto
Cole Belt - tenor
Dannel Espinoza - baritone

“Composed for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet in 1985, Moments Musicaux is a true masterpiece of the quartet repertoire, showcasing virtually every element our medium offers as a technical Tour de Force and a musically memorable art piece. Recently, the Mana Quartet gave this work a revival performance, as it had not been performed in more than 20 years due to the extreme demands of both the ensemble as a whole and each player, respectively.
The work is a series of musical textures, one flowing into the next imperceptibly – this clever transitional writing being a particular highlight of Sandström’s genius on both the micro and
macro plain. The bombastic opening, with each voice entering in reverse score order, soon
transform into a wash of activity: each voice on a different part of the beat (divided into 7
pieces), gradually growing rhythmically closer with its counterparts while rapidly accelerating towards a point of departure just as they play together for the first time. The effect is an or- chestrational crescendo that leads to the next section, marked by the introduction of slap-
tonguing, as the septuplet texture fragments and becomes sparser. The tempo slows and leads
to the softest texture of the work, with quiet altissimo pointillism popping out like points of
light in a dark room. As the texture broadens, the pitches sustain and begin to fall in chromatic cascades, which gradually accelerate. In this section, the soprano plays 7 notes to a beat, the
alto 6, the tenor 5, the baritone 4. In the next section, Sandström introduces the choral that eventually concludes the work, though as a diminution – sporadically placing the individual
chords of the chorale in a murmuring 16th note texture – each staccato chord marked triple
forte, whereas all other16ths are marked piano. The rhythm and harmonic motion intensifies
and eventually stumbles and breaks down, giving way to a loud climax of multiphonics and
growls. Re-using the same hendecatonic scale from the opening wash, each voice is slowly weaved into an ascending line that becomes the final chorale. The ethereal cloud of each respective voice in its altissimo register eventually clears to yield a final shining major triad.“

Sound Wired Program Notes

#classicalsaxophone #saxophone #saxophonequartet