#54 – August 03, 2020
(Photo credit: John Rizzo)
SUSAN BOTTI
SULL’ALA
Concerto for Saxophone and Wind Ensemble
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf9uJB4U95Y
Susan Botti’s Saxophone Concerto “Sull’ala” is our Composition of the Week.
Sull’ala (on the wing, in Italian) was premiered on October 5, 2013, by the Hartt School Wind Ensemble (USA) with Carrie Koffman as soloist and Glen Adsit conducting.
Written in three movements with two interrupting “murmurations” featuring the soloist and sax sextet, this 28’ minute work is inspired by flight.
I. Propulsion
– Murmuration 1
II. Torque
– Murmuration 2
III. Aloft
“Some of the different physical properties of flight suggested to me different musical expressions of rhythm, harmony, texture… The relationship of soloist to ensemble reflects the individual flier’s relationship to surrounding elements. The murmurations are small bridge movements for the soloist and sax sextet. A murmuration is a group of starlings, whose mesmerizing group acrobatics fill the sky in sweeping clouds.” Composer’s program notes.
Susan Botti (Wichita Falls, Texas, 1962) is an American composer and singer. Botti received her Bachelor of Music from the Berklee School in Boston, and her master’s in music composition from the Manhattan School of Music.
Her eclectic background and experience are reflected in her music.
She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship and the W. Damrosch Rome Prize in Music Composition at the American Academy in Rome. Susan Botti is currently serving as composition faculty at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
More on Susan Botti
