Listen to a cool piece

[Pull Guy]

As soon as I had posted this to the old board, it shut down! So, here it is again...

A friend told me that someone on this board (the old site) had been inquiring about the saxophone piece by my friend Jim Matheson. I can't seem to find the thread with the question, so I'm posting to the subject areas that I am guessing would be most appropriate.

For those interested, a little background on Jim: he is a young composer based in New York City who has already received such honors as a Guggenheim grant and a fellowship at the Yaddo colony; he has had commissions from groups including the Chicago Symphony (for its chamber music series and for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago) and the Albany Symphony; his music has also been played by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and he has had a piece released on the CRI label.

His saxophone piece, for alto and piano, is called _Pull_; it was written in 1995 (an early work, at this point; I think he needs to write another one!). I invite you to listen to a demo recording I made a few years ago, available in a streaming file at Jim's website. The url is:

http://www.bofamusic.com/pull.html

Feel free to post comments here, and don't hold back -- I can take it!

Pull Guy

[aanz]

Wow! I liked that very much. Nice composition, performance and recording.
Were all the compositions on that page written byMatheson? I'm listening to Falling now and am very impressed. Thanks for the tip.

[Pull Guy]

Hey aanz, thanks for the comments. Glad you liked what you heard. To answer your question -- yes, all the pieces on that site are Jim's (it's his personal site -- Bofa Music is the name of his publishing company). So far, Pull is his only work for saxophone, but I'm hoping that will change...

I'm actually headed to Albany (NY) tomorrow (Saturday 3/8) to hear the Albany Symphony premiere a new piece of his.

[Bear]

I liked it! Nice tone BTW!

[Pull Guy]

Thanks, Screech -- much appreciated.

[Pull Guy]

Pulitzer Prize winner John Harbison (composer of San Antonio - Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano)said, regarding Pull:

"I liked [ Pull] VERY much, especially the ingenious and unexpected instrumental fittings which actually made sax & piano sound like a good idea. Also appreciated the way the continuity defies expectation."

Plans are in the works for a commercial recording by a well-known saxophonist. Hopefully more news on that soon!

[garyinla]

I like the composition.
I would give the sax playing a B-.

There were a few things where it just seemed very slightly amateurish, undue emphasis or careless attack on notes, ie the attack on the very low notes also notes going over the jump, ie mid B to mid D. This was just occasional, generally i thought it was good with good tone. This sounds (I am sure) to be an alto sax. Maybe you arent on alto sax all the time.

I didnt look at the website to see your background but in my opinion this playing is post high school level (using generalities.) It is music college level in general, at least, but it is just not perfect intonation on every single note.

[Pull Guy]

garyinla, thanks for the honest appraisal.

Glad you liked the piece. Yes, it is for alto (as I believe is indicated on the web site, as well as in my original posting above). You wouldn't have found any info on me at the web site, though.

The piece has a lot of accented notes and sudden dynamic contrasts in it, so it's possible that that's what struck you as "undue emphasis" in places. Or maybe not.

Thanks for listening.

[garyinla]

"The piece has a lot of accented notes and sudden dynamic contrasts in it, so it's possible that that's what struck you as "undue emphasis" in places. Or maybe not."

That was probably it. I dont like the accented notes and sudden dynamic contrasts so much. Now that i realize you were probably reading it from a chart and playing the instructions on dynamics that woudl explain it. But still, maybe the playing on the dynamics could be smoother and less "undue emphasis" but that is personal, stylistic, etc. It just didnt seem to me like playing that anyone would naturally tend to do playing in a cohesive, fluid manner, at a few points.

It seems to me that IF you were reading this from charts, and reading the instructions on dynamics that it would be better if the piece were memorized and practiced and the dynamics were smoother, more ingrained into the playing so it isnt so abrupt. But if it is intended to be abrupt, then what can i say.

[Pull Guy]

Yes, I was definitely reading from the score. Since you use the term "chart," I'm guessing that you're more familiar with/accustomed to the jazz idiom. I can't really speak to how your suggestions would apply to a jazz player, but as a classical player, I try to stay true to the composer's directions as much as possible. I have had the opportunity to discuss this particular piece with the composer, so I was able to get a pretty good idea of what he was looking for.

I don't mean to sound defensive here; I'm just offering information in response to some of your points.

To update something I mentioned in an earlier post... Since Jim has posted it on his web site, I imagine it's ok for me to say it here as well -- Clifford Leaman, the saxophone professor at the University of South Carolina, will be recordiing Pullnext summer, for a CD release on the Equilibrium label. It should be exciting to see what such a great player does with this work!

[Razzy]

Did the composer write that certain notes should be played with a minimal amount of vibrato, and others with a straight tone? Or is that a matter of your own taste?

[Pull Guy]

Certain notes are marked senza vib. -- e.g. the high D "pings" near the beginning, and the long sustained high E. (Good question.)