The Spectrum Saxophone Quartet is a youthful and dynamic ensemble from Austria, founded in 2020, which has already performed a number of successful concerts in its home country and abroad. Its aim is to bring the diversity of Austrian contemporary music to the fore by focusing exclusively on the saxophone and its infinite artistic capabilities. At the Chios Music Festival the ensemble will present the concert programme “Kaleidoscopic Travel”, offering the audience a colourful musical journey. The wide repertoire and versatility of the modern saxophone is presented with the classical elegance and rhythm of tango, through contemporary compositions and arrangements of favourite works by Domenico Scarlatti and Astor Piazzolla, in an evening full of emotion. The event is part of the public programme of the art exhibition My Dreams Were Dashed Against Your Walls; the first public exhibition held by the contemporary art organisation DEO, which will take place in specific locations within the medieval village of Vessa, transforming the entire settlement into a contemporary art experience. 

Contributors:
Severin Neubauer: Soprano saxophone
Daniel Dundus: Alto saxophone
Stephanie Schoiswohl: Tenor saxophone
Florian Bauer: Baritone saxophone

PROGRAMME

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) / Salvatore Sciarrino (1947-)

Allegrissimo L. 215

Hugo Reinhart (1958-)

Quartet in F minor

1) Allegro non troppo

2) Adagio

3) Scherzo Vivace

Piet Swerts (1960-)

Klonos

Gerald Preinfalk (1971-)

Bachiao (Greek premier)

Astor Piazzolla

(arr. for saxophone quartet: Claude Voirpy)

Histoire du Tango

1) Café 1930

2) Night Club 1960 

Guillermo Lago (1960-)

Ciudades

1) Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 

2) Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 

3) Córdoba (Espana) 

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) / Salvatore Sciarrino (1947-)

Allegrissimo L. 215

Italian contemporary composer Salvatore Sciarrino, in his original collection “Pagine”, released on CD in 2016, sought to create an anthology of works from different periods and musical genres for saxophone quartet. He concentrated more on composers of the Baroque and Classical periods, for which there is a complete lack of repertoire. Allegrissimo L. 215 is based on a sonata in D minor by the Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti. Sciarrino shows great respect for Scarlatti’s original text. He maintains the harmonic texture and structure of the piece while experimenting with the rich timbral possibilities offered by the combination of the four saxophones. 

Hugo Reinhart (1958-)

Quartet in F minor

Born in Paris in 1958, Hugo Reinhart has composed works influenced by various trends in the history of music. His creative interest focuses on instruments and combinations of instruments with a limited repertoire. His saxophone quartet is strongly influenced by the First Viennese school (Mozart, Haydn). Reinhart himself said of the work: “This piece is only the fruit of a momentary inspiration, intended to enrich the repertoire of the saxophone quartet, the classical repertoire of which is not inexhaustible…”. We can also see that the structure of the movements is identical to that of a classical string quartet. Especially in the finale, as in Haydn’s string quartets, there are dramatic moments of calm, but also a virtuoso bridge towards the end, where the same musical material has to be played simultaneously by the four performers at breakneck speed.

Piet Swerts (1960-)

Klonos

Internationally acclaimed Belgian composer Piet Swerts has written over 200 works for orchestra, solo instruments, chamber ensembles and piano. These include several pieces for saxophone, such as “Klonos” from 1993, which was written in response to an international composition competition. It was originally written for alto saxophone and piano. The composer himself refers to this work and points out: “”Clonus” is a Greek word that refers to a cramp-like muscle contraction associated with the heavy movements that some saxophonists make with their hands when playing. The piece is essentially a fantasy with a strong middle section. The finale is an even more virtuosic and demanding reinterpretation”. The rhythmic coherence of the work is based on four different rhythmic ostinati. 

Gerald Preinfalk (1971-)

Bachiao (Greek premier)

Austrian composer and saxophonist Gerald Preinfalk has collaborated with many international artists. He has performed with Ensemble Modern, Frankfurt, Germany; Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz, Germany; Django Bates, UK; and with Terry Bozzio, Alegre Corrêa, Savina Yannatou, George Garzone, Lucia Pulido, Per Mathisen, etc. Since 2012 he is professor for classical saxophone at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. He founded the famous saxophone orchestra KUG-SAX-SIPPIA, for which he arranges but mainly composes original works. Bachiao’s virtuoso work, clearly influenced by the jazz scene, will be performed for the first time in Greece.

Astor Piazzolla

(arr. for saxophone quartet: Claude Voirpy)

Histoire du Tango

Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina but grew up in New York. His compositions brought about a revolution. He created nuevo tango (with influences from jazz and classical music) more for concert use than for dancing. His biographers estimate that Piazzolla wrote about 3,000 works and recorded about 500. The “History of Tango” is a tribute to the evolution of tango. Originally written for flute and guitar, it has undergone numerous instrumental revisions. A very interesting arrangement is that for saxophone quartet by the Frenchman Claude Voirpy. In “Café 1930”, we observe a time when the tango was listened rather than danced to. So it became slower and more melancholic. In “Night Club 1960” we hear the influence of Brazilian bossa nova on Argentinean tango, with its intense rhythms.

Guillermo Lago (1960-)

Ciudades

Dutch composer and saxophonist Guillermo Lago (Willem van Merwijk) wrote a suite called “Ciudades” (Cities) in 2010 for the famous saxophone quartet Amstel Quartet. It was an immediate international success and is now a staple of the saxophone quartet repertoire. Each city has a special meaning for the composer. “Addis Ababa” is a musical description of the Ethiopian capital and was inspired by Lago’s collaboration with Ethiopian singer Minyeshu. “Sarajevo” is dedicated to the composer’s many friends from the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the war, he was invited to help rebuild the saxophone class at the Sarajevo Music Academy, where, together with Musicians Without Borders and his friend Adnan Cico, he founded Winds of Change, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s first wind ensemble. Finally, “Córdoba” describes the Andalusian city that the composer and his friends associated with their carefree youth.

Musicological note: Fotis Pezos