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Commissioned as part of a
Joint Collaborative Concert hosted by the Zenith Saxophone Quartet and the Millennium Composers Initiative, featuring a concert of new music written by MCI composers INSTRUMENTATION - SATB saxophones; fixed-media electronic track [optional]
DURATION - ca. 10 minutes WORLD PREMIERE - October 14, 2018; Chamichian Recital Hall, Central Michigan University; Zenith Saxophone Quartet (Parker Fritz, Diego Kieliszewski, Ben MacDonald, and Taylor Huitema) $40 for full set (score+parts). Fixed media materials are optional and do NOT affect the final sale price.
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The term "bread and circuses" originated in Rome and was coined by the satirical poet Juvenal in the early second century AD. It was initially a term related to common cultural practices, but it soon became defined for its political context. This figure of speech refers to generating the approval of the public masses by fulfilling their most immediate desires, such as food or entertainment of some kind, as opposed to providing what the public actually needs to thrive as a society.
This, along with the quote below, inspired the overall structure of this saxophone quartet. It begins with a spectacle of distractions and diversions without a clear focus of what its true objective could be. One section that's reiterated later on offers a glimpse, an idea of what it could transform into, before being swept away by the madness. But, there is no peace - only pure and utter chaos.
The second half of this work ends with the saxophone quartet alone. Although not so chaotic and wild, yet seemingly peaceful and solemn, it is not a moment of rest that is meant to feel truly earned. It instead offers the same bitter anger and emptiness left over from the first half, waiting for that impending moment when the cycle will begin all over once again.
"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." -Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
This, along with the quote below, inspired the overall structure of this saxophone quartet. It begins with a spectacle of distractions and diversions without a clear focus of what its true objective could be. One section that's reiterated later on offers a glimpse, an idea of what it could transform into, before being swept away by the madness. But, there is no peace - only pure and utter chaos.
The second half of this work ends with the saxophone quartet alone. Although not so chaotic and wild, yet seemingly peaceful and solemn, it is not a moment of rest that is meant to feel truly earned. It instead offers the same bitter anger and emptiness left over from the first half, waiting for that impending moment when the cycle will begin all over once again.
"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." -Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"