Inflexio Duo: The Modern Saxophone Programme Booklet

INFLEXIO DUO: The Modern Saxophone Thursday 9th of March 2017 19:30 St Mary-at-Hill Church Lovat Lane Eastcheap London EC3R 8EE £5, concessions £3

Friday 10th of March 2017 17:05 York Gate 150 Royal Academy of Music Marylebone Road London NW1 5HT Free Entry

Programme Inflexio Duo (Guillermo Presa, Sara Méndez Arias): Piyawat Louilarpprasert

Dialogue(s) II "Fire Balls” for soprano and alto saxophones

Nathanael Gubler

[blrrd] [AaGgEeSs] for tenor and baritone saxophones

Thanakarn Schofield

Duo Animas for alto and baritone saxophones Short Interval

Chen-Yang Xu

Growth Models for two performers playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones I. Marginal propensities II. Motion study III. Pareto efficiency IV. Multifactor productivity V. Time study VI. Dark liquidity VII. Average propensity

Robert Laidlow

The Light of the Trees for saxophone quartet I. Sea of Storms II. The Light of the Trees III. TinĂşviel Will Howarth, David Wexler, guest saxophonists

Programme notes Nathanael Gubler [blrrd] [AaGgEeSs] The initial inspiration for this piece came from a portrait which was in the final round to win last years’ National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing prize. (In order to enable a universal approach to this piece I won’t describe this particular picture).

Its six movements represent short, fragmentary and contrasting scenes which question and contradict each other thus blurring the overall concept and artistic impression of the piece. At first we hear an almost entirely pitchless section followed by an eruptive part whose quarter-tone pitches are derived from an octave divided into eight equal intervals (the term “even octatonic scale” might be appropriate). After we heard a light hearted movement with lots of air sounds and slap tongues the performers choose in which order they will present the last three sections: The piece ends either with a very high-pitched, another un-pitched movement or a very meaty and playful toccata – therefore deliberately encouraging a variety of contradicting interpretations of the piece…

Thanakarn Henry Schofield Duo Animas(two souls) is the illustration of a single motion line which being disintegrated and reforming into granulate fragments.

This can be described as the fragility between human consciousness and death.

Piyawat Louilarpprasert Dialogue(s) II "Fire Balls” Dialogue(s) No. 2 uses a limited set of material in the construction of the piece. Every single idea is controlled by the density of vibration (or bisbigliando). For example, a simple microtonal motif is created and developed through the transformation of pitch, timbre, dynamic and speed. Furthermore, the motifs are developed with glissandi techniques, varying the momentum of the music of the piece. I employ these noises and techniques in my sonic palette to create a form of musical “drama”. Every sonority carries with it its own individual behaviour and sonic characteristics. There is the possibility of creating an organic composition with any material.

This working method of focusing purely on the ‘nature’ of a sound allows me to synthesize and develop ideas in a natural way.

Scientifically, vibration is the most basic force that occurs in any type of mechanical phenomenon. Sonically, this manifests as a kind of ‘shaking’, with unpredictable as well as irregular patterns. With this understanding, I create varied motifs and patterns that develop from this basic idea of vibration. The results is a natural “blossoming process”, where a basic tone develops into more complex and varied ideas.

Chen-Yang Xu Growth Models I wrote this piece because it worried me that I did not understand the very basic additions and subtractions of music, that I did not really grasp the “1+1=2” that forms the basic content of musical satisfaction. The opportunity to write for two (very good) saxophonists seemed to have been my chance to explore that respect because it is a combination that gives me nothing to hide behind and nothing to wear on my sleeve. To that end I have discarded such superfluous distractions as tempo change, ornamentation and extrovert gesture into the dustbin of history.

Instead, I decide to write a series of pieces that are about basic addition, subtraction and moving notes around totally systematically rather than throwing notes about like dangerous misdirected fireworks.

To demonstrate these strict systems I give here the complete score of the work in “piano-roll” notation. The work uses every possible permutation of two different saxophones. I hope that the patterns are just as audible as they are visible. Each black dot represents a note.

I. Marginal propensities: complexity is added as an purely linear process, eight-bar groups in which an extra note is added in every bar every time.

II. Motion study: the same five bars repeated over and over, each time with a different set of notes taken out (like the first movement, but progressing non-linearly). The momentum increases or decreases based on the number of notes.

III. Pareto efficiency: One melody repeated ten times, each time redistributed between the saxophones. The same number of notes are played in each repetition, but by different saxophones.

IV. Multifactor productivity: beginning with straightforward linear growth like the first movement, but with the addition of a linear shrinkage in the second half.

V. Time Study: like the second movement, but where the baritone saxophone gradually “forgets” notes whilst the alto saxophone gradually “learns” notes in a non-linear process. It starts with all the notes played on baritone, and ends with all the notes played on alto.

VI. Dark liquidity: The two saxophones always play the same melody in a good-old traditional canon, but they follow one another at various different time intervals in succession: one bar, one and a half bars, two bars, two and a half bars, one semiquaver, two semiquavers, three semiquavers, and a crochet.

VII. Average propensity: a marriage of the principles of the third and fifth movements. As the baritone saxophone “forgets” notes, the soprano saxophone“learns” them.

Robert Laidlow The Light of the Trees The Light of the Trees for saxophone quartet forms one of many pieces I have written recently based on other-worldly and fantastical stimuli. Each of the three movements relates to a different image drawn by artists Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith and John Howe of scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's quasi-mythological posthumous opus The Silmarillion. From a more technical viewpoint, the piece aims to explore all sides of the saxophone quartet, from the many timbres that extended techniques can offer, heard in the first two movements, to the rhythmic and textural dexterity for which the saxophone is so famous. 

Biographies: Performers Inflexio Duo The Inflexio Saxophone Duo was created in 2014 in order to explore and enlarge the repertoire for two saxophones. The Duo stands out thanks to their characteristic interpretative style, which comes from a shared understanding of the modern saxophone sound.

The Inflexio Duo has performed in concerts and festivals such as the Ourense Lyceum (2016), the RCM Chamber Music Concert Series (2016), the 8th Mallorca Saxophone Festival (2016), Placa[Base Festival (2015), Monforte de Lemos Philharmonic Society Concert Series (2015), Son Ě s de Avui a Mallorca Festival (2015), Juventudes Musicales de Sober Concert Series (2014), the 17th Aita Donostia Music Week (2014) and the 2nd ME_MMIX Festival (2014). Future projects include concerts at the Royal Academy of Music and the Lugo Philharmonic Society Concert Series and a CD of works that have been written and dedicated to them. In addition, they have been invited to perform and teach at the 1st TMAO Festival which will be held in Bangkok next April.

The Inflexio Saxophone Duo is comprised of Sara MĂŠndez and Guillermo Presa. They received their Bachelor's degrees with Honours at the renowned Mallorca Saxophone Studio of the Balearic Islands High Conservatory, where they studied with Professors Rodrigo Vila and David Brutti and attended masterclasses with Jean-Marie Londeix, Marie Bernadette Charrier,

Marcus Weiss and Lars Mlekusch. They were also able to work with a number of composers including Félix Ibarrondo, Christian Lauba and François Rossé. They are currently studying for their Masters in Performance at the Royal College of Music, London with Professor Martin Robertson. Sara is supported by the Big Give Award Scholarship and Guillermo is an RCM Scholar.

Will Howarth Will is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose diverse musical activities include post-modern orchestral composition, jazz, Klezmer and progressive rock. He is a founding member of the South-London composers’ collective outLINE which organises concerts in venues not usually associated with classical music. Will studied composition at Trinity Laban where he founded two bands, The Connoisseur and The Reeds, both of which will be releasing EPs of new music in early 2017.

David Wexler David Wexler is a multi-instrumentalist currently in his final year studying his BA Music degree at King’s College London. He began playing Clarinet at the age of 10 before then picking up the Alto Saxophone and Drums two years later. In the years since, he’s become addicted to playing all types of saxophones, including the midi EWI saxophone. He now perseveres to finish his final year at King’s while he also runs two side businesses buying and selling Handpans (formerly called Hang Drums) and Bass Saxophones and most recently, his wearable MIDI instrument device.

Biographies: Composers Piyawat Louilarpprasert A Thai composer, Piyawat Louilarpprasert studied composition with Valeriy Rizayev at Mahidol University, Thailand and continued his Master's degree with Dai Fujikura, Jonathan Cole and Gilbert Nuono at Royal College of Music, London, support by The Charles Stewart Richardson Scholar and and Fund for Classical Music HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana. He took masterclasses with Wolfgang Rihm, Olga Neuwirth, Chaya Czernowin, Helmut Lachenmann, Enno Poppe, and Mark Andre. His works has been performed in Lucerne Festival, Orkest de Ereprijs, Oerknal Ensemble, Gaudeamus Musikweek, Darmstadt Festival, TENSO, etc. He workedwith Lucerne Ensemble, Orkest Ereprijs, Vertix Sonora, Trio Surplus, Ensemble Mozaik, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal College Symphony Orchestra, Princess Galyani Vadhana Orchestra and Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. He has received LÊon Goossens Award, Princess Galyani Vadhana Youth Orchestra Award, AsiaPacific Saxophone Composition Award, SEADOM Award and Young Thai Artists Awards. Recently, he is selected by Austrian Federal Chancellery and KulturKontakt, Austria to be a composer in residence in July – October 2017.

Nathanael Gubler Being both writer and performer, swiss composer and violist Nathanael Gubler connects both skills in a unique way. He performed in the National Youth Orchestra of Switzerland and numberless chamber music groups. Nathanael applied to the Royal College of Music in London in 2015, which awarded him with a Clifton Parker Award. His works were performed in Switzerland, in Brazil and prestigious venues in the UK, like the National Portrait Gallery London and further performances are currently planned in Canada, Thailand, UK and Switzerland. In 2016, he was selected by the “Société de Concerts de Montréal” to compose for their concert series and also to represent the RCM at the Leeds Lieder Festival 2017.

Furthermore, he was invited to showcase his music at the TMAO Festival in Bangkok and successfully auditioned (as Viola player) for 2017’s Britten-Pears Orchestra. Also in 2017, a piece for Solo Oboe and seven Double Basses will be official part of the 600-year Festivies of Nikolaus von der Flüe which will include several performances and a radio broadcast (Conductor: Enrico Fagone, principal Bass of the OSI; Oboe: Fabien Thouand, Soloist of Filarmonica della Scala). He is currently studying with Dai Fujikura (Compositon) and Susie Meszaros (Viola).

Thanakarn Schofield Thai composer Thanakarn Schofield was born in Bangkok 1993, he started composing at Mahidol College of Music under the guidance of Dr. James Ogburn. In 2012, he moved to London to study composition with David Sawer at the Royal Academy of Music. He is graduated in 2016. Currently, Schofield is studying an MMus Composition at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague with Peter Adriaansz, Cornelis De Bondt, and Mayke Nas. Schofield’s compositions have been performed internationally by professional orchestra, ensembles, and soloist such as; Residentie Okest "the Residence Orchestra" in the Hague (2017), Slagwerk "the project Konstrukt" at Konso Theatre in the Hague (2016), YCE ensemble in Yokohama (2016), MIVOS string quartet at the International Symposium of New Music in Curitiba (2016), X.Y ensemble at HassFest in Yelevan (2016), Tacet(i) Ensemble at the Thailand International Composition Festival in Salaya (2016), Tacet(i) Ensemble at the Yamaha Concert Hall in Bangkok (2015), Srjdan Bulat - Solo Guitar Concert in Split and Hamburg (2014), the UPBEAT international Composition Workshop in Milna (2014), and the Royal Academy of Music Piano Collaborative Workshop (2014).

In the future events of 2017, Schofield’s compositions will be featured as a part of Spring Festival in the Hague and Avanti Chamber Orchestra at the Sävellyspaja and Summer Sounds Festival in Finland. Schofield was a finalist at the Young Thai Artist Award in 2016 and 2015.

Chen-Yang Xu Chen-Yang Xu (b.1994) is a composer of contemporary classical and commercial music. He was born and raised in Shanghai, where in middle school he received the highest mark in China for IGCSE Music. He now lives in London, where he has received a First-Class Bachelor Degree in Composition from the Royal Academy of Music studying with Gary Carpenter. He is currently on course to complete his Master’s in Music at the RAM with Morgan Hayes. Throughout his studies he has had lessons and masterclasses with composers including Betsy Jolas, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Adams, Luke Bedford, Oliver Knussen, Magnus Lindberg and Bent Sørensen.

Outside of classical music, he has written music for video games including for the major client Le.com, China’s largest digital TV manufacturer, as part of a video game to be implemented as preinstalled software for certain models. Similar upcoming projects include music for a video game commissioned by the Alpha Group Company, a major Chinese anime and manga firm, as well as music for short films and pop music arrangements.

He is also a keen organizer of concert events, and future plans include the organization of the first concert of the newly-founded RAMSU New Music Ensemble, which will perform a series of new works by RAM composers, including several premieres. He also has a keen interest in business and economics, has lead two student orchestras for several years as an amateur violinist, and also regularly updates a Chinese blog discussing the music of J.S. Bach and its cultural role.

Robert Laidlow Robert Laidlow (b. 1994) was first a jazz saxophonist before also becoming a composer. He attained his diploma in this instrument while at school, and resultantly his music often incorporates elements of jazz melody and harmony. After graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University with First Class Honours, he began a postgraduate composition course at the Royal Academy of Music studying under David Sawer and in receipt of the Dr. Mosco Carner Scholarship for 2017. He believes strongly in accessibility of new music and works hard to make sure as many performers and audiences as possible can become involved with the practice. To this end he has written for several school and amateur ensembles as well as professionals. In addition to composition and performance he is a dedicated teacher, volunteer and outdoors enthusiast.

Some of his notable performances include music for choir, performed by the Blossom Street Singers at Regent Hall, London, a premiere for wind band at the Space, Sevenoaks in April 2016, a premiere given by the Britten Sinfonia at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge and a premiere for vocal quartet at Emmanuel College Chapel. His performances in the next few months range from saxophone quartets to open score ensemble to songs for voice and viola da gamba. He still performs regularly in big bands, wind ensembles and jazz quartets and tries to find time to enjoy the local greenery, Hampstead Heath, every day.