Leon - Saoko

SAOKO for brass quintet

Tania Leรณn

Saoko Sa-o-ko [sah-oh'-koh] Spanish noun 1. The name given to a traditional mixed drink on the island of Cuba, consisting of rum or aguardiente with coconut water.

2. An idiomatic expression in the Spanish-speaking cultures of the Caribbean and Latin America: Tiene Saoko! It has great taste!

Tiene Saoko! It has duende! (a genie) Tiene Saoko! It has soul!

3. A musical work in which grooves emerge like the brief patterns formed when stirring a drink.

As the sonic concoction swirls towards its conclusion, the players let out a “saoko!” celebratory toast.

Tania León, born in Cuba, is a vital personality on today’s music scene. A highly regarded composer and conductor, she is also widely recognized for her accomplishments as an educator and advisor to arts organizations. Her singular contributions have been profiled on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, Univision, Telemundo and independent films.

Her catalog of compositions includes works for solo piano and guitar through a variety of chamber ensembles, many featuring solo voice, to orchestra and opera (the award-winning Scourge of Hyacinths from 1994). Artists who have recorded her works include Dawn Upshaw, the NDR Sinfonie Orchester, the Louisville Orchestra, Speculum Musicae, Continuum, and Voices of Change. Appearances as guest conductor include those with the Symphony Orchestra of Marseille, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among others.

Awards for her compositions include the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, NYSCA, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Fund, ASCAP, Meet the Composer and the Koussevitzky Foundation, among others. In 1998 she held the Fromm Residency at the American Academy in Rome. In 2002, León served as President of the Concorso Internationale di Composizione “2 Agosto” in Bologna, Italy.

A founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, was co-founder of the American Composers Orchestra’s “Sonidos de las Americas” Festivals and New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic during the tenure of music director Kurt Masur. She has made appearances as guest conductor with the Beethovenhalle Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Johannesburg, South Africa, the Chamber Orchestra of Geneva, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Holland, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the New York Philharmonic, among others.

León has been Visiting Lecturer at Harvard University, Visiting Professor at Yale University, the University of Michigan, the University of Kansas, New York’s Purchase College, the Musikschule Hamburg and the Beijing Central Conservatory. In 2000 she was named the Claire and Leonard Tow Professor in Music at Brooklyn College, and has been a Distinguished Professor of the City University of New York since 2006.

To Timotéo

SAÓKO

SCORE IN C

Tania León poco a poco accel.

Andante Trumpet 1 (B )

Trumpet 2 (B )

Horn (F)

Trombone

Tuba

Senza misura recitative 6

(accel.)

fltg.

fast improvisation within player’s range, using B , F

fltg.

legato, poco a poco staccato gl.

© Copyright 2009 by IROKO Music Songs of Peer, Ltd., Administering Publisher for the World All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

2 10

Allegro

Straight mute

(any note)

brassy

brassy

15

Poco meno

improvise, using F

3

7

5

() () () ()

PiĂš mosso

fltg.

3 20

Andante (senza misura)

(Più mosso)

Plunger

fltg.

(23)

**

B

poco accel.

*vib.

A

*vib.

Moderato

(24)

play

fltg.

spoken:

Y qué play

spoken:

Y qué

brassy

10

like laughter

* wide Jazz vibrato ** fast improvisation according to the line contour

attacca

4 27

A piacere, but together

PiĂš allegro

(PiĂš allegro)

rip

Allegro recitativo 33

Moderato

Recitativo

alternate dynamics

Harmon mute without stem alternate dynamics

cresc.

5

5

5

5 39

alternate dynamics

(cresc.), alternate dynamics

Optional Repeat

5

( ) 5

5

Harmon mute no stem

46

Moderato A

alternate dynamics senza mute

(cresc.)

sempre stacc.

gl.

(same tempo)

sempre stacc.

fltg.

6

Allegro (46)

B

C

senza mute

(47)

Recitativo

A piacere, but together

PiĂš allegro

49

fltg.

7 54

Plunger

Sa ó

fltg.

A

Recitativo Straight mute

Sa ó

(57)

B senza Plunger

C

D

Senza misura spoken:

play

ko senza mute

play

spoken: ko *

ko

cresc. *

ko *

cresc.

play

spoken:

cresc.

* Air only (“s” sound)

play

spoken:

play

spoken: ko

.

San Francisco, CA 4/12/97