JAMES M. DAVID, composer
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      • AUTO '66 - Clarinet Concerto
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      • L'oiseau dans l'espace
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      • Of Unsurpassed Heroes
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L'oiseau dans l'espace 
Concerto for alto saxophone and percussion ensemble

Recordings

Live Recording - Zachary Shemon, saxophone and Paul Vaillancourt, conductor (excerpts)

Live Recording - Jeff Siegfried, saxophone and Paul Vaillancourt, conductor


Picture

Performance Materials

Available through Murphy Music Press

Cost: $60 plus shipping
(Purchase price includes unlimited performance rights)
Bound score and solo part with PDF files for percussion ensemble

commissioned by the International Saxophone Symposium and Competition

Picture

Score: Full Score (printing disabled)


Program Notes: “L’oiseau dans l’espace” or “Bird in Space” by Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși is among the most famous and important examples of modern sculpture. It appealed to me for its purity of form and directness of expression; two things that I always strive for in my compositions. The work, in my estimation, is comprised of two unbroken curved shapes. I used this framework as the structure for two movements in my concerto for saxophone and percussion ensemble. Curves are explored throughout in melodic, coloristic, rhythmic, and harmonic shapes. In the first movement, the saxophone’s ability to sustain long beautiful sounds is contrasted against the constant decay of percussive sound sources. However, occasionally this relationship is reversed where friction-based percussion is used to create sustained sounds and a warbling microtonal saxophone accompanies. The forceful yet playful second movement expresses the kinetic qualities of the sculpture and concludes with a final explosive cadenza for drums and extreme altissimo saxophone playing.







  • Home
  • about
  • wind ensemble
    • Message from Arecibo
    • Flying Jewels
    • Urban Light
    • Troublesome Fire
    • Symphony no. 1
    • Ghosts of the Old Year
    • Call to Commitment
    • With Soul Serene
    • March Tumbao
    • Lookfar
    • Menlo Park, 1879
    • Zephyrus
    • Flexible Instrumentation
    • Heartland Verses
    • Swing Landscape
    • I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
    • Concerto for Vibraphone
    • The Moorlands
    • Big Four on the River
    • All Dark Is Now No More
    • Temple's Grace
    • From the Shaken Tower
    • Two-Lane Blacktop
    • Sinfonietta no. 3
  • compositions
    • wind ensemble
    • clarinet >
      • all clarinet works
      • clarinet sonata
      • AUTO '66 - Clarinet Concerto
    • saxophone >
      • all saxophone works
      • Saxophone Sonata
      • L'oiseau dans l'espace
      • Saxophone/Percussion Double Quartet
    • trombone >
      • all trombone works
      • Trombone Sonata
      • Five American Dances
      • Song of the Valar
      • Bass Trombone Sonata
      • Partiels 2
      • Garden of the Gods
    • Other Brass Works >
      • Of Unsurpassed Heroes
      • Trumpet Sonata
    • Percussion >
      • The Dandelion
      • NOLA - BELA - SOWEGA
    • large ensemble >
      • Tin Lizzies on Old Fall River
      • LASCAUX
      • KAFKA - Sax Concerto
    • chamber ensemble >
      • Clarinet and Horn Trio
    • solo / electroacoustic
    • choral / vocal >
      • KUBLA KHAN
  • contact
  • Report Performance