NEC Saxophone Ensemble: Nagao, Bozich premiere, & Tchaikovsky

Jun Nakao | Paganini Lost (2008)

Joseph Bozich | Jacob and the Angel (2021)

World premiere

"I commissioned this work two years ago, specifically for two fantastic graduating students - Bennett Parsons (Harvard-NEC '19 MM) and Scott Chamberlin ('21 DMA)."
-Kenneth Radnofsky
 

When commissioning the piece that would become Jacob and the Angel, Ken Radnofsky suggested the form of a theme and variations. Having mostly avoided the form due to its ubiquity, I took it as a personal project and set out to create a piece that could follow this of procedure while still producing a satisfactory architecture the form inherently lacks. The first solution, one which has been used by many composers, was to avoid the introduction of the “theme” until the final section of the piece. In this way, the formal trajectory is that of a fixed-point revelation, rather than a continuous set of deviations. The second solution was the introduction of a “secondary” form on top of the theme and variations; in this, too, I follow the example of many composers, opting for the highly contrapuntal form of canonic variations.

Canons are, on their surface, deceptively simple, but even in a post-tonal context, care must be taken to keep the interaction of the parts from sounding random or arbitrary. To make this process more interesting, there are actually two canons going on in the piece. The first is an interval-based canon between the two saxophones that occurs every two variations and moves through expanding and contracting intervals that match the contour of the theme. The second canonic process is a literal repetition of each part in the opposite voice a variation later: in this way, the material that occurs in one saxophonist in the first variation is repeated literally by the second saxophone during the second, and so on. This process may be familiar to those accustomed to the idea of “looping” in electronic/guitar music.

The variation processes accompanying the canon were selected based on the intervals in the obscured main theme, then deployed to make a satisfactory emotional arc. The idea of linking the piece to the biblical story of Jacob and the Angel came while working with the material, and while not a literal program piece, the protagonist wrestling with the divine, the universe, and themselves is somehow imbued into the music. The theme itself will be recognizable to some in the audience; like Jacob, it does not emerge unscathed from its wrestling before, and the implied text is not without its tension and yearning. I believe those who do not recognize the theme will still understand the emotional journey. I do not name the theme only to not distract those who will not have an immediate relationship with it by attempting to create one.

The piece runs approximately 12 minutes and is performed without pause between variations.

-- Joseph Bozich

Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (arr. Jacques Larocque) | Serenade, op. 48

Pezzo in forma di sonatina: Andante non troppo - Allegro moderato
Valse: Moderato - Tempo di Valse
Elegia: Larghetto elegiaco
Finale (Tema russo): Andante - Allegro con spirito

Personnel

Soprano saxophone
Megan Dillon, concertmaster
Guangcong Chen soprano saxophone 2, alto saxophone 2

Alto saxophone 1
Rayna DeYoung
Jinghao Li
Yingjie Hong

Tenor saxophone 1
Alexis Aguilar
Daihua Song

Tenor saxophone 2
Guanlong Shen
Jordan Roach

Baritone saxophone 1
Alicia Camiña Ginés
Lila Searls

Baritone saxophone 2
Juchen Wang