Before I share with you my new orchestral piece, let me tease you with a short excerpt of the English horn solo. I have never written for this instrument before because it seemed strange and obscure to me, but once I heard Philip Glass’ Facades featuring a haunting soprano saxophone solo, I changed my mind.
But what does soprano saxophone have to do with the English horn, you say? To my ears, these two timbres share a certain kinship. While the oboe (a close cousin of the English horn) is pastoral and traditional, the soprano saxophone is modern and urban. And what is the sound in between the two? It is the English horn. I felt that in some passages of Glass’ Facades, the soprano saxophone sounded almost like the English horn. Once I heard it, I knew I wanted to experiment with it myself.
Learn about the new piece for orchestra here: Earthrise
