Conversations

for saxophone octet

I started this piece in 2017 and it took me 5 years to complete it. It's in three movements and a coda:

The first is about my struggle with social anxiety. I often feel as if I have no voice and have a hard time keeping my head above the water. Throughout the beginning movement, there is at least one person not playing to represent this struggle.

The second is about the two quartets conversing with each other. When this gets performed, I want to see some sort of visual representation of this, quartet one steps forward, or some sort of body language to really help demonstrate this.

The last movement is about pairs of instruments talking to each other. At every moment throughout this movement, two parts are working together, sometimes the whole ensemble is playing but it is clear which parts coincide with each other.

The last section is similar to movement 2 but I didn't really want to describe it as a whole movement because it's the finale. This will be memorized and each member steps in front of their stands. All soprano and alto saxophones are in different time signatures but playing at the same time so their parts won't line up but combine to make a brilliant sound. As that's happening, the tenor and baritone saxophones start playing their block chords to fill the room. After a few repetitions, every part starts breaking off leaving just one voice.

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