In the Forests of the Night (2020)

In the Forests of the Night is a fantasia for saxophone orchestra, lasting about fiteen minutes.

I love the saxophone for its combination of power and agility, strength and expressivity. The saxophone’s ability to unite these contrasting qualities led me to my title, which comes from William Blake:
Tiger tiger burning bright / In the forests of the night

My fantasia explores this potent sound world of light and dark, using the orchestra both as a massive tutti and in its smaller ensembles. The music’s energy is sometimes contained, rooted, sometimes extrovert and brilliant. The harmony is often enriched by microtones, and this is especially apparent in the lyrical solo lines that lead the music onward, like paths through a forest.

The piece was composed for Andrew Steinberg and the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra, who commissioned it with colleagues from Fredonia College, Washington District, Musikhochschule Lübeck and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

It is dedicated to the memory of John-Edward Kelly, virtuoso saxophonist, with whom I had the pleasure of working over many years, until his untimely death.

NL 2020