Rova Saxophone Quartet Music

BUY IT!, PUT IT ON. LAY DOWN QUICK (SO YOU DON'T GET KNOCKED DOWN). LISTEN...
THIS IS THE FIRST CD I PICKED UP IN THE UNHEARD MUSIC SERIES (ATAVISTIC) AND IT WONT BE THE LAST. FOUR MEN AND EVERY VARIATION OF THE SAXOPHONE KNOWN TO MAN. NO DRUMS, NO BASS, NO PIANO, NOTHING BUT SWIRLING, FRANTIC, BEAUTIFUL HORNS. ABOUT 10 MINUTES INTO THE CD THE UNIVERSE STARTS UNFOLDING AND HOPEFULLY YOU'RE NOT BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR...

I'm pretty skeptical about the more outrageous claims by the intonational purists - equal temperament will make your brain fall out, and all that. At the same time I envy the sitarist in the old chestnut who didn't get into Beethoven's 5th all that much, but loved that part at the beginning, you know, where the oboe plays that A 440 and the orchestra microtones around it.

That said, though, Terry Riley's collaboration with the world-class saxophone quartet Rova works on an astounding number of levels, not just as a "resonant intonation" showcase. For starters, it's got to be a compositional challenge to present nothing but saxophone timbres for 50 odd minutes, to elicit all possible variety without cloying or blaring. Yet the work also features ensemble playing so well-composed as to sound spontaneous, coupled with improvization so skillful as to sound composed. Then there's that grand, lovely musical arch. And on top of that, the arch serves a programmatic agenda, telling the story of a cattle raid that ends in mystic insight, a contradiction so well embraced by your typical Celtic epic.

All in all, not typical Terry Riley (if there is any such thing), but highly worthwhile listening on its own terms.