Three Inventions

Description

Three Inventions for Solo Soprano Saxophone was my winning entry to the Presteigne Festival Composition Competition in 2012, where they were premiered by renowned saxophonist Amy Dickson at that year’s festival. The term “Inventions” refers to the improvisatory nature of the pieces. I hoped to exploit the soprano saxophone’s expressive capabilities and warmth of tone, as well as its agility and ability to excite an audience. The first movement features increasingly florid and wide-spread arpeggios, covering almost the full range of the saxophone. The intensity and dynamic of each phrase increases and builds, until the tension is finally dissipated by a final quiet reiteration of the opening phrase.   The second movement opens with a plaintive melody which is then repeated and decorated with grace notes and trills. A contrasting moto perpetuo section suddenly changes the mood, before the first melody is repeated, this time fortissimo. This leads to a longer moto perpetuo section, this time starting slowly and accelerating. The performer may play this extended section using circular breathing, although it can be performed without this technique. The plaintive melody returns and the movement ends quietly, as it began. The third movement, marked “playfully” is a jocular and angular finale, featuring juxtapositions between the lower and higher registers of the instrument. The spiky staccato main theme is followed by a central section in which the player must ‘sustain’ a high melody while simultaneously accompanying in the low register. The main theme returns in a developed form, before an extremely short and vivacious coda concludes the work.   (Although written for soprano saxophone, Three Inventions may be performed on any saxophone.)