Canfield: Concerto after Dvorak for Saxophone Quartet and Piano

Code: JP4096
ISMN: 979-0-3019-0540-1

Concerto after Dvorak for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble by David DeBoor Canfield. The item (JP4096) listed on this web page is the piano reduction of the wind ensemble accompaniment. The complete wind ensemble set is also avaiable from Jeanne Inc. (JP6044)

Concerto after Dvorak was initiated when Canfield was contacted in January of 2017 by saxophonist MU1 Dana Booher on behalf of Capt. Kenneth Collins, director of the US Navy Band, to see if he would be interested in writing a work to help the Band celebrate the 40th anniversary of its annual Saxophone Symposium in January of 2018. The Band was particularly interested in having a work in Canfield's "After" series, a series of works he has been writing in the style of older composers who had never written for certain instruments. Booher proposed that the great Czech composer Antonin Dvorak serve as the model for the work, which was specified to be a concerto featuring saxophone quartet.

Unlike most of Canfield's "After" pieces to date, this Concerto is in the major mode, although the slow middle movement is largely in the key of F Minor. The Concerto begins with a serious introduction that leads directly into a lively and boisterous exposition that employs three main themes in its modified sonata-allegro structure. The character of these themes ranges from exuberant to reflective, and they are all developed in various ways. The second movement is introspective, as the alto saxophone spins out a doleful Slavic melody, but a middle portion in the parallel major key draws again upon Bohemian-like dance idioms. The finale, in rondo form, is given a tempo marking of Presto, and throughout the movement juxtaposes a theme in the saxophone quartet in the minor mode with a response by the ensemble in the parallel major. Along the way, Canfield hurled long streams of quick notes at both solo quartet and ensemble, and the piece concludes in a whirlwind of activity.

Total approximate duration 16 minutes.

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