Kientzy Loops
by Tom Johnson
Saxophone - Sheet Music

Saxophone

SKU: 2E.TJ081

Composed by Tom Johnson. Saxophone. Score. Duration 10 minutes. Two-Eighteen Press #TJ081. Published by Two-Eighteen Press (2E.TJ081).

Kientzy Loops was written for the saxophonist Daniel Kientzy, who premiered it, with Reina Portuondo, at the ADAC in Paris on November 21, 2000, as part of a Meta Duo concert. In January 2001 the piece received the prize as the contemporary music premier for the year 2000 in the annual Victoires de la Musique Classique et du Jazz in Nantes. The piece requires an accompanying recorded loop (which performers prepare however they like), and from beginning to end, the music turns around on this loop of eight notes: G F E D E F G D. This little melody is not as innocent as it looks, however, because it is self-replicating, which means that as it turns, the listener can also hear the same melody turning three times or five times slower than the basic melody. The cross-rhythms are brought out in different ways by the performer, who often needs to count in several tempos at once.