Finding the Words: ii. Undefined

From Wind Repertory Project
Michael Markowski

Michael Markowski


This work, for adaptable band or orchestra, is the second movement of the saxophone quartet Finding The Words.


General Info

Year: 2020
Duration: c. 3:20
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Saxophone Quartet
Publisher: Markowski Creative
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $60.00


Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
Part 1

  • Flute
  • Oboe
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Violin I

Part 2

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Violin II

Part 3

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Horn in F
  • Viola

Part 4

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Tenor Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium
  • Horn in F
  • Cello

Part 5

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet
  • E-flat Baritone Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium
  • Tuba
  • String Bass

Timpani
Percussion (optional), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone


Errata

  • Part 5 (Bsn., Tbn., Euph.), m. 9, beat 3: Note should be E natural, not E-flat.


Program Notes

This adaptation is derived from the second movement, undefined, from my saxophone quartet called Finding the Words. Although this movement now stands on its own, alone and heartbroken, the original program note might give it some further context. Sometimes, a piece of music is about… nothing. And that’s okay! But in deciding what to title that piece about ‘nothing,’ the music itself can lend clues. The style, harmony, and overall visceral feeling can often suggest a particular character or musical personality that the composer perhaps never initially intended.

For instance, the first movement from Finding the Words is full of flashy, technical phrases designed to dazzle and impress. Its personality, though, seems to me to sound a bit pretentious, highfalutin, and rhythmically stiff. Because of this, I found myself lured into naming this movement Five-Dollar Diction as an echo of Mark Twain’s warning to aspiring writers: “don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.”

If movement one is trying too hard to show off how much it knows, then in contrast, movement two is offering humility. To me, this heartbreaking song seems to express some kind of emptiness — perhaps a longing to find meaning, purpose, or importance. Even as the music searches for this fulfillment, though, in the end, it will remain tragically unfulfilled and Undefined.

A short pause cleanses our palette for a change of scenery. Here in movement three, the musical character seems to venture somewhere across the border. The saxophones sing passionately in their Foreign Tongues, and we’re quickly seduced by their charming accents and exotic vernacular. Although this isn’t our own native language, the music seems to invite us to join in and sing along, even if we have to mouth the words. But who needs words anyway?

Finding the Words premiered on April 28, 2019, in Tucson, Arizona, with the Sursum Saxophone Quartet: Robby Ávila (soprano), George Rosas (alto), Ashley Krogstad (tenor), and AJ Pratt (baritone).

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


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