A Conductor’s and Performer’s Guide to Steven Bryant’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone - Chester Jenkins

122 JENKINS: Yeah BRYANT: And being an absolute pro, he wanted to only do whatever he knew he could do 100% of the time, instead of 85 or 90. JENKINS: Right….absolutely BRYANT: So we compromised on that. I don’t want to ever cast it like, ‘Well Joe couldn’t play the note.’ He totally could. I would prefer it to be on tonic, a whole step higher. But, it’s his piece, so that’s what it is. JENKINS: Cool BRYANT: That’s the answer. JENKINS: One last question that I have that’s just kind of like a technical question. In the first movement where you’ve got the increasing articulation, around bar 175 (sings example), and you’ve got fast as possible. Is that even to like double or triple tongue it. Or do want that single tongued. How fast, or is there a too fast for you, as far as that effect is concerned? BRYANT: Oh, that hasn’t come up in rehearsals being a problem. You mean in all the parts, or when he does it to? JENKINS: Well, I was talking more specifically to the brass part. BRYANT: I think they don’t have time to get to that flutter-tongue speed or anything like that. It works itself out. I mean about where it’s roughly 16 th notes it looks like. That hasn’t been a problem. If they’ve had issues or questions, they’ve worked it out in rehearsal before I got there so, I think it pretty much works itself out. I certainly don’t want it to be…I don’t want people to obsess over it. Just do what feels right. JENKINS: Well, that’s pretty much what I’ve got. I had a lot of questions, but there was a lot of commonality between them. I think I’ve got, pretty much…Oh! There was a question I forgot to ask. This is your only concerto that has saxophones in the ensemble. And obviously, (the rest) can be played with orchestral winds or wind ensemble. And I saw at the bottom of, it might have been the blog post that you wrote when it was done. Where there is like a piano accompaniment coming soon, and then for orchestra. So, is that still in the works, and are there going to be saxophones in the orchestra version? BRYANT: That’s the question. I’m not actively working on it right now. Joe and I have been talking about it, trying to find funding, trying to find orchestras, finding any that are interested has not panned out. I would love to make one. I think the middle movement would be really fun to have strings… JENKINS: Oh yeah! BRYANT: Oh man! But that’s the question. I need saxophones for this concerto. Because I haven’t had to really sit down and start. I’ve, you know, kind of thought through it, but I