Big Lighthouse
for soprano saxophone and
piano (1998)
duration: 4’
GRT • 053
CD available
Beat Me
Barry
Cockcroft (soprano saxophone), Ross Calia (piano)
Reed Music
audio sample
score
available from
Reed Music
program note
To my ear, the
soprano saxophone has an ambiguous tone which can smoothly
alternate between an elegant classical sound (not
dissimilar to the oboe) and something more wild and raw.
This contrast is at the heart of the piece.
Big Lighthouse
opens fugally, with a theme
that is partly playful and whimsical, but also slightly
melancholy. As the piece progresses, it alternates
episodically between 'straight' and 'swung' quavers,
culminating in an elated utterance over an extended
dominant pedal in the piano (A), and cadencing to a final
bi–tonality on the note of D.