Music
for Saxophones
by William Albright
PRISM Quartet innova 687
to hear audio
samples, double-click the play buttons below:
Title
Performers
Length
Fantasy
Etudes (1993) world premiere recording Prelude;
A Real Nice Number Pypes The Fives
for Steve Phantom
Galop Harmonium They only
come out at night
PRISM Quartet
Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone
Michael Whitcombe, alto saxophone
Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone
25:34
Heater
(1977) world premiere recording
Taimur Sullivan, alto
saxophone
University of Michigan Symphony Band
H. Robert Reynolds, conductor
8:47
Pit
Band (1993) world premiere recording
Taimur Sullivan, alto
saxophone
Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet
Marilyn Nonken, piano
8:53
Doo-Dah
(1975)
Taimur Sullivan, alto
saxophone I
Matthew Levy, alto saxophone II
Michael Whitcombe, alto saxophone II
10:22
Sonata
(1984) Two-Part
Invention La
follia nuova Scherzo
"Will o' the wisp" Recitative
Dance
Matthew Levy, alto
saxophone
Matthew Herskowitz, piano
20:13
The
PRISM Quartet pays homage to William Albright (1944-1998)
in their latest innova release. This remarkable disc
of Albright’s principal works for saxophone offers powerful
testimony to the full range of his personality and his
fascination with the expressive power of the instrument.
A composer whose works move from sublime laments to
raucous jazz, Albright created an extensive body of
saxophone repertoire that is at once virtuosic, soulful,
and daringly eclectic. His deep affinity for the instrument
lasted throughout his career, until a long struggle
with alcoholism led to his untimely death at the age
of 53. Albright exerted a profound influence on the
artistic development of the PRISM Quartet during the
ensemble’s formative years at the University of Michigan
in the 1980s, inspiring them to champion new music with
over 100 commissions by many of the nation's most celebrated
composers.
The disc features “Fantasy Etudes for saxophone quartet,”
commissioned by PRISM in 1992, which Albright once described
as “intended to turn the sax on its side” with undertones
of Highland bagpipes, steam engines, Victorian pump
organs, and the big bandsounds of 1950s television police
dramas; “Sonata for alto saxophone and piano,” a masterful
cornerstone of the saxophone repertoire, moving between
blistering energy, abandon, and profound sadness; “Pit
Band for alto sax, bass clarinet and piano,”
a tongue-in-cheek parody of an evening’s worth of theatre
music, digested and compressed to a few minutes; “Doo-Dah
for three alto saxophones,” Albright’s first saxophone
work, which melds three saxophones into one lush timbre,
with roots in American popular song, Southern gospel
music, blues, and free jazz.; and “Heater: Saga for
alto saxophone and symphony band.” Taking its name from
the gangster era slang term for a machine gun, “Heater”
reflects Albright’s signature combination of contemporary
harmonic language infused with jazz idioms of the 1920s
and 30s.
The
PRISM Quartet pays homage to William Albright (1944-1998)
in their latest innova release. This remarkable disc
of Albright’s principal works for saxophone offers powerful
testimony to the full range of his personality and his
fascination with the expressive power of the instrument.
A composer whose works move from sublime laments to
raucous jazz, Albright created an extensive body of
saxophone repertoire that is at once virtuosic, soulful,
and daringly eclectic. His deep affinity for the instrument
lasted throughout his career, until a long struggle
with alcoholism led to his untimely death at the age
of 53. Albright exerted a profound influence on the
artistic development of the PRISM Quartet during the
ensemble’s formative years at the University of Michigan
in the 1980s, inspiring them to champion new music with
over 100 commissions by many of the nation's most celebrated
composers. 
a tongue-in-cheek parody of an evening’s worth of theatre
music, digested and compressed to a few minutes; “Doo-Dah
for three alto saxophones,” Albright’s first saxophone
work, which melds three saxophones into one lush timbre,
with roots in American popular song, Southern gospel
music, blues, and free jazz.; and “Heater: Saga for
alto saxophone and symphony band.” Taking its name from
the gangster era slang term for a machine gun, “Heater”
reflects Albright’s signature combination of contemporary
harmonic language infused with jazz idioms of the 1920s
and 30s.