JAMES M. DAVID, composer
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Pradakshina: Sonata for Alto Saxophone

Pradakshina: Sonata for Alto Saxophone
for alto saxophone and piano

15 minutes - Advanced - $45
Purchase score and parts using the PayPal button below.

Program Notes

Pradakshina: Sonata for Alto Saxophone was inspired by a recent trip I took to the Great Stupa located near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. The stupa is a remarkable example of Buddhist architecture, especially among those in the Western Hemisphere, and is renowned for both its impressive scale and connection to the surrounding landscape. Like many stupas, visitors are encouraged to circumambulate the building as a form of meditation known as pradakshina. During my circular walk, I found myself thinking on the nature of music as both a product of the intellect and a physical experience, and also how improvisation and composition are similar, but fundamentally opposite. My saxophone sonata is an attempt to manifest these ideas.
​

In each movement, different compositional techniques from both jazz and pre-Classical works with the intent of creating a seamless blending of both. “Prelude a la Courante” reinterprets the triple-meter dance form into the complex polyrhythms associated with jazz, especially Afro-Cuban jazz of the late 1940’s. Similar to keyboard preludes, linear harmonies are sustained over a continuous rhythmic palette. The title “Ciacona di ‘Gradus’” is a play on words that references Coltrane’s Giant Steps and Fux’ Gradus ad Parnassum (or “Steps to Parnassus”). A chaconne (or ciacona) is derived from the chord roots of Coltrane’s progression as does the saxophone’s melodic material. The movement later employs an isorhythmic double chaconne that is based on the “bridge” of Coltrane’s composition. Finally, “Hoquetus” uses short layered motives in a manner similar to both bebop and works from the early Renaissance as well as recombining techniques from earlier movements. Hopefully, the listener will appreciate these musings on the nature of music as something that can be both conceived in the mind and felt by the senses.

Commissioned by a Consortium of University Saxophonists

Prof. Peter Sommer - Colorado State University
​Dr. James Bunte - Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
Dr. Dave Camwell - Troy University
Dr. Nathan Nabb - Stephen F. Austin State University
Dr. Stephen Page - University of Texas - Austin
Dr. James Romain - Drake University
​Dr. Masahito Sugihara - Sam Houston State University
Dr. Scott Turpen - University of Wyoming
Dr. Dan Goble - Colorado State University

Previous Works for Saxophone

L'oiseau dans l'espace (2012) - Performed by Zach Shemon, solo saxophone
  • 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