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Works for Two Performers

  • Attention Deficit...Squirrel
  • Various Techniques
  • Icarus
  • Romanza for Saxophone and Violin
  • fragments and memories
  • Violin Sonata
  • Sonata for Trombone

Romanza for Saxophone and Violin

for alto sax and violin

Duration - approx. 10 minutes

Program Notes:

Romanza for Saxophone and Violin began its life as Romanza for Clarinet and Violin. For the present version I revised very little, merely adding six measures near the climax of the piece. The change in instrumentation is for Sheri Brown and Sarah Washburn, who wanted to play a duet together. This piece is dedicated to them.

Here are the original program notes for the piece...(substitute “saxophone” for “clarinet” for it to make sense)

Oscar Wilde said, “Music makes one feel romantic”. Yet this is not the case in this work; for the romance of this piece is not for the listeners in the concert hall, but for the long notes drawing from each instrument. Romanza for Clarinet and Violin is really a romance of counterpoint. The clarinet and violin play a game of give and take that ends consonant one time and dissonant the other. The melancholy sound of the piece will not supply romance, but rather rightfully reveal what romance one already has available. This effect is akin to seeing a picture in black and white and then noticing a red rose in the corner. This is largely due to the interval choices in the piece. After all, it is the beats of the major and minor seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths that give the piece its mood. And occasionally, when a perfect interval arrives it sounds like a quiet reprieve that has been delayed for too long.

The counterpoint between the two instruments create a mix of dissonance and consonance that is made melancholy through the use of a heightened sense of chormaticism and inevitability. Repetition of long tones gives the piece a slowness that is sometimes a little awkward to the listener. But the romance is there in the interaction between the instruments. The counterpoint, although maybe not romantic to the listener, is nonetheless intimate and romantic between the instruments. And maybe, this is what Wilde meant in his quote, that music doesn’t actually create the romance, but instead makes you feel the romance that was already inherent.

-Ryan Jesperson
11/30/10

This version of the piece was premiered on Dec. 14th, 2010 in Hartford, CT by Sheri Brown and Sarah Washburn.

The original piece was premiered by Cheryl Melfi and Misty Elfer on September 24th, 2007 in White Hall at UMKC.

Upcoming Performances

April, 2020: CANCELLED! Janet and Jordan Jacobson will premiere a new violin and trombone concerto called And Violet Makes Three with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra at The Hartt School.

October 10th, 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Vršac, Serbia.

October 9th, 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Sombor, Serbia.

October 8th, 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Niš, Serbia.

October 7th, 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Pirot, Belgium.

October 6th, 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Smederevo, Serbia.

October 4th,2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Belgrade, Serbia.

September 2019: Prometheus Duo will perform Icarus in Redding, CT and Bloomfield, CT.

August 24th, 2019: Boombox Serenade will be performed by Dan D'Addio at Hartford Artspace Gallery.

Spring 2019: Attention Deficit...Squirrel will be premiered by Woody Witt and Pamela York in Texas.

May 14th, 2017: High Times for Low Brass will be premiered at the New Britian Museum of Modern Art.

April 29th, 2017: What we talk about when we talk in 140 characters will be performed by HICO at The CT Historical Society in Hartford, CT.

April 12th, 2017: What we talk about when we talk in 140 characters will be performed by HICO at Eastern Connecticut State University.

March 9th, 2017: Concerto for Trombone "Cowiche" will be premiered by Matthew Russo and the UCONN Symphony Orchestra at the UCONN campus in Storrs, CT.

February 2nd, 2017: Boombox Serenade will be performed by Dan D'Addio at CCSU in New Britain, CT.

October 1st, 2016: From Sabres to Satellites will be premiered by US Army MI Corps Band in New Mexico.

April 30th, 2016: Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops? will be premiered by Glen Adsit and the Hartt Wind Ensemble.

October 10th, 2015: but in this dark night I am stationary and time is a river will be premiered by Elisabeth Halliday and The Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra.

June 6th, 2015: Souvenirs/Miniatures will be premiered at June in Buffalo.

May 14th, 2015: David Tayloe and Marko Stuparevic will premier A Page Out of Zen in West Hartford, CT as part of ACF's "Composers Night Out".

EVENT HISTORY