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

123 haven’t sat down and started work on it. I haven’t made that decision yet, or tried to really go through with an eye toward, can I find a solution without saxophones? Or do I just need to make it that much less likely for an orchestra to play it by requiring saxophones? And how many do I need? Do I need a full section, can I get away with a couple in the section. I think I need at least one, probably two saxophones in the orchestra. Just because there’s some interplay. I love that, where you take the soloist and they interact with their section. I just love doing that, and I just think I’m going to probably have to have saxophones in the orchestra. Which means, probably no orchestras are ever going to play it. JENKINS: (Laughs) BRYANT: Sadly, but some day. I forgot writing that, I should probably take that down because people think I’m…someday, but who knows when. JENKINS: Gotcha BRYANT: I’d love to JENKINS: Totally understand that. And I’ve got one final question. Sorry, I was looking through my pages. This goes back to the Solace progression. You use it together a lot with the Creston idea. Was there something about the two that…I mean, you’re working with one idea. Is there a reason you chose that chord progression to work with it? Did the chicken come before the egg? What was… BRYANT: I’m trying to remember when I first started. I mean I use it in the third movement, so it was obviously in there. Wait, I do, don’t I? JENKINS: Yes, it’s at the end BRYANT: You know I wanted to reuse it for a long time, ever since Eric Whitacre said you’ve go to reuse this. He told me. And I really liked it. And there was something about…I spent some time playing around with it and the Creston motive over it and I found ways for them to interlock and be really satisfying. And so, I can’t remember beyond that. I don’t remember again the moment when I said, ‘This is what I’m doing.’ I think I just wanted to throw one other thing in there that I already knew and used and had played with before, and as a foil. And because they’re just straight chords, and give them harmonic (plays progression). Yeah. It does what I love a lot, which is minor chord then move down a half step from Bb minor to A major where you have the third as the common tone. I just love that chord progression. I always have since I heard it in a pop tune in the 80’s. It was Captain of her Heart , by…you probably don’t know that song. JENKINS: I don’t. BRYANT: It’s a really cheesey pop song. But man, it does that chord progression. And that’s the very first time I figured that out was in high school, I was like, ‘Oh’ So now I just use it all the time. JENKINS: (Laughs)