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I began making sketches for my Saxophone Quartet #2 in the early 1980s, but
work and life proved very distracting, and I was not able to devote the time
to complete it until 1998. The first 2 movements were played April 20, 1998 at
Manhattan School of Music in a recital by the Saxophone Department under the
direction of Dr. Paul Cohen, and a complete performance by the same forces
took place on November 30.
Buoyed by the enthusiastic response to my Saxophone Quartet #1, I was inspired
to write a second piece in the same medium, slightly longer, in four movements
rather than three, and with more emphasis on lyricism, while still finding
room for the aggressive rhythms and jazz influences that appear in the first
quartet.
Movement 1 is marked Andante moderato, centers around the key of G minor, with
a secondary theme in E-flat, and seeks to create a flowing, pastoral
atmosphere.
Movement 2, a scherzo marked Allegro agitato, grew out of my fascination with
motor rhythms, and the instrumental means by which one can break up a phrase
or a pattern to create the illusion that the players do not need to breathe.
The piece starts with a nervous, agitated pattern built on the interval of a
minor second, which as it is developed takes on jazzy overtones, as well as
sounding comically grotesque at times. (One section in particular never fails
to remind me of bicycle horns) After much of this sort of writing, a long
lyrical line appears played first by the soprano and then picked up by the
tenor. The other two voices are brought in this new sensibility, converted
if you will, and the music takes on a fervent hymn-like quality. As the hymn
approaches an affirmative cadence the baritone introduces the minor second
motif again, plunging the group back into the chaos of the beginning.
Movement 3, Adagio, centers around D-flat and seeks to create a mood of
stillness and serenity, combining an old-world sense of yearning with aspects
of the blues.
Movement 4, a jovial rondo marked Allegro giocoso, begins with a theme mildly
reminiscent of a Renaissance dance, and introduces a number of other themes,
some very syncopated, others more smooth and cantabile. In response to Elgar's
Enigma Variations I have included a disguised allusion to what is for me a
highly significant melody, and I wish all my listeners a good time discovering
its identity, or enjoying the piece nevertheless.
Steve Cohen
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Steve Cohen received his training at the Eastman, Juilliard and Manhattan
Schools of Music, and has composed a large catalog of symphonic, chamber and
musical-theater pieces, including the operas The Cop and the Anthem
(libretto by Alison Hubbard after the O. Henry story) and La Pizza Del
Destino (libretto by Joseph Renard). Mr. Cohen's Wind Quintet will appear on
a CD of American Music by the Pennsylvania Wind Quintet on the Centaur
label. As an arranger and orchestrator, Mr. Cohen has supplied scores for
the New York Pops Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the American
Ballet Theater, the Goldman Memorial Band, the world premiere of the musical
Spittin' Image, and touring companies of Beauty And The Beast, Porgy and
Bess, Crazy For You, Guys and Dolls and The Secret Garden. A new series of
Christmas carols arranged for solo voice and orchestra has been commissioned
and published by Edwin F. Kalmus and Co. Mr. Cohen completed Kevin Oldham's
Concerto for Piano from the composer's sketches, a piece now available on
the BMG/Catalyst CD "Memento Bittersweet."
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