Three Sententiae for Saxophone and Horn, Op. 289

This is my first ever composition for the duo of Alto Saxophone and (French) Horn in F. I had composed a soliloquy for Alto Saxophone around 3.5 years ago. I had also composed a solo for Horn in F more than 5 years ago. These "Three Sententiae for Saxophone and Horn, Op. 289" are composed in response to a call for pieces for this ensemble. I found the combination a rather challenging one to compose for. I include a title page as well as a description of the 'sententia' for those who are unfamiliar with it. The score is the transposing score, the actual pitches sounding a major sixth lower than written for the alto saxophone and a perfect fifth lower than written for the French Horn in F.

Hi Vahan,

Firstly I want to thank you again for composing this for us.
I hope the ''project'' has been very educational.

• About the piece:

I really enjoyed it and I like the idea of your Sententiae. The melodies are very insteresting and sound very finished indeed. The last one looks like we have to count out every measure, but that is okay - I have seen worse, haha!
The tempi are marked with only bpm (without Italian terms). This leaves the interpretation of how to play it to the performers, which makes it a lot more fun, in my opinion. It is good to leave the music to the performers. Trust them, they will do everything to make the best out of your music.

• Of course there is also feedback.

Overall you used the instruments' characteristics very well. However, m.10, you have written a semi-quaver F#, which has to be played relatively short. I told in the other forum that intonation problems can occur in the high register, which includes the F#. I will still try to ''reach'' this high note.

Sententia 1.
The melody is almost always played by the saxophone. The horn mainly accompanies. This makes it fun to play for the saxophonist, but terrible for the hornist, because it can be very boring and frustrating. Beside that, in general, horn accompanying is very heavy (when there are no rests to catch a breath).

The scores looks clear and fortunately you have transposed the instruments.
Sometimes the notes played by the horn are so low that you have to count the ledger lines precisely (for example m.26). The general rule is that when the horn plays below F (written), the bass clef should be used.
I personally would prefer to have the barlines prolonged. Psychologically, the performers tend to have a bigger connection with each other, if you understand what I mean.

Hopefully, this feedback is useful. We want to finish our Mozarts Duets project first and then we will play your composition. After practicing enough, I will try to record it for you and upload it in this post.

Once again, thank you!

Maarten

2 hours ago, Maarten Bauer said:

Hi Vahan,

Firstly I want to thank you again for composing this for us.
I hope the ''project'' has been very educational.

• About the piece:

I really enjoyed it and I like the idea of your Sententiae. The melodies are very insteresting and sound very finished indeed. The last one looks like we have to count out every measure, but that is okay - I have seen worse, haha!
The tempi are marked with only bpm (without Italian terms). This leaves the interpretation of how to play it to the performers, which makes it a lot more fun, in my opinion. It is good to leave the music to the performers. Trust them, they will do everything to make the best out of your music.

• Of course there is also feedback.

Overall you used the instruments' characteristics very well. However, m.10, you have written a semi-quaver F#, which has to be played relatively short. I told in the other forum that intonation problems can occur in the high register, which includes the F#. I will still try to ''reach'' this high note.

Sententia 1.
The melody is almost always played by the saxophone. The horn mainly accompanies. This makes it fun to play for the saxophonist, but terrible for the hornist, because it can be very boring and frustrating. Beside that, in general, horn accompanying is very heavy (when there are no rests to catch a breath).

The scores looks clear and fortunately you have transposed the instruments.
Sometimes the notes played by the horn are so low that you have to count the ledger lines precisely (for example m.26). The general rule is that when the horn plays below F (written), the bass clef should be used.
I personally would prefer to have the barlines prolonged. Psychologically, the performers tend to have a bigger connection with each other, if you understand what I mean.

Hopefully, this feedback is useful. We want to finish our Mozarts Duets project first and then we will play your composition. After practicing enough, I will try to record it for you and upload it in this post.

Once again, thank you!

Maarten

 

Thanks Maarten. I am glad that you liked the pieces. Of course all your feedback is invaluable, both the positive and the constructive criticism (which I will make sure to benefit from in the future). I wish you good luck with your projects and look forward to the recording of your performance!

A revised version of these pieces was premiered by @Maarten Bauer (who had asked for pieces for this duo) and Simone Penders during the SEC Kunstcafe in Ede, the Netherlands, on April 7, 2017. I thank both of them for this wonderful performance and interpretation and for their dedication in realizing these pieces in concert.

It was performed in Holland, but that's a minor issue, haha! 

It was a peasure to work with such a fantastic composer!

Dankjewel! Thank you!

1 minute ago, Maarten Bauer said:

It was performed in Holland, but that's a minor issue, haha! 

It was a peasure to work with such a fantastic composer!

Dankjewel! Thank you!

 

Sorry Maarten. I will change it to "The Netherlands"! You are welcome!

Wonderful... it's great to listen to your work live. Congrats to you all...

On 4/16/2017 at 5:48 AM, Luis Hernández said:

Wonderful... it's great to listen to your work live. Congrats to you all...

 

Thank you!