Catch

for saxophone quartet
ca. 7’00”

Catch (2021) is a saxophone quartet that was inspired by the expansive network of information that we live in and how that information is often curated or, more cynically, suppressed and censored. This often happens when a higher power is economically enticed or politically threatened, and there is a need to twist the narrative to generate more clicks or to maintain a facade of justice thinly veiled on top of oppressive brutality.

The piece begins with bytes of information dispatched and caught by the players, which create a flurry of notes as they fizz through the air. The rate of transmission then slowly increases until it reaches full flow——a web of fluid, messy cacophony——which is then brutally quashed by a mocking, menacing tune. The cycle then repeats a couple more times, each apex more chaotic and each suppression more brutal than the last. It is a fun piece that never stops ticking along, but sinister undertones filter through the translucent surface——just like any social media platform or corrupt society.

Catch was written for the h2 quartet as part of the 2022 RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Workshop.

Performances:

09 Feb 2022 (world premiere)
RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Workshop Concert
Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts, Illinois State University, IL, USA
h2 saxophone quartet