Saxophone Quartet
Written in 1976, Drastic Measures endures as a classic in the genre. Deeply bluesy and rich with soul, this work has enjoyed continued performances.
Russell Peck’s Composition Notes:
“During my brief university teaching career I came into contact with excellent saxophonists at Northern Illinois University who had a quartet and wanted a piece from me. That’s how I came to write Drastic Measures in 1976. A year later I went to the School of the Arts in North Carolina where James Houlik had a great saxophone studio and a wonderful student quartet that became the New Century Saxophone Quartet. I touched up the piece for them and that became its final form.”
“The first movement is slow, lyrical and polyphonic, highlighting the serious capabilities of the ensemble. The virtuosic second movement is more blues, jazz, and rock-oriented, and highly energized, even including slap-tongue accents. It’s also rhythmically complex. What maintains the classical integrity of the piece despite the popular flavor in the second movement is its tight formal coherence. A three note motive heard as an accompaniment figure at the very opening of the first movement becomes the basis for the whole piece, reaching several climactic expressions in the second movement.”
9′ 45″
To
purchase this contact:
Eble Music Co. (319) 338-0313 www.eble.com
Dorn Publications (508) 359-1015
“playful
… fresh”
Wall Street Journal
