Saxophone Quartet No. 1

Written to explore the various voices and charateristics in the saxophone quartet, this piece explores these various characteristics through various sections with differning styels and compositional techniques. The Baritone Saxophone can be placed in a very subservient role, lacking agility, but the upper register offers a much more nuanced and somber tone. The Tenor Saxophone lies in a more unique area due to its role as one of the middle voices, but the register in with it speaks often mirrors that of a baritone or tenor vocalist and this characteristic allow melodic material to sing over the quartet quite beautifully. The Alto Saxophone also occupies a unique niche as a middle voice, but unlike the Tenor, the Alto Saxophone typically occupies the uppermost role in large ensemble literature in the absence of the Soprano. This flexibility led me to take inspiration from denser harmonies and close writing such as that present in the Big Band tradition to create moments of dense interlocking lines with the Soprano. Lastly, the Soprano Saxophone serves as the highest voice in the saxophone quartet and to contrast the typically refined nature of saxophonists and to lean into the bright tone the Soprano has, the soloistic material given to the Soprano is of a much high register and almost feral in nature.