BY SAMUEL COTTELL
‘Folklore’
Nexas Saxophone Quartet
Glebe Justice Centre 24 October
The Glebe Justice Centre is a large and spacious hall, yet there is a certain aspect of intimacy to it. The large church-like windows reveal the leafy foliage outside the building, and off into the distance you can see the skyscrapers of the Sydney CBD. Standing in the centre of the main stage area are the four members of Nexas Sax Quartet: Michael Duke, Andrew Smith, Nathan Henshaw and Jay Byrnes. They are all wearing matching black jackets with matching blue, dotted pocket scarves. They make a sax quartet with swagger and their image fits the aesthetic of the hall – a perfect match.
On offer tonight is a selection of music that is based on or influenced by folk music. The first pieces that Nexas perform are a selection of Ligeti’s Bagatelles, arranged by Fabio Oehrli. The bagatelles are originally taken from a larger scale work, ‘Musica ricercata’. The bagatelles are often texturally sparse, with most of the notes either played staccato or strongly accented, creating an insistent musical force. The dynamics change frequently, sometimes several times in each bar. The bagatelles, which are very short in length, allow the ensemble to demonstrate a multitude of skills in short musical offerings. In these works, Ligeti restricts the use of pitch intervals, the first bagatelle one only having two intervals and so on. ‘Allegro con Spirito’ begins with a boom. Byrnes’ baritone saxophone sends the piece head-first into a lively outburst. Ligeti’s works characterise the extreme ends of the treble and the bass with the interplay between Duke on soprano and Byrnes on baritone. Here, these works also show the control required of the alto and tenor saxes in providing harmonic support at various points. The ‘Allegro Grazioso’ conjurs up an atmospheric textural device in the writing. Nexas renders these extended techniques with ease and precision, demonstrating that they really can play the most demanding repertoire.
The second musical offering is Andrew Smith’s arrangements of Grieg’s ‘Lyric Pieces’. Taking a selection of six (Grieg composed 66 in total), these miniature works based on folk music themes are a stand out when performed by saxophone quartet. The first piece ‘Arietta’ has a harp-like inner line of moving semi-quavers with a bass line and melodic line on the top. On a piano, it is a mean feat to bring these musical layers to the fore, but when scored for saxophone quartet the inner lines become strengthened and add a sense of depth to the work. With Smith’s arrangements, Grieg’s piano pieces transform themselves, the melody line passed around the ensemble and some interesting thought and care to detail. ‘Fairy Dance’ and ‘Popular Melody’ are stand-out performances.
Following this, the quartet has a surprise for the audience. Expanding on the theme of folk-inspired music, they present Smith’s arrangement of Paul McCartney’s ‘Blackbird’. Interestingly, Smith arranged the piece using an Indian raga as the foundation. Over a drone, the familiar melody of ‘Blackbird’ bobs buoyantly. The approach to the phrasing in ‘Blackbird’ is fresh and innovative and the scoring for saxophone quartet enhances the harmonic and melodic content of the music, particularly when set against a drone bass.
The second half of the program is dedicated to a longer work, Dvorak’s ‘American Quartet’. Originally scored for string quartet, this work was composed when Dvorak visited America for the first time. It was actually Dvorak’s advice to the National Conservatory (where he was the director) that in order to create an American musical language, they needed to look at their own folk music, the African-American spirituals (which we have later come to know as the blues). This arrangement explores aspects of the string quartet that aren’t really heard in the original setting. Nexas anchors the piece, giving it depth and grounding. Their dynamic range is presented in a firework display of bravura, contrasted with sweet and tender moments, once again demonstrating their cracker-jack technique as individual players and as a cohesive and dynamic ensemble. Nexas’ performance of this work takes it to new territory and only enhances the work. I must say, I never really liked much of Dvorak’s work until I heard Nexas Saxophone Quartet perform it.
The evening ends with Smith’s arrangement of James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’. Here, the ensemble demonstrates excellent programming choices in balancing heavy modern works against more, dare I say it, accessible pieces. This arrangement is well conceived and Smith again displays his imaginative powers in transferring voice and guitar ideas to the saxophone quartet, offering the audience something new and fresh. But, then again, that’s the beauty of Nexas Sax – the groups offers a fine musical experience with something for everyone, and then some.
Image supplied.
