Clancy, Sean - Strange to See You Again
This double concerto for alto saxophone and violin is a fantastic demonstration of Clancy's inviting harmonic language.
The pointillistic opening with its disjunct staccato lines asserts the core ideas of the piece very well. Partially minimalist repetitions of persistent notes follow with the beautifully odd timbral pairing of deep saxophone with soaring violin. The ensemble textures build along aside this creating a satisfying and prolonged tension.
A lighter, more playful movement follows, with rapid tremolo shimmers from the violin and full bodied washes from the saxophone. Light marimba fills the gaps.
Clancy seems to find chords so very neutral and yet so very interesting, this is also notable in his pieces for synthesisers. The orchestration is very effective and from a relatively small ensemble creates an expansiveness and significance quite unexpected. More running lines of repeated notes function as a silver thread in this piece.
Interactions between violin and saxophone in the next movement are similar to the first. At once cheerful and unsettled, the ensemble who first performed this piece exhibited a tautness and robustness that rivals many more established contemporary music ensembles.
The next movement again juxtaposes singing lines with pulsating repetitions. Clancy takes time to work through his ideas, but the process is never wearing, always intriguing.
Medieval in sonority and with echoes of the Nyman band, the next movement sees the soloists again function really not as soloists but as part of the ensemble. This feature of Clancy's writing here is quite enjoyable and suggests that the music rather than virtuosic stardom came first. The ensemble plays with commitment and has a satisfying transparency, each instrument being very clear in the balance. Concerti often are too much a bucket of string washes, but here we have something truly original and innovative.
The pointillistic opening with its disjunct staccato lines asserts the core ideas of the piece very well. Partially minimalist repetitions of persistent notes follow with the beautifully odd timbral pairing of deep saxophone with soaring violin. The ensemble textures build along aside this creating a satisfying and prolonged tension.
A lighter, more playful movement follows, with rapid tremolo shimmers from the violin and full bodied washes from the saxophone. Light marimba fills the gaps.
Clancy seems to find chords so very neutral and yet so very interesting, this is also notable in his pieces for synthesisers. The orchestration is very effective and from a relatively small ensemble creates an expansiveness and significance quite unexpected. More running lines of repeated notes function as a silver thread in this piece.
Interactions between violin and saxophone in the next movement are similar to the first. At once cheerful and unsettled, the ensemble who first performed this piece exhibited a tautness and robustness that rivals many more established contemporary music ensembles.
The next movement again juxtaposes singing lines with pulsating repetitions. Clancy takes time to work through his ideas, but the process is never wearing, always intriguing.
Medieval in sonority and with echoes of the Nyman band, the next movement sees the soloists again function really not as soloists but as part of the ensemble. This feature of Clancy's writing here is quite enjoyable and suggests that the music rather than virtuosic stardom came first. The ensemble plays with commitment and has a satisfying transparency, each instrument being very clear in the balance. Concerti often are too much a bucket of string washes, but here we have something truly original and innovative.