Heaven to Clear [TSx-Str 4tet] – Sets and Scores
David Maslanka

Heaven to Clear When Day Did Close

Fantasy on a theme of Barney Childs

for Tenor Saxophone and String Quartet
22 min.   •   
1981
Product Type: Sets and Scores

Barney Childs was my mentor and then friend from the early 1970’s until his death in the late 90’s. His music is fragmentary, elliptical, enigmatic. I always found something to like in his work – ideas that had a quality of compression and real potential. Such is the case with the “thematic” fragment that I borrowed from his solo piano piece Heaven to Clear When Day Did Close. In my fantasy the theme explodes into a virtuoso tenor sax extravaganza. This is “Classical” music but with strong reference to bebop. The string quartet parts are demanding and require a seasoned and committed ensemble.


Find program notes and more information at davidmaslanka.com.

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