Mike Dale – Pixillation (Saxophone Quartet)

Written for Trinity College of Music where the composer Gordon Carr was a professor for eighteen years. Fun music and rhythmically demanding.

Three Snippets for Four Saxes is a short entertaining work and concert stocking-filler - lasting only 6½ minutes. The three movements are: Flourish, a march-like fanfare with a suggestion of toy soldiers, a deeply felt Love Song as an unexpectedly emotional core, and Dislocated Rag to finish with a smile - ragtime with recurring 7/8 bars thrown in to trip up the dancers! Dislocated Rag is based on the composer's music for the 1984 mystery film The Case of Marcel Duchamp about the famous French Dadaist artist. Dedicated to The Fairer Sax, an all female quartet who gave the work its first performance in 1987 at the Marlborough Arts Festival, this piece makes for an entertaining addition to the saxophone quartet repertoire.

Pixillation, composed by Mike Dale, is a melodic piece with many rhythmic and harmonic contrasts. After a short tranquil yet rhythmic introduction the first theme starts in a tango style, maintaining a rhythmic feel throughout. Although the tune at this time is clearly played by the soprano, the alto and tenor saxophones frequently interject with short counter melodies. The piece ends with a scattering of notes from the accompanying instruments with the soprano soaring over the top, before a gentle and quiet finish. Pixillation received its premier at the Didsbury Arts Festival in September 2011, played by the Quagga Saxophone Quartet.