Sax, Sax, Sax (1 cent)

This week's Tuesday concert at Grace Episcopal Church was fascinating. A saxophonist (Noah Getz) with a piano accompanist (Matthew van Hoose), both Levine School faculty members, among other things.

The pieces were all 20th century (not that the sax is too much older than that). The pieces were all in teh nature of tone poems, meant to be evocative of particular settings or events. Briefly:

"Holy Roller" by Libby Larsen was, to me, just noise, with no redeeming qualities. I did not understand it at all, and saw no relationship between the music (very, very abstract - a squeak here, and a sqawk there) and the title. The program notes says it was based on three year revival meeting in Los Angeles, 1906 to 1909. Of course, I was not there.

"Wings" by Joan Tower was terrific and very saxophony. You could just imagine a hummingbirds wings as the entire piece was played with rapid flutters (di,dah; di, dah; di,dah; etc., very very fast).

"Sonata: Deus sax machina" by Gregory Wanamaker was comic classical music at its best. Imagine it: the first part basically a Rube Goldberg machine put to music, the second part called 'Refrigerator' a slow modern piece with what appear to be random "slap-tonguing" (so says the program) meant to represent ice falling from the ice maker; the third section just good twentieth century modern music, non-melodic and highly rythmic.

Finaly, "Tableux de Provence" by Paule Maurice, six short representations of the south of France, not quite as abstract, almost (if not actually) as much jazz and classical, with a strong taste of Gershwin-like urban chaos.

Next week is the Christmas concert, which I will skip.