2022 Concert Series. #1 Americana

This concert features two works inspired by the American landscape. Antonin Dvorak's String Quartet #12 . Dvořák composed the quartet in 1893 during a summer vacation from his position as director (1892–1895) of the National Conservatory in New York City. He spent his vacation in the town of Spillville, Iowa, which was home to a Czech immigrant community. Dvořák sketched the quartet in three days and completed it in thirteen more days, finishing the score with the comment "Thank God! I am content. It was fast."

Jennifer Higdon's Short Stories is a 6 movement work showcasing the virtuosity of the saxophone quartet. In her own words:

"Summer's Eve" - I had in mind the idyllic summer evening where folks are out sitting on their porches in

swings and rocking chairs, listening to the sounds of summer: crickets and children at play, with soft evening

breezes. I wanted to capture the essence and the magic of an ideal summer's eve.

"Lullaby" - This movement was originally written as a work for mezzo, flute, and piano, but I kept

hearing it as a saxophone quartet in my head. It is a lullaby whose lyrical qualities seem to lend itself to the

saxophone very well.

"Coyote Nights" - Many years ago, I took a trip out West, camping out in 8 different National Parks; one

of those parks was Arches, in Utah. It is an unusual place where it becomes totally dark at night, with large

looming rocks, a million stars above, and with the sound of wild coyotes crying in the night. That crying is

peaceful reminder that we are visitors.

"Chase" - A fast movement with much energy and tension, this is a running game that could be through

any street, anywhere; where pursuers and prey sometimes come very close to catching up with each other, and

when they do, they rough and tumble before sprinting off again.

"Stomp & Dance" – This movement speaks for itself.

"Splashing the Canvas" – Inspired by Jackson Pollock, an artist who splashes paint upon a canvas in a

wild and uncontrolled manner, building up layers and constantly changing the resulting structure. Through this

piece, many ideas are presented and are thrown about and layered. At the beginning of the movement it takes

longer for the ideas to be stated, but as the piece progresses, the themes come back quicker and quicker as if the

canvas were building into thick layers of overlapping ideas and becoming more complex

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