Description
Composed in January 2009, this short tour de force was originally written for bassoon, with this arrangement for saxophone being made in 2017. Structured in a simple ternary form, the outer sections are highly chromatic (loosely centred around the note B flat, but eschewing a sense of key) and there are many changes of time signature, giving it highly rhythmic energy. The brief central section is more reflective and is a free development of a motif heard in bars 30 to 35: an eighteen-note ‘theme’ is subjected serially to four variations in a quasi-waltz style, employing this time a consistent 3/4 time signature. The sections are joined with a hesitant quaver figure, which is first heard in bar 19.
