Steps (within a step) (2015)

for saxophone quartet

(10'00")

First performance : 21 February 2016, Herdecke (Germany), Werner Richard Saal, Xenon Saxophone Quartet

Commission : Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Stiftung and the Xenon Saxophone Quartet

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About the work

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The gradual transformation of forms and figures found in M.C. Escher's work was an early inspiration or point of departure for the composition of my piece. Though it isn't a literal transcription of any of Escher's works, I was inspired to construct a musical form in which contrasting musical materials evolve gradually in different steps or phases : from a rhythmical, lively and percussive section to a suspended and static sound world ; from the sound of air noise to the complexity  and fragility of multiphonics.