Five of One, Half a Dozen of the Other…?

Spotify

CD available
Continuum Sax
Continuum Saxophone Quartet, CSAX01
Reed Music

score available from
Reed Music
program note
i. At Sixes and Sevens
ii. Möbius Strip
iii. Five of One, Half a Dozen of the Other…?
iv. Delayed Arrival (Flight 4753)

These miniatures for saxophone quartet explore aspects of rhythmic ambiguity inspired by visual illusions found in M.C. Escher’s prints. Each movement presents a different rhythmic challenge; At Sixes and Sevens, gradually reveals a pattern of 13 beats (6+7) – a modified Latin clave rhythm with irregular grouping that increasingly comes to seem regular. Möbius Strip loops a 5–note cell seamlessly around on itself like a glitchy figure of 8, suggesting infinity. The title miniature, Five of One, Half a Dozen of the Other…? explores the ratio 5:6. It fits together like a tessellated puzzle. In Delayed Arrival (Flight 4753) melodies of varied length shift in counterpoint to each other, before being drawn into a regular groove in common time. These pieces were written for Continuum Sax (James Nightingale, Margery Smith, Martin Kay and Jarrod Whitburn).

reviews
“Greenbaum’s piece is beautifully idiomatic”
Andrew Ford, 24 Hours, October 2002

“From the opening track it is obvious to hear the rhythmic accuracy and excellent intonation that can only come from a dedicated ensemble. Melbourne composer and lecturer Stuart Greenbaum’s four miniatures Five of One, Half a dozen of the other…? (dedicated to artist and mathematician M.C. Escher), capitalises on this accuracy with a work in mixed metres, inspired by the visual ambiguity of the artist’s work. There is particularly beautiful p soft staccato playing in the third movement.”
John Babbage, Australian Clarinet and Saxophone, September 2001

“There is a complete change of texture in Five of One Half a Dozen of the Other…?  which are four short pieces for saxophone quartet. Inspired by M. C. Escher’s optical illusions, the music uses different rhythmic possibilities to create an aural impression of his prints. The four movements called At sixes and sevens, Möbius strip, Five of one, half a dozen of the other…? and Delayed arrival (flight 7456), are delightfully inventive. The third movement builds from little groups of notes to a raunchy middle section, which the players seem to enjoy enormously.”
Paul RW Jackson, MusicWeb International (UK), August 2026