Saxophones

Solo

HOT FLASH • 6’ • alto sax

YEAR COMPOSED
2021

COMMISSIONER
Carrie Koffman, saxophone

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publisher Company
• $15 PDF with digital license
To order:
• Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
• An invoice will be sent to you via PayPal.
• Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed performance materials will be sent as PDFs within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).

PROGRAM NOTES
About half of the world’s population goes through menopause, and yet it is a topic that is frequently avoided in much of society. When saxophonist Carrie Koffman approached me about writing a piece in which the listener experiences the physical attributes of menopause, I was surprised and intrigued – what might I be able to craft through music that would represent the mammoth change that affects women’s bodies? As I began to read books and articles about the history of menopause, I was struck by previous stances doctors took, particularly a gynecologist who, in 1966, published a book that shockingly posited that menopause was “an estrogen-deficiency disease” that could be “cured” with hormone replacement therapy. (Seriously?) It would be many more years before menopause would be openly acknowledged for what it is: a normal process of a woman’s fertility organs slowly shutting down as she heads into the next stage of life.

While the symptoms of menopause manifest uniquely within each woman, there are several traits experienced by much of the population. In Hot Flash, I portray one of the most common traits. A hot flash is characterized by a sudden flush of heat (like a fever) that encompasses one’s face, neck, and chest, and lasts for anywhere between thirty seconds and five minutes. This flush can be combined with a rapid heartbeat, chills, dizziness, nausea, and/or breaking into a sweat. Some women have multiple hot flashes a day, and experience these daily over the typical 5-7 years that menopause lasts (some have symptoms for less years than this, some have more). The more research I did, the more I realized how women grow adept at making small adjustments to their daily lives to quietly handle ongoing hot flashes, such as stashing a hand-held fan in their purse that can be quickly whisked out, switching to clothes made out of fabrics that keep the skin cool, wearing button-down cardigan sweaters that can be shed quickly, and keeping a trayful of ice in the freezer to drop into drinks throughout the day.

The piece opens with an intense hot flash. We hear a 2-note “heartbeat” motive that gets progressively faster, mixed in with a cacophony of motives that depicts a woman’s body abruptly feeling as if on fire. The middle section is slower and features a fluctuating motive that keeps sliding up and down on the saxophone; this represents the brain fog that some women experience, which can include difficulty concentrating, dizzy spells, mood changes, and sleeplessness. The piece concludes with another intense hot flash, during which we hear the “heartbeat” motive change from its hyper speed to a cool, calm pace as the woman recovers from the hot flash and seamlessly goes on with daily life.

-S.G.
PHOENIX RISING • 10’ • sop sax

I. Dying in embers

II: Reborn in flames

AUDIO
Christopher Creviston, soprano saxophone

YEAR COMPOSED
2016

COMMISSIONER
Christopher Creviston, saxophone

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41826-phoenix-rising.html

PROGRAM NOTES
Legends of the phoenix are found in stories from ancient Egypt and Greece. While each culture possesses a range of stories encompassing the phoenix myth, these tales tend to share similar traits: a sacred bird with brilliantly colored plumage and melodious call lives for typically five hundred years; then the bird dies in a nest of embers, only to be reborn among the flames. In Egyptian stories, the phoenix gathers scented wood and spices for its funeral/rebirth pyre, then collects the ashes from its earlier incarnation and flies them to the temple of the sun in Heliopolis to offer as a tribute to the sun god. In Greek myths, the phoenix was approximately the size of an eagle and was adorned with red and gold feathers; it would fly from either India or Arabia to Heliopolis to give its offering. The bird’s association with immortality and resurrection are particularly intriguing aspects of these tales, giving numerous writers (including William Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling) a rich resource for their own stories.

Phoenix Rising consists of two movements. I. Dying in embers represents an old phoenix who is settling on top of a pile of embers and breathing its last breath; II. Reborn in flames depicts the newly born phoenix getting its first taste of flight. Phoenix Rising was commissioned by saxophonist Christopher Creviston.
-S.G.
SWEET TOOTH • 13' • alto sax

I. Key Lime Pie

II. Salted Caramel Gelato

III. Chocolate Lava Cake

The commissioner has exclusive recording rights until 8/30/24.

VIDEO
Joe Lulloff, alto saxophone

YEAR COMPOSED
2021

DURATION
13'

COMMISSIONER
Joseph Lulloff, saxophone

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42420-sweet-tooth.html

PROGRAM NOTES
When Joseph Lulloff and I began discussing details for a new solo saxophone work, I noticed how much we talked about food. Joe wanted a suite of virtuosic short movements in which one movement would be a barn-burner. As our discussions went along, I realized that a trio of desserts would nicely (and deliciously!) fit the bill. For Sweet Tooth, we selected three desserts that we both find highly appealing.

For my research, I sampled (okay, devoured) each dessert, wrote down my impressions, and then composed music to match my gastronomic experience:

I. Key Lime Pie
The bottom graham cracker crust gives the pie piece a dense, solid foundation and has a slightly grainy quality. The middle key lime layer is thick, creamy, and very tangy. The top whipped cream layer is light and sweet. Both the graham cracker and whipped cream layers aid in mitigating the tartness of the key lime layer. A benefit of this pie is that you can direct each forkful to consist of one, two, or all three layers. This gives you six different possible tastes, as well as helps you choose how much tartness you want per bite, especially if there's a lot of whipped cream on top.

II. Salted Caramel Gelato
The gelato is smooth and very creamy. The caramel adds to this creaminess, while the salt adds unexpected and fun moments of punch. If the grains of salt are small enough to blend seamlessly into the gelato, there is no way of knowing when you’re going to experience that punch. This dessert is mostly a single-taste experience, with an occasional salty spike. The gelato melts so swiftly on the tongue that the taste fades rapidly after each spoonful, which leads to speedily consuming the entire bowl.

III. Chocolate Lava Cake
The entire exterior consists of a light and moist milk chocolate cake, which has a pleasingly sweet quality. A fine dusting of powdered sugar on top doesn’t greatly impact the taste, but it is visually appealing against the chocolate. Once the fork breaches the middle of the cake, a rich, dense liquid of deliciously bitter dark chocolate oozes from the center. Light versus dense, sweet versus bitter…this dessert is a study in contrasts. Consuming this dessert too quickly leads to a sugar rush.

-S.G.

Duo

SILVER LININGS • 11’ • alto sax, 5-octave marimba

I. Groundhog Day

II. Making Lemonade

VIDEO
RoseWood Duo (Clifford Leaman, saxophone, and Scott Herring, marimba)
Premiere performance on 9/2/21 • please note that rewrites have been made to the piece since the premiere.

YEAR COMPOSED
2020

COMMISSIONER
RoseWood Duo (Clifford Leaman, saxophone, and Scott Herring, marimba)

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42377-silver-linings.html

PROGRAM NOTES
When RoseWind Duo’s Clifford Leaman and Scott Herring commissioned me for Silver Linings, we could not have anticipated that we would be in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when I composed the piece. In the early summer of 2020, when the three of us met virtually to discuss possible topics, we had all been in lockdown for several months; the causes and effects of the lockdown were at the forefront of our discussion. In the midst of daily tragedies, I had been seeing news stories using the words “silver lining” to describe unexpectedly positive situations arising from our global situation, ranging from small effects (i.e. people having time to work on projects they never could get around to doing) to global ramifications (resurging animal populations in areas where they’re no longer challenged for space with humanity).

Silver Linings consists of two movements. Groundhog Day, the first movement, is slow and brooding. It embodies the strong feeling of déjà vu that so many of us experienced early on into lockdown, as we seemed to live the same day repeatedly with minor variances to our schedules. There are two main musical gestures: the first opens the piece as a slow, ascending minor chord which is a representation of uncertainty, and the second is a falling minor scale. These gestures depict how our lives were reduced to the basic building blocks of life – wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep – as our daily activities and livelihoods were suddenly knocked down. These same two gestures are utilized in the energetic second movement, Making Lemonade, except that they are spun around to reveal their silver linings: the minor chord falls to sound centered and decisive, and the minor scale rises as it bubbles with activity. Among the seeds of despair are also found seeds of hope, and the saxophone and marimba explore this hopefulness with great vigor and excitement.
-S.G.
STUBBORN AS HELL • 5’40” • 2 sop sax

VIDEO
Lati2de Duo

YEAR COMPOSED
2011

COMMISSIONER
Robert Spring (clarinet version)

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=stubborn+as+hell+garrop

PROGRAM NOTES
Stubborn as Hell was commissioned by virtuoso clarinetist Robert Spring. I heard Bob perform in September 2010 when I attended his clarinet concert at Arizona State University – Tempe. Bob is one of those wondrous musicians that plays the most challenging pieces written for the instrument and make them sound effortless. When he commissioned me, I wanted to write a piece that not only reflected his technical and musical abilities, but also his great sense of humor, hence the title and premise of the piece. The “stubbornness” of the title refers to the manner in which the two instruments incessantly battle each other around the pitch D, and how they willfully get stuck repeating pitches and gestures.

The composer made an arrangement of the piece for two soprano saxophones in 2016.
-S.G.
SUENOS DE FLAMENCO • 4’45” • alto sax, classical gtr

AUDIO
Duo Montagnard

YEAR COMPOSED
2018

COMMISSIONER
Duo Montagnard

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=suenos+de+flamenco+garrop

PROGRAM NOTES
Flamenco is an art form involving highly dramatic music and dance. The form is strongly associated with the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Its actual origins are less clear, though historians theorize that gypsies brought the predecessors of flamenco to the region as they migrated from India prior to the 15th century. The form took on traits from cultures that the gypsies encountered in Andalusia, including Spanish, Sephardic, Islamic, and Moorish musical traditions. Over the centuries, Spain’s ruling classes undertook systematic persecutions of populations who did not agree with their religious ideals, forcing gypsies to take refuge in Andalusia’s isolated mountain regions to survive. Not surprisingly, the topics of the gypsies’ songs frequently touch on longing, despair, rage, anguish, and hope.

Sueños de Flamenco (Flamenco Dreams) portrays a young gypsy couple who dance the flamenco with great longing, passion, and vigor. The piece was commissioned by Duo Montagnard (Joseph Murphy, saxophone, and Matthew Slotkin, guitar). I subsequently arranged the piece for flute and guitar.
-S.G.

Sax + Piano

FRAGMENTED SPIRIT • 8’ • alto sax, pno

VIDEO
Chad Lilley, saxophone, and (unknown), piano

YEAR COMPOSED
1998

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41106-fragmented-spirit.html

ERRATA
Performers, the following mistakes are in the printed scores. Please correct:
- m. 109, beat 2 - change the saxophone to have a concert C instead of a concert A, so that it matches the piano part. The transposed pitch will need to be changed in the sax part too.
- m. 119 - the piano has an extra, 6th beat in this 5/4 measure. Remove the extra beat at the end of the measure.

PROGRAM NOTES
fragmented
i feel
so
fragmented
i
am
small bits
scattered over cement
glittering specks, dark lines
i don’t know
how
to reassemble myself

fragmented
i sound
listen
open my jaw
i gurgle, cough, gasp
a silent, violent scream
my throat cannot
recall
its primary function

a spirit in pieces
you see it
strewn everywhere as if on parade
you have power
you can stomp on it
smash it
or you can collect the bits
and teach my hands
how
to reshape my tattered spirit
into vibrance.

-S.G.
KRAKATOA • 19’ • alto sax concerto (piano concert version)

INSTRUMENTATION
Alto saxophone soloist and piano
Also available for alto saxophone soloist and orchestra. See Concertos.

I. Imminent

II. Eruption

III. Dormant

VIDEO
Joe Lulloff, alto saxophone, and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra; Octavio Más-Arocas, conductor

YEAR COMPOSED
2017

COMMISSIONER
Barlow Endowment

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42425-krakatoa.html

PROGRAM NOTES
On May 20, 1883, a cloud of ash rose six miles high above Krakatoa, a volcano nestled on an island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. For the next two months, the volcano rumbled and spewed occasional dust and debris into the air, giving nearby inhabitants a spectacular show. On August 26th, Krakatoa turned deadly with an enormous blast that spewed pyroclastic flows (a blend of ash, lava, and gases) and pumice (lava that mixes with water and solidifies quickly into rock), and commenced a series of eruptions. On the next day, the volcano produced four enormous eruptions over four and a half hours. These eruptions were so loud (particularly the fourth) that they could be heard 3,000 miles away, and so devastating that two-thirds of the island sank back under the sea. The effects of Krakatoa’s eruptions were staggering: they sent shock waves into the atmosphere that circled the globe at least seven times; they triggered numerous tsunamis, the highest nearly 120 feet tall, which flooded and destroyed 165 coastal villages along with their inhabitants; and they propelled tons of ash roughly fifty miles up into the atmosphere. This ash blotted out the sun in Indonesia for days; it also lowered global temperatures for several years afterwards, and produced a wide range of atmospheric colors and phenomena. At least 36,000 people tragically lost their lives that fateful day. For the next forty-four years, Krakatoa was silent below the sea. This silence ended in 1927, when fishermen spotted steam and debris rising from the island. Within a year, a new volcano began to take shape above sea level. This new volcano is named Anak Krakatau, which translates to “child of Krakatoa,” and periodically experiences small eruptions.

Krakatoa for solo viola, strings, and percussion follows the path of the volcano’s four main eruptions. In the first movement, Imminent, the violist uneasily plays as the orchestra (representing the volcano) shows ever-increasing signs of awakening. The orchestra bursts forth into the second movement, Eruption, where it proceeds through four eruptions that get progressively more cataclysmic. After the final and most violent eruption, the violist plays a cadenza that eases the volcano into the third movement, Dormant. In this final movement, the volcano slumbers, soothed by musical traits that I borrowed from traditional Javanese gamelan music: a cyclical, repetitive structure in which the largest gong is heard at the end of each cycle, and a musical scale loosely based on the Javanese pelog tuning system. The movement ends peacefully with an array of string harmonics, representing the intense and brilliantly colored sunsets generated by Krakatoa’s ash in the earth’s atmosphere.

Krakatoa was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University.
-S.G.
MY DEAREST RUTH • 6’45" • alto sax, pno

VIDEO
Carrie Koffman, alto saxophone,
and Elisabeth Tomczyk, piano

INTRODUCTION
The former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reads Marty's final letter to her.

DURATION
6’45”

TEXT
Martin Ginsburg, the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

COMPOSER'S NOTE REGARDING SAXOPHONE EDITION
In 2020, saxophonist Carrie Koffman inquired if I would arrange the piece for saxophone. I made several small modifications to the original vocal line that give the saxophone edition its own unique character.
-S.G.

YEAR COMPOSED
2013

COMMISSIONER
Jane Ginsburg and James Ginsburg in celebration of the 80th birthday of their mother, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
Click to view product page.

NPR STORY FEATURING RBG READING MARTIN’S LETTER
National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg ran a segment on Cedille Records’ “Notorious RBG in Song” CD, featuring excerpts from Stacy’s My Dearest Ruth interwoven with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking the text. Click on the image to the right; the excerpts begin at 5’21”.

PROGRAM NOTES
by James Ginsburg

The letter on which My Dearest Ruth is based was my father’s last written statement. My parents celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary in my father’s room at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Wednesday, June 23, 2010. The following day, my mother called to say Dad had taken a turn for the worse. I flew to Baltimore the next morning (Friday) and met Mom at Dad’s room. The doctors came in and told us there was nothing more they could do — the cancer had progressed too far. All this time, Dad kept repeating one word: “Home.” So we made arrangements to bring him back to our apartment in Washington, D.C. While collecting his belongings from the hospital room, Mom pulled open the drawer next to Dad’s bed and discovered a yellow legal pad on which Dad had written this a week earlier:

6/17/10

My Dearest Ruth –

You are the only person I have loved in my life, setting aside, a bit, parents and kids and their kids, and I have admired and loved you almost since the day we first met at Cornell some 56 years ago.

What a treat it has been to watch you progress to the very top of the legal world!!

I will be in JH Medical Center until Friday, June 25, I believe, and between then and now I shall think hard on my remaining health and life, and whether on balance the time has come for me to tough it out or to take leave of life because the loss of quality now simply overwhelms. I hope you will support where I come out, but I understand you may not. I will not love you a jot less.

Marty

I should note one factual error: my parents met 59 years before the date of this letter, not 56. Obviously, Dad had their 56th anniversary in mind. We chose to keep the number 56 in the song.

My sister, Jane, and I commissioned Stacy Garrop to adapt the letter and set it to music as one of three songs by different women composers to be presented in 2013 as an 80th birthday tribute to our mother, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Soprano Patrice Michaels sang the premiere at the Supreme Court with pianist Dana Brown on Saturday, April 6, 2013.
-J.G.
NOIR VIGNETTES • 14' • tenor sax, pno Enter description here.

I. Murder at Midnight

II. Loaded Gun

III. Femme Fatale

IV. Last Cigarette

VIDEO
Frant Duo; Łukasz Frant, cello, and Joanna Galon-Frant, piano

YEAR COMPOSED
2014

COMMISSIONER
University of Illinois Research Board on behalf of Michael Cameron for the Sonata Project.

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42442-noir-vignettes.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In the mid-1940s, film critics in France noticed a trend emerging in movies from the United States, which they coined film noir (which translates to “black film”). These movies were dark, moody, and pessimistic, reflecting the agitation and anxiety present in society following World War II. Several characteristics are commonly found in many of these movies, including a strong but flawed male lead (often a detective or P.I.), a beautiful woman who either coerces the male lead into committing murder for her or is a killer herself (a “femme fatale”), and a twisting, turning plot line that involves one or more homicides. Additionally, there are several visual elements that these movies share: many are shot in black and white, with great emphasis on the use of shadows and light; alcohol and cigarettes are heavily consumed by men and women alike; and men typically wear trench coats and fedoras. Most of the story lines do not have happy endings. Examples of film noir include Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity, and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon.

Noir Vignettes for double bass and piano consists of four movements, each depicting a different aspect of film noir: Murder at Midnight, Loaded Gun, Femme Fatale, and Last Cigarette. This piece was commissioned by the University of Illinois Research Board on behalf of double bassist Michael Cameron. The composer subsequently made arrangements for cello/piano and tenor saxophone/piano.
-S.G.
PIECES OF SANITY • 11’ • alto sax, pno Enter description here.

I. Rage

II. Despair

III. Euphoria

IV. Possessed

V. Stoic

AUDIO
Creviston Duo

YEAR COMPOSED
2007

DEDICATION
Creviston Duo

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41388-pieces-of-sanity.html

PROGRAM NOTES
Pieces of Sanity, for alto saxophone and piano, contains five miniatures. Each short movement represents a frozen snapshot of a particular state of mind. We follow the protagonist as he experiences five states: Rage and Despair (movements 1 and 2) give way to Euphoria (movement 3); Possessed (movement 4) culminates into Stoic (movement 5).
-S.G.
QUICKSILVER • 24’ • alto sax concerto (piano concert version) Enter description here.

INSTRUMENTATION
Alto saxophone soloist and piano
Also available for alto saxophone soloist and wind ensemble; see below.

I. Antics of a Newborn God

II. Guiding Souls to the Underworld

III. Messenger of Olympus

AUDIO
Idit Shner, saxophone, and Eunhye Grace Choi, piano

YEAR COMPOSED
2017

COMMISSIONERS
• Appalachian State University • John Stanley Ross, conductor • Scott Kallestad, saxophone
• Arizona State University • Gary W. Hill, conductor • Christopher Creviston, saxophone
• Baylor University • J. Eric Wilson, conductor • Michael N. Jacobson, saxophone
• Butler University and the Butler University chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi • Michael J. Colburn, conductor • Heidi Radtke, saxophone
• Carthage College • James Ripley, conductor • Andrew Carpenter, saxophone
• Louisiana State University • Damon Talley, conductor • Griffin Campbell, saxophone
• Penn State University and the Margot Music Fund • Dennis Glocke, conductor • David Stambler, saxophone
• SUNY Potsdam • Brian K. Doyle, conductor (head of consortium) • Casey Grev, saxophone
• University of Alabama • Kenneth Ozzello, conductor • Jonathan Noffsinger, saxophone
• University of Massachusetts Amherst • Matthew Westgate, conductor • Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, saxophone
• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor • Michael Haithcock, conductor • Timothy McAllister, saxophone
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Carolyn Barber, conductor • Paul Haar, saxophone
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro • John R. Locke and Kevin M. Geraldi, conductors • Steven Stusek, saxophone
• University of Oregon • Rodney Dorsey, conductor • Idit Shner, saxophone
• University of South Carolina • Scott Weiss, conductor • Clifford Leaman, saxophone

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
Sax part with piano reduction (suitable for concert performance):
https://www.presser.com/114-41985-quicksilver.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In addition to being another name for the element mercury, “quicksilver” is used to describe something that changes quickly or is difficult to contain. My concerto of the same name was inspired by the Roman god Mercury, as well as the mercurial nature of the saxophone: unpredictable, very lively, and volatile. Mercury (known as Hermes in Greek mythology) is best known for his winged shoes, which allowed him to fly swiftly as the messenger of his fellow Olympians. Mercury had other duties too, including serving as the god of merchants, travelers, and tricksters; he also ushered souls of the departed to the Underworld.

Quicksilver tells three tales of the Roman god. The first movement (Antics of a Newborn God) opens with the birth of Mercury; after he takes his first steps, he toddles around, gleefully looking for mischief. He stumbles across a herd of cows that belong to his brother Apollo; Mercury slyly lets the cows out of their pen before toddling onward with his mischief-making. In the second movement (Guiding Souls to the Underworld), Pluto, god of the Underworld, bids Mercury to bring him fresh souls. The movement begins with death-knells tolling for humans who are about to die; Mercury picks up these souls and leads them down to the gates of the Underworld. The third and final movement (Messenger of Olympus) depicts Mercury as he is busily running errands for various gods and goddesses. We first encounter him mid-flight as he dashes to earth to find Aeneas, a Trojan lieutenant who had been run out of Troy by the invading Greeks. Aeneas is on a quest to find land on which to establish a new city that would eventually become Rome. While traveling, he is distracted from his quest when he meets the beautiful queen Dido. They live together for many years before Mercury intervenes; he chastises Aeneas for giving up on his quest and persuades him to pick it up again. As Aeneas mournfully resumes his journey, we hear Dido perish of a broken heart. Mercury then takes to the skies to seek out Perseus, who is preparing to kill the Medusa, the hideous gorgon who has snakes for hair and a gaze that turns those who catch her glance into stone. Mercury advises Perseus on how to slay Medusa and lends Perseus his sword to do the deed. We hear Perseus victorious in the beheading of Medusa, after which Mercury takes to the skies once more to fly home to Olympus.

Quicksilver was commissioned by Appalachian State University, Arizona State University, Baylor University, Butler University and the Butler University chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, Carthage College, Louisiana State University, Penn State University and the Margot Music Fund, SUNY Potsdam, University of Alabama, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Oregon, and University of South Carolina.
-S.G.
REPAIR THE WORLD • 6' • alto sax, pno Enter description here.

Lincoln Trio
Studio recording

The alto saxophone and piano version will be available after 10/10/24.

YEAR COMPOSED
2023

DURATION
6'

COMMISSIONER
Commissioned by Joanne Bernstein and made possible by many generous donors.
When there are no words, there is music.

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
To order:
• Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
• Specify the instrumentation you wish to order.
• An invoice will be sent to you via PayPal.
• Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed performance materials will be sent as PDFs within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).
Pricing:
• clarinet, cello, and piano trio • $25 (coming in fall 2024)
• piano solo (professional) • $15
• piano solo (student) • $15
• piano trio (professional) • $25
• piano trio (student) • $25
• saxophone (alto) and piano • $20
• saxophone quartet • $30
• string orchestra • $125
• string trio • $25
• string quartet • $30
• violin solo • $15
• violin and piano • $20
• viola solo • $15
• viola and piano • $20
• violoncello and piano • $20

PROGRAM NOTES
How does a composer write a work in response to the horrific mass shooting that took place at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade in 2022? I started with research. Joanne Bernstein, a longtime Highland Park resident and the commissioner of this project, arranged for us to talk with a wide range of people about the event, from city organizers and first responders to witnesses and survivors. We also visited the current memorial site for the seven victims, along with a Kindness Rock Garden situated close to the memorial where people have placed painted rocks with messages. Additionally, we sorted through thousands of tags written by people who visited the temporary arch memorial erected near the parade route in the months after the event. As I ruminated over our research, I placed on my desk a stone I had brought from the Rock Garden that had the word “peace” written on it. Alongside it, I put a tag from the memorial arch that was inscribed with the Hebrew words tikkun olam and its corresponding English “repair the world.” The rock and the tag stayed as permanent fixtures on my desk as I completed the process of composing the piece. These objects became my guiding light as to how to respond musically in my work.

What is the role of music in response to such an event? I find three purposes: first, to honor the victims and survivors. Second, to reflect on the inherent goodness of the people who jumped into action to save the injured, who provided resources to the families of victims and to the survivors in the immediate aftermath, and who are continuously working to bring the community together since the terrible incident. Third, to attempt to bring healing to members of the community.

In naming the work Repair the World, I call upon the Jewish concept of tikkun olam that we need to fix what is broken. This idea plays out musically in the piece, with melodies and chords first moving one way, then “fixing” themselves by reversing, as though getting repaired. The entire structure rewinds as well, with sections presenting themselves in reverse order halfway through the piece. I also wanted to express musically that our work to heal the world is ongoing. To represent this, I introduce a repeated note motive at the very opening of the piece; this motive is heard throughout the entire work. I end the piece with this same motive to signify that we still have work to do.

Additionally, I wish to make the universal concept of tikkun olam personal for all who perform and hear it. I invite all presenters and performers to translate the title into the language that is personal to them and their audiences, and to list the title in their chosen language in concert programs. May we all strive to heal the world together.

After the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, musicians began performing Repair the World as a response to the crisis. The commissioner and I welcome musicians to play the work anywhere and everywhere people are dealing with loss of any kind, whether from gun violence, war, or even personal loss.

-S.G.
SILVER DAGGER • 4’45” • sop sax, t sax, pno Enter description here.

AUDIO
Lincoln Trio (violin, cello, piano version)

YEAR COMPOSED
2009

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42423-silver-dagger.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In 1994, I heard for the first time an Appalachian folk song called Silver Dagger at a folk festival. The simplicity of the melody joined with a cautionary love tale enthralled me, and I spent the next several years researching the song. What emerged from my research were dozens of variants of the song, both in terms of text as well as melody and title. The variants that I discovered could be grouped more or less under three different titles: Silver Dagger, Drowsy Sleeper, and Katie Dear. All of these versions revolve around the same Romeo and Juliet premise: a boy asks a girl for her parents’ consent to marry. The story has various endings: the parents won’t give approval, so the girl and boy each end their lives with a silver dagger; the girl turns the boy down and sends him away to find another love; the girl forsakes her parents and runs away with the boy; and so on. In my trio, I incorporate two complete versions of the folk song, one of Katie Dear and one of Silver Dagger, as well as motives from a variant of Drowsy Sleeper.
-S.G.
SLIPSTREAM • 14’15” • s. sax, t. sax, pno (coming soon) Enter description here.

I. The Horizon Beckons

II. Riding Solo

III. Adrenaline Rush

AUDIO
Steve Ahearn, clarinet, Haley Hoops, horn, and Gabriel Sanchez, piano
Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Second Women in Classical Music Symposium, November 2020

YEAR COMPOSED
2020

COMMISSIONER
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42364-slipstream.html

PROGRAM NOTES
The first time I saw slipstreaming in action with professional cyclists, I was in awe. The competitors were riding inches away from each other; when the lead rider would swerve left or right, the pursuers would immediately follow suit. The physics behind what appears on the surface to be sheer daredevil antics are quite solid: the cyclists riding directly behind the leader are benefitting from reduced air and wind resistance. On a larger scale, a peloton (the French term for a pack of riders) benefits multiple riders who are behind the leaders of the pack. While riding so close to other riders carries great risk of colliding, that risk is outweighed by the benefit of preserving one’s energy.

Slipstream was inspired by the love of cycling shared by Haley Hoops, horn, and Stephen Ahearn, clarinet, for whom the piece was commissioned. They are drawn to cycling for the adventure of it, to discover new places, and to meet new people. Haley also expressed her enjoyment of taking solo bike rides. Additionally, I found great inspiration in watching the daily highlight videos of the three-week 2020 Tour de France, which happened to be taking place while I composed Slipstream.

The piece opens with The Horizon Beckons. A cyclist hears an enticing call emanating from the mountains, then the cyclist starts pedaling towards the mountains in search of adventure. Riding Solo, the second movement, explores the quiet of riding alone, the beauty of the landscape, and the shifting of the light and clouds, all while we hear the bike’s wheels in constant motion. Adrenaline Rush, the third and final movement, depicts the heat of competition. We hear the constant jockeying of cyclists within a peloton as they slipstream with each other and move with the wind. At the very end of the movement, we hear sprinters race for the finish line with everything they have left in their legs.

Originally for clarinet, horn, and piano, the composer has made additional arrangements for clarinet, bass clarinet, and piano, as well as for soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, and piano.

-S.G.
THE SOLITUDE OF STARS • 5’ • assorted duos and trios Enter description here.

VIDEO
Robert Young, soprano saxophone
Polina Khatsko, piano

YEAR COMPOSED
2020

COMMISSIONER
Utah Arts Festival commissioned the original sextet.

ARRANGEMENTS

Duos
• flute, piano
• oboe, piano
• English horn, piano
• clarinet, piano
• bassoon, piano
• soprano sax, piano
• soprano sax, marimba

Duos
• alto sax, piano
• violin, piano
• viola, piano
• violoncello, piano
• soprano (voice), piano

Trios
• flute, violoncello, piano
• oboe, bassoon, piano
• soprano and tenor saxophones, piano
• clarinet, bass clarinet, piano
• violin, violoncello, piano

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=solitude+of+stars+garrop

PROGRAM NOTES
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a 20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet, was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, I undertook The Solitude of Stars Project, which contains multiple duo and trio arrangements that I made for colleagues and friends.
-S.G.
TANTRUM • 13’30” • alto sax, pno Enter description here.

I. Obsessive Behavior

II. Lost

III. Fits and Fists

AUDIO
Ambassador Duo

YEAR COMPOSED
2000

COMMISSIONER
Otis Murphy

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41107-tantrum.html

ERRATA
Performers, the following mistakes are in the printed scores. Please correct:
Mvmt 1
- mm. 19-21 - piano LH is missing an 8vb.
- mm. 178-184 - piano RH is missing an 8va.
Mvmt 2
- m. 7 - the note below the piano LH should say hold to measure 17 (not 87).
- m. 17 - at the end of the measure & below the staff, there should be an asterisk for a piano pedal lift.
- m. 29 - piano LH, the grace note to the last beat should only have the lower pitch (strike the upper pitch).
Mvmt 3
- m. 61 - the sax trill should have a flat above it instead of a natural. (It is correct in the sax part, since that’s transposed.)
- m. 137 - the piano is missing a Pedal indication - this begins on beat 1.

PROGRAM NOTES
Tantrum has the formal structure of a traditional sonata, but its connection with the historical form stops there. The first movement (Obsession) obsesses continuously on a four note figure, which is introduced immediately following an extended slow introduction. Lost, the second movement, actually began as a piece for voice and piano; it subsequently lost its text, and the saxophone sings forlornly in its place. The third movement (Fits and Fists) takes a quirky bit of music and modulates it up an interval of a perfect fourth every chance it gets. This high energy piece presents a playful challenge for both the saxophonist and pianist.
-S.G.
WRATH • 14’15” • tenor sax, pno Enter description here.

I. Menace

II. Shock

III. Amok

VIDEO
Joseph Lulloff, tenor saxophone
Yu-Lien The, piano
Video: Sergei Kvitko, www.bluegriffin.com

YEAR COMPOSED
2016

COMMISSIONERS
Roy Allen, Jr., Carolyn Braus, Steve Carmichael, Christopher Creviston, Casey Grev, J. Michael Holmes, Andrew Hutchens, Jeff Kinsey, Joseph Lulloff, Jonathan Nichol, Jason Oates, Doug O'Connor, Tyrone Page, Jr., Justin Rollefson, David Stambler, and the Margot Music Fund.

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41945-wrath.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In 2000, I wrote a feisty piece called Tantrum for alto saxophone and piano. Sixteen years later, I decided to revisit Tantrum and re-imagine it as a leaner, meaner, ferocious teenager who has moved on from an infant’s temper tantrum into an all-out vengeful fury. Wrath shares a few structural similarities with Tantrum: both have three movements that follow a fast – slow – super fast pattern; both works also open with a declamatory statement issued by the saxophone; and both are high in energy and very dramatic. Musically, the works are independent.

One of the intriguing features of Wrath was inspired by the manner in which the piece was commissioned. Saxophonist David Stambler and I built a consortium of fifteen saxophonists who all took part in commissioning the piece. I wanted each saxophonist to have multiple opportunities to personalize the music by bringing his or her own interpretation to the notes. So I incorporated several spots in the first movement in which the saxophonists are encouraged to experiment and tinker with the way they perform the written material (you’ll hear a prime example of this in the opening material of the first movement). Additionally, near the end of the first movement, there is a spot in which the saxophonists are asked to improvise.
-S.G.

Trio

ARCHANGELS • 12' • 3 sop sax

I. Michael (Warrior)

II. Raphael (Healer)

III. Gabriel (Heralder)

Christopher Creviston, Samuel Detweiler, and Justin Rollefson, soprano saxophones; Arizona State University, Tempe

YEAR COMPOSED
2018

COMMISSIONERS
Christopher Creviston, Samuel Detweiler, and Justin Rollefson, soprano saxophones

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=archangels

PROGRAM NOTES
I have always been fascinated with the concept of archangels – huge, supernatural beings with gigantic wings who visit earth to carry out their heavenly tasks. Archangels are the “chief” angels in Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions. The precise number of these high-ranking celestial beings varies from one religious source to another (typically from four to seven). The three movements of Archangels depict Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel—the three archangels most commonly referenced.

Michael is a warrior who is ever vigilant to march into battle against forces of evil. In art, he is often portrayed with his wings spread open in mid-flight and wielding a large sword that is raised into an attack position. The first movement begins with the foreboding sound of his large, beating wings. Suddenly, Michael appears in all of his terrible glory and wreaks havoc on an army of demons.

Raphael is a Hebraic name that translates to “God heals,” and he is in charge of all manners of healing. Artwork of Raphael typically shows him holding a staff, and he is often pictured with the round cheeks associated with a young cherub. In this quiet middle movement, Raphael gently makes his rounds to tend to the sick.

Gabriel is the heralder of news. In Christianity, Gabriel’s purpose is quite significant: he appears to Zechariah to announce the forthcoming birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary to announce the forthcoming birth of Jesus. Gabriel is often depicted holding a scepter, a stem of lilies, or an unfurled scroll. In this final movement of the piece, Gabriel trumpets his news for all to hear.

This piece was commissioned by saxophonists Christopher Creviston, Samuel Detweiler, and Justin Rollefson. I subsequently made an arrangement for three flutes.
-S.G.

LISTING FOR CONCERT PROGRAM
Please list the piece as follows:
Archangels
I. Michael (Warrior)
II. Raphael (Healer)
III. Gabriel (Heralder)

Quartet

ATHENA TRIUMPHANT • 6’ • sax quartet (SATB)

The commissioners have exclusive commercial recording rights until 8/30/24.

VIDEO
Performers:
Geoffrey Deibel, soprano saxophone
Jeffrey Loeffert, alto saxophone
Jonathan Nichol, tenor saxophone
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone
Great Plains Saxophone Workshop

YEAR COMPOSED
2012 string quartet (original version)
2022 saxophone quartet edition

COMMISSIONER
Michele and Rafiq Mohammadi commissioned the original string quartet for their daughter, Rabia.
The saxophone quartet edition was commissioned by Quartet Vela.

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42352-athena-triumphant.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of war, wisdom, justice, and the arts. She was born out of the head of her father, Zeus, wearing a helmet and carrying a shield. More interested in strategy than bloodshed, Athena led armies that only fought for just causes. In times of peace, Greek artisans prayed to her for guidance in their artistic endeavors. Athena Triumphant portrays Athena as she marches into battle and emerges victorious.
-S.G.
FLIGHT OF ICARUS • 14’ • sax quartet (SATB)

I. Icarus Ascending

II. Deadalus Mourns

AUDIO
Capitol Quartet

YEAR COMPOSED
2012

COMMISSIONER
Commissioned by the Margot Music Fund and the Capitol Quartet

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41723-flight-of-icarus.html

PROGRAM NOTES
One of the first pieces I ever composed was a short saxophone quartet named Soaring Eagle. I was eighteen and played the alto saxophone in high school, so it was quite natural to write a piece that my marching band classmates could play. While that early work has long been forgotten, I have always remembered feeling exhilarated at hearing those four saxophones dipping and weaving around each other as they played the piece’s main theme. When the Capitol Quartet commissioned me for a new work, I decided to revisit the topic of soaring, to see if I could capture the essence of exhilaration once again. Additionally, I recently wrote a choir piece on the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. One of the poems, Not They Who Soar, came to mind as I began this piece; the haunting theme of that setting serves as the basis for the musical material.

Flight of Icarus is based on the Greek legend of Daedalus, an architect and engineer, and his son Icarus. On the island of Crete, Daedalus had built a maze for King Minos. Minos imprisoned a Minotaur (a half-bull, half-human creature) within the maze and annually sacrificed fourteen Athenians to the creature. Being an Athenian himself, Daedalus was upset with this arrangement and helped another king to successfully navigate the maze and kill the Minotaur. Minos sent his army after Daedalus in retaliation, but Daedalus was prepared. He and his son Icarus affixed wings crafted of wax and feathers to their backs and took to the sky. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too low, so the waters would not weigh down the feathers, nor too high for the sun to melt the wax. Icarus, however, was so elated with the thrill of flying that he drew too close to the sun. The wax melted, and Icarus fell to his watery demise.

Flight of Icarus consists of two movements. Icarus Ascending follows Icarus’ flight toward the sun and subsequent fall; Daedalus Mourns depicts a father’s grief for his lost son.

This piece was commissioned by the Capitol Quartet and the Margot Music Fund.
-S.G.
HELL HATH NO FURY • 5’30” • sax quartet (SATB)

VIDEO
Capitol Quartet

YEAR COMPOSED
2018

COMMISSIONER
Capitol Quartet

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
$35 full score & parts • PDFs with digital license
To purchase, email Inkjar Publishing Company

PROGRAM NOTES
The phrase “Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d” was penned by William Congreve in 1697 in his tragedy play The Mourning Bride. Over the centuries, the original phrase morphed into the more commonly known phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” While the original phrasing has lost some of its elegance in its shortened modern form, the sentiment remains the same – a scorned woman is going to be steaming mad.

Hell Hath No Fury is my take on the Lilith myth. Lilith was the first wife of Adam, who God created before he made Eve. Lilith was cast out of Eden when she refused to be subservient to him, particularly in regards to amorous matters. As the piece begins, we hear Lilith screaming in fury and anguish. This is followed by a calmer section, in which she is in shock at her fate. Lilith once again lashes out in anger before she sullenly walks out of the garden of Eden forever.

Hell Hath No Fury was commissioned by the Capitol Quartet (Christopher Creviston, soprano saxophone; Joseph Lulloff, alto saxophone; David Stambler, tenor saxophone; and Henning Schröder, baritone saxophone) and the Margot Music Fund.
-S.G.
REPAIR THE WORLD • 6' • sax quartet (SATB) Enter description here.

Cadeaux Quartet (Philip Kleutgens, Yun Qu Tan, Brian Kachur, and Natalia Warthen)

YEAR COMPOSED
2023

COMMISSIONER
Commissioned by Joanne Bernstein and made possible by many generous donors.
When there are no words, there is music.

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
To order:
• Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
• Specify the instrumentation you wish to order.
• An invoice will be sent to you via PayPal.
• Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed performance materials will be sent as PDFs within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).
Pricing:
• clarinet, cello, and piano trio • $25 (coming in fall 2024)
• piano solo (professional) • $15
• piano solo (student) • $15
• piano trio (professional) • $25
• piano trio (student) • $25
• saxophone (alto) and piano • $20
• saxophone quartet • $30
• string orchestra • $125
• string trio • $25
• string quartet • $30
• violin solo • $15
• violin and piano • $20
• viola solo • $15
• viola and piano • $20
• violoncello and piano • $20

PROGRAM NOTES
How does a composer write a work in response to the horrific mass shooting that took place at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade in 2022? I started with research. Joanne Bernstein, a longtime Highland Park resident and the commissioner of this project, arranged for us to talk with a wide range of people about the event, from city organizers and first responders to witnesses and survivors. We also visited the current memorial site for the seven victims, along with a Kindness Rock Garden situated close to the memorial where people have placed painted rocks with messages. Additionally, we sorted through thousands of tags written by people who visited the temporary arch memorial erected near the parade route in the months after the event. As I ruminated over our research, I placed on my desk a stone I had brought from the Rock Garden that had the word “peace” written on it. Alongside it, I put a tag from the memorial arch that was inscribed with the Hebrew words tikkun olam and its corresponding English “repair the world.” The rock and the tag stayed as permanent fixtures on my desk as I completed the process of composing the piece. These objects became my guiding light as to how to respond musically in my work.

What is the role of music in response to such an event? I find three purposes: first, to honor the victims and survivors. Second, to reflect on the inherent goodness of the people who jumped into action to save the injured, who provided resources to the families of victims and to the survivors in the immediate aftermath, and who are continuously working to bring the community together since the terrible incident. Third, to attempt to bring healing to members of the community.

In naming the work Repair the World, I call upon the Jewish concept of tikkun olam that we need to fix what is broken. This idea plays out musically in the piece, with melodies and chords first moving one way, then “fixing” themselves by reversing, as though getting repaired. The entire structure rewinds as well, with sections presenting themselves in reverse order halfway through the piece. I also wanted to express musically that our work to heal the world is ongoing. To represent this, I introduce a repeated note motive at the very opening of the piece; this motive is heard throughout the entire work. I end the piece with this same motive to signify that we still have work to do.

Additionally, I wish to make the universal concept of tikkun olam personal for all who perform and hear it. I invite all presenters and performers to translate the title into the language that is personal to them and their audiences, and to list the title in their chosen language in concert programs. May we all strive to heal the world together.

After the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, musicians began performing Repair the World as a response to the crisis. The commissioner and I welcome musicians to play the work anywhere and everywhere people are dealing with loss of any kind, whether from gun violence, war, or even personal loss.

-S.G.
SALON MUSIC • 8'30" • sax quartet (SATB) Enter description here.

VIDEO
Christopher Creviston, soprano saxophone
Joe Lulloff, alto saxophone
Jonathan Nichol, tenor saxophone
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone
2024 Great Plains Saxophone Workshop

YEAR COMPOSED
2023

COMMISSIONER
Fauré Centennial Festival, Boulder, Colorado

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
$45 saxophone quartet full score & parts • PDFs with digital license
To purchase, email Inkjar Publishing Company and specify "saxophone quartet"

PROGRAM NOTES
Imagine that you are an artist living in Paris in the year 1885. You are invited to the mansion of a wealthy patroness of the arts. You are ushered into an ornately decorated music room, replete with gilded mirrors, glowing chandeliers, and luxuriously crafted sitting chairs. The ladies are wearing the latest trends in evening gowns, and the men are dressed in tuxedos. The focal point of the room is a young violinist in a resplendent silk gown who is about to commence a musical concert for the delight and amusement of the well-to-do guests.

Above is a description of a painting by James Tissot called Hush! (The Concert). While the painting dates from 1875 and depicts a music salon in London, it represents a scenario that was also happening in France throughout the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, most notably in the mansion of Winnaretta Singer, also known as Princesse Edmond de Polignac (1865-1943) and heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Winnaretta was a major benefactor of the arts who, over the course of forty-five years, gave regular music salons that championed living composers through a range of commissions for new works. Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky were among the many recipients of her generosity.

In tribute to this invigorating atmosphere of music-making, I crafted Salon Music. My piece is lighthearted in tone, with an occasional escapade into a darker realm. As a tip of the hat to Fauré, with whom Winnaretta had a lifelong friendship, I worked in melodic and harmonic snippets from a few of his chamber works. You will hear fluttering butterflies from his art song Le papillon et la fleur (Op. 1) and the weeping cello melody from his Elegie (Op. 24). I was also inspired by a four-measure passage from the first movement of his Violin Sonata No. 1 (Op. 13); this passage became the basis of two tension-building sections within my own piece.

Salon Music was commissioned by the Fauré Centennial Festival for premiere at the University of Colorado – Boulder in February 2024.

-S.G.
THE SOLITUDE OF STARS • 5' • sax quartet (SATB) Enter description here.

VIDEO
Northwestern University Graduate Saxophone Quartet

YEAR COMPOSED
2023

COMMISSIONER
Utah Arts Festival (original sextet version)

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42414-the-solitude-of-stars.html

PROGRAM NOTES
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a 20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet, was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, I undertook The Solitude of Stars Project, which contains multiple duo and trio arrangements that I made for colleagues and friends.
-S.G.

Quintet

RITES FOR THE AFTERLIFE • 16’ • reed quintet (ob/eh, cl, sop/alto sax, bass cl, bn)

I. Inscriptions from the Book of the Dead

II. Passage through the Netherworld

III. The Hall of Judgment

IV. The Field of Reeds

AUDIO
Akropolis Reed Quintet

YEAR COMPOSED
2018

COMMISSIONER
Rites for the Afterlife was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment on behalf of the Akropolis Reed Quintet, Calefax Reed Quintet, and the Brigham Young University Reed Quintet.

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41998-rites+for+the+afterlife.html

PROGRAM NOTES
The ancient Egyptian empire began around 3100 B.C. and continued for over 3000 years until Alexander the Great conquered the country in 332 B.C. Over the centuries, the Egyptian empire grew and flourished into a highly developed society. They invented hieroglyphics, built towering pyramids (including the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World), and the created many household items we still use today, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, eyeliner, black ink, and the forerunner of modern-day paper.

Included among their achievements were a series of highly developed funerary practices and beliefs in the Afterlife. As the average lifespan of an Egyptian hovered around 30 years, living past the death of one’s physical body was a legitimate concern. Egyptians believed that upon death, their souls would undertake a harrowing journey through the Netherworld. If they survived the horrific creatures and arduous trials that awaited them, then their souls would be reunified with their bodies (hence the need to preserve the body through mummification) and live forever in a perfect version of the life they had lived in Egypt. To achieve this, Egyptians devised around 200 magical spells and incantations to aid souls on the path to the Afterlife. These spells are collectively called The Book of the Dead. Particular spells would be chosen by the family of the deceased and inscribed on the tomb’s walls and scrolls of papyrus, as well as on a stone scarab placed over the deceased’s heart. Subsequent collections of spells and mortuary texts, such as The Book of Gates, assisted a soul in navigating the twelve stages of the Netherworld. Not only did these spells protect and guide the soul on this dangerous path, but they also served as a safeguard against any unbecoming behavior an Egyptian did while alive. For instance, if a person had robbed another while alive, there was a spell that would prevent the soul’s heart from revealing the truth when in the Hall of Judgement.

Rites for the Afterlife follows the path of a soul to the Afterlife. In Inscriptions from the Book of the Dead (movement 1), the soul leaves the body and begins the journey, protected by spells and incantations written on the tomb’s walls. In Passage though the Netherworld (movement 2), the soul is now on a funerary barque, being towed through the Netherworld by four of the region’s inhabitants. We hear the soul slowly chanting incantations as the barque encounters demons, serpents, crocodiles, lakes of fire, and other terrors. The soul arrives at The Hall of Judgment in movement 3. Standing before forty-two divine judges, the soul addresses each by name and gives a “negative confession” connected to each judge (i.e. “I did not rob,” “I did not do violence,” and so on). Afterwards, the soul’s heart is put on a scale to be weighed against a feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth. If the heart weighs more than the feather, it will be eaten by Ammut, a hideous creature that lies in wait below the scale, and the soul will die a second and permanent death (this was the worst fear of the Egyptians). But if the heart is in balance with the feather, the soul proceeds onward. The final stage of the journey is the arrival at The Field of Reeds (movement 4), which is a perfect mirror image of the soul’s life in ancient Egypt. The soul reunites with deceased family members, makes sacrifices to the Egyptian gods and goddess, harvests crops from plentiful fields of wheat under a brilliant blue sky, and lives forever next to the abundant and nourishing waters of the Nile.

Rites for the Afterlife was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment on behalf of the Akropolis Reed Quintet, Calefax Reed Quintet, and the Brigham Young University Reed Quintet.
-S.G.

Saxophone Choir

DUNBAR SONGS • 10' • SSAATTBB saxophones

I. Life

II. Not they who soar

III. Lullaby

VIDEO
Great Plains Saxophone Workshop
College Large Ensemble; John Nichol, conductor
Please note that the 4th movement (Old) was arranged after this performance, so it isn't included in the video.

YEAR COMPOSED
2024

COMMISSIONER
Volti commissioned the original choral version; the composer’s arrangement for saxophone choir is dedicated to John Nichol.

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
$55 full score & parts • PDFs with digital license
To purchase, email Inkjar Publishing Company

PROGRAM NOTES
Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American poet and novelist to gain national and international recognition. Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1872, his mother was a former slave and his father had escaped from slavery prior to serving in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. Dunbar began writing poetry as a child and published his first book of poems, called Oak and Ivy, when he was twenty. This was followed by eleven additional books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels, and a play. The subject matter of Dunbar’s poems encompasses a wide array of topics, from his observations of nature, love, and life to his renditions of African American life. Dunbar’s life was ultimately cut short when he contracted tuberculosis and died at the age of 33 in 1906.

I originally set five of Dunbar’s poems for vocal choir in my work Songs of Lowly Life. In Dunbar Songs, I arranged four movements for saxophone choir.

-S.G.

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR'S POEMS
(Although these texts were removed from the saxophone version, they shed light on the meaning of the music)

I. Life
A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!

A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With the smile to warm and the tears to re-fresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!

II. Not they who soar
Not they who soar, but they who plod
Their rugged way, unhelped, to God
Are heroes; they who higher fare,
And, flying, fan the upper air,
Miss all the toil that hugs the sod.
'Tis they whose backs have felt the rod,
Whose feet have pressed the path unshod,
May smile upon defeated care,
Not they who soar.

High up there are no thorns to prod,
Nor boulders lurking 'neath the clod
To turn the keenness of the share,
For flight is ever free and rare;
But heroes they the soil who've trod,
Not they who soar!

III. Lullaby
Sing me, sweet, a soothing psalm,
Holy, tender, low, and calm,
Full of drowsy words and dreamy,
Sleep half seen where the sides are seamy;
Lay my head upon your breast;
Sing me to rest.

IV. Old
I have seen peoples come and go
Alike the Ocean'd ebb and flow;
I have seen kingdoms rise and fall
Like springtime shadows on a wall.
I have seen houses rendered great
That grew from life's debased estate,
And all, all, all is change I see,
So, dearest God, take me, take me.
I KNOW MY MIND • 4’ • SSAATTBB saxophones

VIDEO
Great Plains Saxophone Workshop
College Large Ensemble; John Nichol, conductor

YEAR COMPOSED
2024

COMMISSIONER
Ensemble of the North commissioned the original choral version; the composer’s arrangement for saxophone choir is dedicated to the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop.

ORDERING SCORES
Inkjar Publishing Company
$40 full score & parts • PDFs with digital license
To purchase, email Inkjar Publishing Company

PROGRAM NOTES
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was an American poet who produced a great body of work in her lifetime. Among her works are several books of poetry, essays, plays, an opera libretto, and over two hundred sonnets. The sonnets cover a vast range of topics including love, loss, beauty, music, death, war, science, legendary figures, and the end of humanity. Beautifully constructed, I find that many of Millay’s sonnets are well suited to be set to music. Between 2000 and 2006, I set sixteen of these sonnets for choir. I know my mind is originally from my choral work Sonnets of the Fatal Interview.

In her sonnet “I know my mind, and I have made my choice,” Millay describes the end of an affair. She makes it clear that ending the relationship was her choice, and that her former lover no longer has any influence on her.

-S.G.

(Although these text is removed from the saxophone version, it sheds light on the meaning of the music)

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY'S SONNET
I know my mind and I have made my choice;
Not from your temper does my doom depend;
Love me or love me not, you have no voice
In this, which is my portion to the end.
Your presence and your favours, the full part
That you could give, you now can take away:
What lies between your beauty and my heart
Not even you can trouble or betray.
Mistake me not - unto my inmost core
I do desire your kiss upon my mouth;
They have not craved a cup of water more
That bleach upon the deserts of the south;
Here might you bless me; what you cannot do
Is bow me down, who have been loved by you.

Sonnet XLV of Fatal Interview Copyright © 1931, 1958 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. All rights reserved. Text used by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor.
JARBA, MARE JARBA • 4’15" • SSAATTBB saxophones

VIDEO
Arizona State University Saxophone Studio; Christopher Creviston, Director

VIDEO
Northwestern University Saxophone Ensemble; Taimur Sullivan, Director

YEAR COMPOSED
2018

COMMISSIONER
Chanticleer commissioned the original choral version; the composer’s arrangement for saxophone octet is dedicated to Christopher Creviston and the Arizona State University Saxophone Studio.

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41976-jarba-2c-mare-jarba.html

PROGRAM NOTES
Jarba, Mare Jarba is a popular traditional Hungarian-Romani folk song. Its text speaks of the longing to return to one's homeland.

TEXT
Translation of Jarba, Mare Jarba
Green grass, tall grass, I would like to go home,
but I cannot, because I have sworn not to.
Tall grass, green grass – oh, that I cannot go home!

My mother has left the village; she left the hut empty,
Adorned with leaves but full of poverty.
Tall grass, green grass – oh, that I cannot go home!
Tall grass, green grass – I would like to go home.
but I cannot, because I have sworn not to.
LO YISA GOY • 5’ • SSAATTBB saxophones

VIDEO
Illinois State University Saxophone Studio
Paul Nolen, director and video maker

YEAR COMPOSED
2007; arranged by composer for saxophone ensemble in 2020

COMMISSIONER
Chicago a cappella

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-42217-lo-yisa-goy.html

PROGRAM NOTE
During the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, saxophonist Paul Nolen asked if I might have a choral piece that I could transcribe for saxophone ensemble. He was looking for a work that his Illinois State University students could learn and individually record their parts; he would then mix together and share online. I immediately thought of the text of my choral piece Lo Yisa Goy:

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

But they shall sit every man under his vine
and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid:
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

May all nations put aside their arguments and listen to each other, and may we ultimately find a global peace to preserve both mankind and our planet.

-S.G.

Concerto

ALPENGLOW • 18’ • double concerto for alto saxophone, tuba, and wind ensemble

INSTRUMENTATION
alto saxophone soloist, tuba soloist, 3 Fl (3rd on Picc), 2 Ob (2nd on EH), 2 Bn, CBn or Contrabass Cl, 4 Cl, 1 B. Cl, SATB Sax, 3 Hn, 3 Tpt, 2 Tenor Tbn, 1 Bass Tbn, 1-2 Euph, 1-2 Tba, Timp, 4 Perc, Pno (with optional Celesta), 1-2 DB

I. First Light

II. Arc of the Sun

III. Radiant Glow

VIDEO
"The President's Own" United States Marine Band; Lieutenant Colonel Jason Fettig, conductor
MGySgt Nomar Longoria, alto saxophone, and MSgt Franklin Crawford, tuba

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
Full score: https://www.presser.com/115-40431
To view perusal, click on Score and Parts tab, then click on Preview below the window.
Piano reduction available for concert performance:
https://www.presser.com/114-42421-alpenglow.html

YEAR COMPOSED
2021

COMMISSIONERS
Butler University; Carthage College; Illinois State University; Florida State University; Kansas State University; Louisiana State University; Mansfield University; Oklahoma State University; Roosevelt University; St. Charles East High School; "The President's Own" United States Marine Band; University of Arkansas; University of Massachusetts Amherst; University of Minnesota at Twin Cities; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire; and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

PROGRAM NOTES
The first time I saw an alpenglow, I had no idea what it was. It was the late 1980s, and I was a music camp at the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. A few of us got up in the middle of the night so we could hike to a vantage point at the foot of Longs Peak, to watch the sun rise without any trees obstructing our view. Even though we had a few more minutes to go before the sun breached the horizon, when I looked up at the face of Longs Peak, it was glowing intensely with a most beautiful peach-pink color. This enchanting vision lasted only about ten minutes, after which the color faded as the sun rose. Throughout the next thirty years, whenever I returned to the Rocky Mountain National Park, I would occasionally catch this pre-dawn light show in all its glory.

An alpenglow is an optical phenomenon that is visible on high altitude mountains. It happens twice daily, right before the sun rises and right after it sets. The earth’s atmosphere scatters the sun’s light, allowing particular wavelengths of light through and blanketing the mountains in rich hues of peach, pink, red, and purple.

Alpenglow opens with First Light. This movement begins in the pre-dawn hour. The music starts simply and slowly, then grows increasingly animated as the sky lightens and the horizon shimmers with color. The movement explodes in a massive flurry of activity when the sun crosses the horizon; this energy eventually fades as the sun rises in the sky. In Arc of the Sun, we follow the sun as it energetically leaps and surges upwards in the sky. The music moves steadily upwards as it keeps pace with the sun’s progress, then crests as the sun reaches its zenith. As the sun bends back down towards the earth, the music follows suit, getting lower in range and slower as the sun nears the horizon. In Radiant Glow, the sun slips under the horizon, giving way to a most radiant alpenglow. As the alpenglow fades and twilight envelops the earth, stars shimmer in the night sky.

-S.G.

Photo of alpenglow in Denali National Park. National Park Service photo, public domain.
Taken by Emily Mesner.
KRAKATOA • 19’ • solo alto saxophone, strings, percussion

INSTRUMENTATION
Solo alto saxophone, strings (suggested size: 12,10,8,6,4), timpani, 3 percussion

*I. Imminent

II. Eruption

III. Dormant

An introduction to Krakatoa

A conversation about the new saxophone version of Krakatoa with Stacy Garrop and Joe Lulloff

**Excerpts

VIDEOS
*Joe Lulloff, alto saxophone, and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra; Octavio Más-Arocas, conductor
**Joe Lulloff, alto saxophone, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra; Matthew Kraemer, conductor

YEAR COMPOSED
2017

COMMISSIONER
Barlow Endowment

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=krakatoa+saxophone

ONLINE PERUSAL SCORE
To view a perusal score, click on the Score and Parts tab, then click on Preview below the window
https://www.presser.com/116-42156s-krakatoa.html

PROGRAM NOTES
On May 20, 1883, a cloud of ash rose six miles high above Krakatoa, a volcano nestled on an island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. For the next two months, the volcano rumbled and spewed occasional dust and debris into the air, giving nearby inhabitants a spectacular show. On August 26th, Krakatoa turned deadly with an enormous blast that spewed pyroclastic flows (a blend of ash, lava, and gases) and pumice (lava that mixes with water and solidifies quickly into rock), and commenced a series of eruptions. On the next day, the volcano produced four enormous eruptions over four and a half hours. These eruptions were so loud (particularly the fourth) that they could be heard 3,000 miles away, and so devastating that two-thirds of the island sank back under the sea. The effects of Krakatoa’s eruptions were staggering: they sent shock waves into the atmosphere that circled the globe at least seven times; they triggered numerous tsunamis, the highest nearly 120 feet tall, which flooded and destroyed 165 coastal villages along with their inhabitants; and they propelled tons of ash roughly fifty miles up into the atmosphere. This ash blotted out the sun in Indonesia for days; it also lowered global temperatures for several years afterwards, and produced a wide range of atmospheric colors and phenomena. At least 36,000 people tragically lost their lives that fateful day. For the next forty-four years, Krakatoa was silent below the sea. This silence ended in 1927, when fishermen spotted steam and debris rising from the island. Within a year, a new volcano began to take shape above sea level. This new volcano is named Anak Krakatau, which translates to “child of Krakatoa,” and periodically experiences small eruptions.

Krakatoa for solo viola, strings, and percussion follows the path of the volcano’s four main eruptions. In the first movement, Imminent, the violist uneasily plays as the orchestra (representing the volcano) shows ever-increasing signs of awakening. The orchestra bursts forth into the second movement, Eruption, where it proceeds through four eruptions that get progressively more cataclysmic. After the final and most violent eruption, the violist plays a cadenza that eases the volcano into the third movement, Dormant. In this final movement, the volcano slumbers, soothed by musical traits that I borrowed from traditional Javanese gamelan music: a cyclical, repetitive structure in which the largest gong is heard at the end of each cycle, and a musical scale loosely based on the Javanese pelog tuning system. The movement ends peacefully with an array of string harmonics, representing the intense and brilliantly colored sunsets generated by Krakatoa’s ash in the earth’s atmosphere.

Krakatoa was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University.

-S.G.
QUICKSILVER • 24’ • solo alto saxophone, wind ensemble

INSTRUMENTATION
Alto saxophone soloist, 5 Fl (5th on Picc), 2 Ob, EH, 2 Bn, CBn or Contrabass Cl, 5 Cl, 1 B. Cl, SATB Sax, 4 Hn, 2 Tpt, 2 Tenor Tbn, Bass Tbn, 1-2 Euph, 1-2 Tba, Timp, 4 Perc, Pno (with optional Celesta), DB

I. Antics of a Newborn God

II. Guiding Souls to the Underworld

III. Messenger of Olympus

VIDEO
Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, saxophone, and the University of Massachusetts Wind Ensemble; Matthew Westgate, conductor

YEAR COMPOSED
2017

ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/115-40245l-quicksilver.html
This link is not currently working; contact Presser at rental@presser.com for information and pricing.
Piano reduction (suitable for chamber concerts):
https://www.presser.com/114-41985-quicksilver.html

COMMISSIONERS
• Appalachian State University • John Stanley Ross, conductor • Scott Kallestad, saxophone
• Arizona State University • Gary W. Hill, conductor • Christopher Creviston, saxophone
• Baylor University • J. Eric Wilson, conductor • Michael N. Jacobson, saxophone
• Butler University and the Butler University chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi • Michael J. Colburn, conductor • Heidi Radtke, saxophone
• Carthage College • James Ripley, conductor • Andrew Carpenter, saxophone
• Louisiana State University • Damon Talley, conductor • Griffin Campbell, saxophone
• Penn State University and the Margot Music Fund • Dennis Glocke, conductor • David Stambler, saxophone
• SUNY Potsdam • Brian K. Doyle, conductor (head of consortium) • Casey Grev, saxophone
• University of Alabama • Kenneth Ozzello, conductor • Jonathan Noffsinger, saxophone
• University of Massachusetts Amherst • Matthew Westgate, conductor • Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, saxophone
• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor • Michael Haithcock, conductor • Timothy McAllister, saxophone
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Carolyn Barber, conductor • Paul Haar, saxophone
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro • John R. Locke and Kevin M. Geraldi, conductors • Steven Stusek, saxophone
• University of Oregon • Rodney Dorsey, conductor • Idit Shner, saxophone
• University of South Carolina • Scott Weiss, conductor • Clifford Leaman, saxophone

PROGRAM NOTES
In addition to being another name for the element mercury, “quicksilver” is used to describe something that changes quickly or is difficult to contain. My concerto of the same name was inspired by the Roman god Mercury, as well as the mercurial nature of the saxophone: unpredictable, very lively, and volatile. Mercury (known as Hermes in Greek mythology) is best known for his winged shoes, which allowed him to fly swiftly as the messenger of his fellow Olympians. Mercury had other duties too, including serving as the god of merchants, travelers, and tricksters; he also ushered souls of the departed to the Underworld.

Quicksilver tells three tales of the Roman god. The first movement (Antics of a Newborn God) opens with the birth of Mercury; after he takes his first steps, he toddles around, gleefully looking for mischief. He stumbles across a herd of cows that belong to his brother Apollo; Mercury slyly lets the cows out of their pen before toddling onward with his mischief-making. In the second movement (Guiding Souls to the Underworld), Pluto, god of the Underworld, bids Mercury to bring him fresh souls. The movement begins with death-knells tolling for humans who are about to die; Mercury picks up these souls and leads them down to the gates of the Underworld. The third and final movement (Messenger of Olympus) depicts Mercury as he is busily running errands for various gods and goddesses. We first encounter him mid-flight as he dashes to earth to find Aeneas, a Trojan lieutenant who had been run out of Troy by the invading Greeks. Aeneas is on a quest to find land on which to establish a new city that would eventually become Rome. While traveling, he is distracted from his quest when he meets the beautiful queen Dido. They live together for many years before Mercury intervenes; he chastises Aeneas for giving up on his quest and persuades him to pick it up again. As Aeneas mournfully resumes his journey, we hear Dido perish of a broken heart. Mercury then takes to the skies to seek out Perseus, who is preparing to kill the Medusa, the hideous gorgon who has snakes for hair and a gaze that turns those who catch her glance into stone. Mercury advises Perseus on how to slay Medusa and lends Perseus his sword to do the deed. We hear Perseus victorious in the beheading of Medusa, after which Mercury takes to the skies once more to fly home to Olympus.

-S.G.

HELIOS • 4’30” • 2 tpts/flugelhorns, hn, tbn, tba

PROGRAM NOTES
In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun. His head wreathed in light, he daily drove a chariot drawn by four horses (in some tales, the horses are winged; in others, they are made of fire) across the sky. At the end of each day’s journey, he slept in a golden boat that carried him on the Okeanos River (a fresh water stream that encircled the flat earth) back to his rising place. The cyclic journey of Helios is depicted in this short work for brass quintet. The first half is fast-paced and very energetic, while the second half is slow and serene, representing day and night.
-S.G.

STACY GARROP

a composer with a story to tell

a composer with a story to tell

a composer with a story to tell

SAXOPHONES

Solo

Duo

Sax + Piano

Trio

Quartet

Quintet

Saxophone Choir

Concerto

WORKS