A Flickering Glow
A Flickering Glow
Written for the Quasar Saxophone Quartet
Composer: Anita Pari
Performers: Quasar Saxophone Quartet: Marie-Chantal Leclair, Soprano Saxophone; Mathieu Leclair, Alto Saxophone; André Leroux, Tenor Saxophone; Jean-Marc Bouchard, Baritone Saxophone.
Introduction
a flickering glow
distant, cold, alone
a burst of energy ~ another ~
jumping, spinning, freeing,
playing, burning, screaming bright ——
blurring, fading,
slowly once again to the fondly known
Analysis
The concept for A Flickering Glow was initially inspired by the image of a flickering flame that grows and diminishes. Focusing on the exploration of saxophone multiphonics in this ACTOR initiative, I associated the image of the flame with a selection of unstable multiphonics with harmonics that come in and out. To complement these unstable multiphonics, I worked with a microtonal pitch language featuring close intervals that create beat frequencies when played together.
a flickering glow
distant, cold, alone
The opening section of A Flickering Glow features a simple, fragile, exposed ebbing and flowing, circling around a limited number of pitch classes and avoiding a strong directional pull.
The soprano saxophone introduces a simple isolated melody, moving back and forth between two notes a semitone apart in a slightly irregular rhythm.
These two notes were chosen to mesh closely with the unstable soprano saxophone multiphonic (8va_c1c2c3c4c5) which enters next, as the alto saxophone picks up the back-and-forth semitone material.
From mm. 4-6, a downward glissando of a semitone in the alto saxophone creates beatings as it slowly moves away from a unison with the soprano saxophone.
Throughout A Flickering Glow, I explored many combinations of multiphonics across voices, as well as combinations of multiphonics with single notes. From mm. 19-22, the baritone saxophone picks up the back-and-forth semitone melody, while the three other saxophones merge into one gesture. At first, the tenor saxophone multiphonic (123_45_c2) is joined with two single notes. As the sonority is repeated, another layer of intensity is added with a multiphonic in the soprano saxophone (8va_c1c2).
a burst of energy ~ another ~
As tension begins to build, the tenor saxophone aggressively interrupts the narrative with loud, grating multiphonics. The multiphonics I chose for this section are difficult to shape and control, so I encouraged a sudden explosion with little regard for subtlety.
From mm. 28-33, I return to the opening back-and-forth semitone melody, now coloured with a bisbigliando in the soprano saxophone.
jumping, spinning, freeing,
playing, burning, screaming bright ——
Becoming more chaotic, the next multiphonic interruption in the tenor saxophone sets off a tumult of high-pitched repeated figures in the soprano and alto saxophones, decorated by grace notes.
This commotion sustains and builds for 28 measures, evolving to include a variety of percussive and timbrally variable techniques such as slap tongue, flutter-tonguing, and textural multiphonics.
At m. 65, the complex sonority that inspired the phrase “screaming bright” appears, marking the climactic point of the piece. This sonority is comprised of three harsh multiphonics, sounding in the soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. The baritone saxophone plays in its very low range to add deep bass support.
blurring, fading,
After the sustained climax at m. 65, the energy slowly blurs and fades between mm. 72-79.
Reflection
As a composer relatively new to composing for saxophone, and completely new to composing for saxophone quartet, I found this project both challenging and rewarding. Challenges included studying the vast resources of multiphonics and pushing my musical aesthetic to include more directly abrasive and grating timbres. This expansion into a new timbral world proved very satisfying for me, and the climactic “screaming bright” moment in A Flickering Glow was also highlighted as a favourite moment by many listeners. Rewards included the valuable workshopping opportunities with QUASAR, encountering and playing with sonorities I was not familiar with previously, and of course, the final outcome. Thanks to the QPhonics library created by QUASAR, a thorough workshopping process, and the opportunity to make alterations up to the final rehearsals, A Flickering Glow met all of my hopes and expectations for the work.
As a composer, I generally draw on aspects of my own lived experience in my practice, recontextualizing and reimagining specific elements in each work. With this saxophone quartet project, I took the opportunity to stray from this theme, instead exploring abstraction through a single image. I find the image of a flickering flame compelling, but it does not have any particular personal significance outside of this musical work. In this way, A Flickering Glow prompted me to explore a different approach to conceptualizing musical materials and designing forms. To generate structure, I zoomed in on musical materials such as a single type of multiphonic or a succession of textures, rather than extracting form from complex memories and narratives.
A compositional concern that followed me throughout the process was the coherence of the form’s timing. Overall, I strove to create a sense of flow and inevitability, leading up to the “screaming bright” climax at m. 65 and naturally dissipating over the rest of the work. I utilized many fermatas in my score to allow for flexibility, and for the members of QUASAR to determine timings of pauses between sections or subsections though intuition. Although I struggled a little to recognize the flow of the piece, perhaps because of the many pauses, the arc of the 8-minute work fully came together for me in the premiere. When preparing future performances of this work, I will emphasize careful consideration of these pauses and timings as a major consideration.
I am grateful to ACTOR, Bob Hasegawa, and Andrés Gutiérrez Martínez for organizing this inspiring project and giving me the opportunity to take part. It was a pleasure to work with the QUASAR ensemble and I definitely fell in love with saxophone multiphonics over the 2023-24 school year.