Capelletti, Daniel - Ge(r)ms
Ge(r)ms for alto saxophone and piano was the fiendishly difficult set piece for the 2006 Adolphe Sax Competition. Exploring a wide palette of extended techniques, this composition put competitors through their paces ?like few other pieces have. Competition pieces of old sometimes went on to become staple works in the repertoire (Desenclos, Piet Swerts' 'Klonos') but we have to wonder how popular a piece such as this can become when it presents such extensive difficulties. Singing set pitches whilst playing, whilst a common multiphonic technique on say trombone, has not yet become part of contemporary saxophone's lingua franca. Perhaps it ought to and ?one day will, but the bar is set ever so high if this is the expected standard for young saxophone players. ?The music itself is uncompromisingly modern with disjunct melodies creating only unsettling moods. If the technical difficulties of this piece are surmountable then perhaps the parenthesised consonant in the title may ?be unnecessary, but otherwise the barriers are impenetrable. Influences of Boulez are apparent as sonic crystals slowly refract and reflect in brief moments of pensive musical thought. The composer insists the movements "always all" [sic] have to be played. There is a cohesion to the single modal field employed. Take a deep breath...
The 10 miniature movements can be arranged in any order (with one rule), here is what I feel makes an effective order.
Chant of Spell
The piano crunches down with heavy clusters, makes an sensible overture.
By Pass
A pallendrome of sorts that in a way presents the central notion of the piece in an arc from embryo to crystal to embryo.
Angel Ghost
In this movement the arcs are shorted, more like traditional phrases, but still angular and rhythmically inventive.
Choir
An almost tonal melody emerges and would feel comforting at this point were the singing not included to distort and disrupt the saxophone sound. The phase cancellations and uneveness of this technique leave us feeling anything but ethereal.
Focuses
Only two pitches are employed, but there is a good deal of interest in the how the timbre is manipulated through fingerings and interactions with the piano resonance.
Forbidden Roots
This must always follow the previous movement 'Focuses'. It tests dexterity and frantically bursts forth fragmented lines, the perfect foil to the previous movement.
Icarus Joy (Homage to A.L.)
The pleasures and perils of Daedalus' son's tragic avian experience are here explored in predictably catastrophic material.
"...Linien Kreise..."
Lines, circles. The lines are melodic, the circles are the repetition and development of those lines.
Monodic Polyphony (Sax Solo)
A very difficult part of the piece.
Road Echoes
But probably not as hard as this.
The 10 miniature movements can be arranged in any order (with one rule), here is what I feel makes an effective order.
Chant of Spell
The piano crunches down with heavy clusters, makes an sensible overture.
By Pass
A pallendrome of sorts that in a way presents the central notion of the piece in an arc from embryo to crystal to embryo.
Angel Ghost
In this movement the arcs are shorted, more like traditional phrases, but still angular and rhythmically inventive.
Choir
An almost tonal melody emerges and would feel comforting at this point were the singing not included to distort and disrupt the saxophone sound. The phase cancellations and uneveness of this technique leave us feeling anything but ethereal.
Focuses
Only two pitches are employed, but there is a good deal of interest in the how the timbre is manipulated through fingerings and interactions with the piano resonance.
Forbidden Roots
This must always follow the previous movement 'Focuses'. It tests dexterity and frantically bursts forth fragmented lines, the perfect foil to the previous movement.
Icarus Joy (Homage to A.L.)
The pleasures and perils of Daedalus' son's tragic avian experience are here explored in predictably catastrophic material.
"...Linien Kreise..."
Lines, circles. The lines are melodic, the circles are the repetition and development of those lines.
Monodic Polyphony (Sax Solo)
A very difficult part of the piece.
Road Echoes
But probably not as hard as this.