for Alto Saxophone and Piano
Instrumentation:
- Alto Saxophone
- Piano
Program Notes:
In late June of 2022, shortly after graduating from High School, my good
friend and saxophonist Henry Ward contacted me about writing him a piece to play for a church service in July. This would not be my first time writing for him, as I have written pieces and sections in music in the past for him, my first Solo Alto Sax work, A Major Variations was written for Henry and the Alto Saxophone solo in the band arrangement of Short Movement was written with Henry in mind (this impacted orchestration and such) – so him, his style and strengths were not foreign to me. With all this in mind, I wrote Lament, a short 3 1⁄2 to 4-minute piece meant to showcase the alto sax and its beautiful, plaintive tone. The melody sits high on the horn and is very fragile, to contrast this the development section is more stern and resides in the mid-range of the instrument, until releasing into a powerful climax that is once again beautiful and passionate, but with a tinge of dissonance. The music finally gives way to a hint of resolution in F Major – but the piece is not
complete without a splash of D minor, to bring to the forefront both the light and darkness of this lament.
Score Video/Audio:
Performance Materials Available Directly from the Composer.