Distances Within Me

[Clark Rice]

Distances Within Me, Lennon

Has anyone played or heard of this piece? I think it might be fairly obscure but I was curious as to its validity in the classical saxophone scene.

[awholley]

This piece is not as obscure as you might think.

I have heard it live twice at NASA gatherings and it has been recorded at least twice (Steve Mauk and Griffin Campbell). I would venture to say it's finding its way into the standard (advanced) rep.

[KSQ]

it has been recorded at least twice (Steve Mauk and Griffin Campbell).
Jim Forger, for whom it was written, recorded it twice; it's also been recorded by Tim McAllister and Cliff Leaman. Leaman's (http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1811376) is still in print; not sure about the others.

I would venture to say it's finding its way into the standard (advanced) rep.
I'd say it's already there.

[Toot Sweet!]

Distances Within Me, Lennon

Has anyone played or heard of this piece? I think it might be fairly obscure but I was curious as to its validity in the classical saxophone scene.
If I remember right, there was an articel and/or even a masterclass CD about this work in Saxophon Journal, some years ago. Search their website at

www.dornpub.com/saxophonejournal.html

[scottyhoop]

I played this back in the college days. It's a great piece that, as far as I know, is pretty much becoming a standard as far as more "contemporary" pieces go. Definately a piece worth studying.
Scott

[Steve P]

This is a brilliant work for sax and piano. It is definately already in the common repertoire, and quickly becoming a so called standard.
Its been recorded numerous times, as already mentioned.

My big problem with the piece is that its expensive! First its around $50 to buy it, and then quite a bit more to photo-copy the pages and cut/paste them in some sort of order to be able to perform it! If you have played this in concert, you probably know what Im talking about! Well worth it though.

Steve P

[thejoyofsax]

You also want to make sure you have a heck of a pianist handy. I heard James Umble (of Youngstown State U. in Ohio) play this in a recital recently and it seemed as though the part for keys was quite demanding. What else is new, right? Haha.

[austerity101]

This work is indeed difficult for piano. I'm a pianist and I'm learning it for the second time. There are some issues that make the piece more difficult than it probably ought to be:

1) handwritten score. Not an issue in itself, but Lennon's handwriting is very tiny and the notes and accidentals are treacherously close together. This also becomes a problem with beams.

2) Beams. I think if Lennon dropped a whole beam from the entire piece, it would be much easier to read.

3) Some weird enharmonic spellings, making standard intervals appear non-standard.

4) I don't think that most saxophones realize the rhythmic complexity when beginning the piece. Our part is at least one and a half times more complicated than your own, plus we are not only paying attention to our own lines, but yours as well.

Ensemble is a major issue in this piece ... saxophonists need to learn the piece within a basic metronomic construct, and then learn the liberties that can be taken. Otherwise, it will be very confusing for the saxophonist, and frustrating for the pianist to try to follow him.

Personally, I think the piece is ok ... but the amount of work that goes into the piece isn't on the same level as its quality, if I may say so. But there are worse pieces in the literature to play. :)