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
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.