Signum Saxophone Quartet: Echoes
The saxophone rightly has a number of associations to it; from today’s popular culture we could picture a jazz musician in a dark club, or Kenny G playing holiday favorites. Or maybe some middle schoolers honking out notes, slightly out of tune, at a school band concert. The reed based instrument is interesting because it belongs to a family of instruments, from the soprano sax down to the baritone or even more rare, the bass saxophone.
I’ll admit, the cover got me on this one, to at least try it out. While I am no real connoisseur of saxophone music, I own more than one copy of a quartet performing Bach’s Kunst der Fuga and enjoy the familiar sound of a family of instruments. (It may be no surprise that recorder consorts have also performed Bach’s ultimate work.)
The opening work by John Dowland betrays the albums excellent recorded sound. Audiophiles often talk about a black background; in this album it is not just the cover that conveys this in the presentation. The Lachrimae antiqaue is a dark, modal work that can draw you in, and for someone who’s a baroque specialist, I was right at home.
My favorite track is the second, from the living composer most famous for film music, Max Richter. It’s ideally suited to a quartet of saxes and it’s quite beautiful, despite its simplicity and the addition of a cello to the texture. It blends well. Not to be outdone by one composer’s modern day minimalism, the third track, adapted from one of Philip Glass’ string quartets, once again shows the artistry of this ensemble. The ensemble blends well with soprano in the fourth track, from Fauré’s Requiem. The pieces less familiar to me, by Hindemith, Vasks, and Lago, continue in the tradition from the opening tracks: these are all somewhat introspective pieces, devoid of anything too fast or fleeting (the Glass and Lago are exceptions, of course, but one could very easily analyze the pattern repetition as harmonic vibration); instead, each take on new and interesting harmonic progressions works to for me, at least, to reflect, and put myself at rest.
The audio engineers did a great job at capturing the close sounds of the players, breathing, and some instrument noise, without these becoming distracting or over pronounced.
Whether or not you are a fan of the saxophone, the Signum Saxophonquartett has made a beautiful album worth your listen for any number of seasons.
