Bottom of the Ninth
saxophone quartet (SATB) and brass quintet | 3’
Bottom of the Ninth plays with the inherent contrast between the two ensembles for which the piece was composed - saxophone quartet and brass quintet - by imagining them as two groups of dueling fans rooting for opposing teams in the bleachers of a baseball game.
During my first year living in Manhattan, I lived only a short distance from Yankee Stadium, just across the Harlem River in the Bronx. Though I never actually attended a game there, I would imagine that classic early 20th-century scene of raucous disputes between rival fans over a game-changing play, a beloved (or reviled) player, or controversial call during a hotly contested game.
That scene plays out in this piece, with the quartet and quintet engaged in a musical repartee in the form of jaunty jazz-inflected rhythmic passages in competing keys. Tension builds and emotions run high until the game comes to an abrupt but decisive end.
Commission
Manhattan Saxophone Quartet and Uptown Brass
Performances
Manhattan Saxophone Quartet and Uptown Brass
New Jersey City University Symphony of Winds and Percussion
