| Attractions |
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BACK TO THE PRESS KIT 1996 - Concert piece for saxophone quartet, dedicated to Serge Bertocchi and the 'Xasax' Quartet Soprano saxophone: Serge Bertocchi Alto saxophone: Pierre-Stéphane Meugé Tenor saxophone: Jean-Michel Goury Barytone saxophone: Marcus Weiss Engraving: J.C.Lupato In the whirlwind of matter are hidden "strange attractors", which suddenly give an unexpected direction to the seeming chaos (clouds, the wind, all the natural phenomena far from equilibrium). The saxophone expresses a voluble, expressive matter, in volutes and ornaments. My attractors are homorhythmic passages, unisons and phrasings in arpeggios. The quartet as a single man and suddenly polyphonic. Far from equilibrium, like tightrope walkers on the wire, these four phenomena invented by Mr Sax also recall music-hall attractions that have coloured their history (jazz, of course, but not solely). Attractions is praise I address to the saxophone, which has always attracted me. D.Levaillant 2003 |
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With this piece, premiered by the dedicatees on 2nd May 1996, at the Maison de la Culture in Amiens, Denis Levaillant tackles a genre (saxophone quartet) that has many connotations in France and, in particular, is linked to an academic tradition with apparently indelible roots (Marcel Mule, Daniel Defayet ). From his taste for jazz, his professional activity in this area and his leanings that, in general, are far from being academic, the composer has considered this genre, which is in the process of being emancipated (since Pousseur, Xenakis, Donatoni and Hugues Dufourt), with an openness towards mixed forms of expression, be they imbued with the spirit of modern jazz (at moments, one might think of the saxophone quartet of Jean-Louis Chautemps and François Janneau or of the "World Saxophone Quartet"), or close to a more western (modern) conception of writing. Moreover, did Denis Levaillant not declare that jazz was "one of the best schools of chamber music" that he knew? Beyond this stylistic mobility, nonetheless channelled by a very living, homogeneous language, these Attractions are characterised by great diversity in saxophone playing techniques and ensemble colours, these being particularly guided by precise expressive markings ("like a single man", "vociferous", "feverish", "recitative", "very lyrical", "polymelodic", etc.) and variable harmonic or polyphonic content. Similarly, the work's form is especially intelligible due to an interaction of successions and returns of textures all quite distinct one from another. A rather clearly thematic interplay sets in here, with the final return of the large homorhythmic blocks from the beginning. Here, Denis Levaillant has written an expressive, living work, adapted to the Xasax Quartet, which is also opening up new paths for saxophones and music. |
