Yoshimatsu, Takashi - Fuzzy Bird Sonata
This acrobatic work is an optimistic and lively composition written for Japanese virtuoso Nobuya Sugawa. At times impressionistic, the piece is at its most engaging in the opening movement's syncopations. Extended techniques are employed which generally serve to add an energy and sense of excitement to an already exhilarating melodic line. The range employed is vast, stretching the alto saxophone almost to the altissimo register's ceiling. Slaps, slow glissandi and key clicks all add colour so that the harmony, which is actually often static for long periods, never sounds boring. Each movement provides a different perspective on our feathered friends, their quirky manoeuvres, their chirruping 'voices' and their dignity in flight. An semi-improvised cadenza in the final movement fits well with the overall atmosphere and prepares us for the clave based coda. There are other works by Yoshimatsu for saxophone with an ornithological theme, but this one is possibly the most successful. The avian kind were man's envy for millenia, but even now in the jet age these creatures command a respect such as is reflected in this work.