Apart Together

a.sax duo

7'

 

2010

Premiered by Ryan Muncy and Sean Patayanikorn, July 29, 2010, Darmstadt Summer Courses, Darmstadt, Germany

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Virtuosic saxophone playing can give the sense that the instrument is an organic extension of the player’s body, completely integrated into his or her respiratory and motor control systems. Apart Together takes as its subject this fusion of performer and instrument, beginning at a point of maximal continuity between the two (circular breathing; rapid, precise changes of fingering) and gradually deconstructing their connection. This deconstruction in turn destabilizes the integrity of other elements of the piece: its musical material – both in terms of pitch and time – and the connection between the two parts, which begin in close canon but must quickly abandon that orderly relationship.