Instrumentation: Alto saxophone and piano

Duration: 10:00

Premier information:  This work was premiered on the 14th of July 2023 at Erin Hall, Rondebosch, Cape Town as part of a collaborative project by Josie McClure and Seung-Ree Lee. The concert was entitled: Finding Home: An Exploration of New South African Saxophone Music.

Programmatic information:

This work was commissioned by Josie McClure. It is a three movement work with each movement being inspired by a South African folktale.

Instrumentation: Alto saxophone and piano

Duration: 5:24

Premier information: Premiered at a KOMPOS concert, Stellenbosch. Performed by Liam Burden (Alto Saxophone)

Programmatic Information: Commissioned by Liam Burden

Instrumentation: Reed Quintet (Oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon)

Duration: 8:00

Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet

Duration: 5:36

Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet (S, A, A, B)

Instrumentation: Clarinet, Alto Saxophone and Piano

Duration: 7:53

Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Piano

Duration: 6:44

Programmatic information:  The form of this work is ABACADA. This work uses techniques such as bisbigliando, 4 octave range (Altissimo register), multiphonics and slap tonguing.

Instrumentation: Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone and piano

Programmatic information: Commissioned by Liam Burden. Dedicated to his son, Gabriel.

Three movement work:

I – On The Promenade

II – Cradlesong

III – Smiles and Dances

Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Piano

Duration: 4:29

Grade: 4/5 level piece

Instrumentation: Saxophone, voice, bass clarinet, viola, marimba

Instrumentation: Reed Quintet and Tape

Instrumentation: Reed Quintet (Oboe, Clarinet, Alto saxophone, Bass clarinet, Bassoon)

Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Bb Clarinet OR Baritone Saxophone and Bass Clarinet

Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Tape

Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Rhythm section (Keys, Double bass, Drum Kit)

Duration: 35:05

Premier information: Mark Michael Lynch: MMus Final Concerto exam. Ender, Hall. March 2024.

Alto Saxophone: Mark Michael Lynch

Keys: Throy Peterson

Bass: Dylan Tabisher

Drum Kit: Stuart Martin

Programme information: Commissioned by Mark Michael Lynch

Technical Notes (Provided by Mark Lynch)

Master of None explores the musickings of both the jazz and classical praxes. In sections that take on an overall jazz idiom, the rhythm section should think of the notated part as a skeleton and are encouraged to embellish and improvise around these parts.

Similarly, articulation indications in the jazz sections are a guideline, and the performer should add suitable jazz articulation to match their sound. The piano parts include reductions from the orchestral version and may be adapted for playability.

The saxophonist should play on jazz and classical mouthpieces to fully exploit the two timbres. Where this is not possible, timbre changes should happen through physiological (embouchure) manipulation alone.

Nevertheless, the player should make use of the two timbral worlds. The bass should keep up reinforcement in the different styles as they occur. Repeats and open solos should be treated within jazz praxis, allowing the ensemble to decide how many cycles will be played and when to move on.

Movement 3, “Molina-Groove,” refers to Jesus Molina’s arrangement of the jazz standard “A Night in Tunisia.” Program Notes As a modern performing jazz and classical saxophonist, what does it mean to say, ‘we need a music worth our time,’? Aiden Erasmus posited this idea in his article ‘Inhabiting the Edge: Code-switching as floating praxis.’ According to Erasmus, ‘music worth our time’ is ‘something that would offer us a referent with which to ground ourselves in the present, as we attempt to both negotiate our past and imagine a future,’.

Master of None is a three-movement, 35-minute concerto for alto saxophone, with rhythm section and orchestra (reduction) that explores the complex relationships that arise in and between both solo and ensemble parts in the traversal between jazz and classical saxophonic worlds. How do we navigate the saxophone’s polarised historical and musical development for music worth our time, present, and future? We code-switch.

Movement 1 The first movement starts with the sonorous jazz sound of the alto saxophone, which states the theme for the section ahead. The ensemble soon follows suit. A stark contrast follows in the proceeding section to showcase the collective traversal into the ‘classical’ saxophonic art world. Improvisation plays an essential role in all instruments, as this work seeks to present the entire ensemble as a cohesive unit rather than separating the soloist from the collective. Movement one sets the mood for the atmosphere ahead as art world traversal occurs throughout, featuring an entirely improvised cadenza, mouthpiece changes, and open solos for other instruments in dedicated sections.

Movement 2 The second movement presents itself in a slow and sonorous Adagio Cantabile. Consequently, a jazz ballad section proceeds with the first classical theme, contrasting it with a written-out melody and solo, which is open to improvised embellishment by all. Finally, the original melody returns in the altissimo range for the alto saxophone, exposing its subtlety and vulnerability in such a fragile melodic moment.

Movement 3 The third movement, set in a quasi-dance form inspired by the 11/8-metre interpretation of Jesus Molina’s Night in Tunisia jazz standard arrangement, presents the most stylistic opacity in the saxophone. The same melodic material is traversed via different stylistic lenses while remaining on the same mouthpiece. This work explores an expanded musical lexicon for expressing the instruments’ dual identities in classical and jazz art worlds, featuring solos on Saxophone, Upright Bass, and Drumkit. Master of None never seeks to combine styles for syncretism nor draw boundaries between them. It is in the viewing of different stylistic boundaries that we navigate the pathway between art worlds.

‘A meeting in the middle of an ocean, somewhere between the old world and the new, and slightly off-kilter. Our responsibility is to stay afloat,’ – A Erasmus – 2020