Chase the Money (alto sax & string orchestra)

Chase the Money is a chasing game between the pure penetrating tone of the alto saxophone and the massed sound of the string orchestra. Beginning with the entire group playing middle C, the single idea that generates the music is the expansion of this interval from unison to a minor seventh. The corresponding expanding motivic material that emerges becomes the subject of the middle section. I think of the sound the musicians make as a living being that is not arbitrarily structured, but structured according to the various behaviours, acoustical properties, and psychoacoustic affects of sounds when they are combined. I am writing directly with sound. I wrote the saxophone part directly on the instrument, using several idiomatic microtonal fingerings.

I especially thank my friend, saxophonist, publisher, and educator, Bernard Savoie of Montréal for commissioning the work, and saxophonist Otis Murphy for invaluable inspiration and consultation during the creation of the music.

I am especially indebted to Vancouver saxophonist David Branter for his championing of the work.