stir
2021
Saxophone quartet and live electronics
Laurie Radford
stir: to move something around and around in a circle, to mix thoroughly, to create a commotion; but also to move slightly, to awaken, to cause to be active, to excite. The word and its definitions, polar opposites that set out a continuum of miniscule to extreme motion and energy, were the starting point for the design and concepts developed in the contrasting sections, materials, and combinations of the instruments of the saxophone quartet with live electronics in stir. Processed excerpts of recorded performances of some of my earlier compositions involving the saxophone served as the materials for the prerecorded audio materials that combine with the instrumental quartet at the beginning and several subsequent points in the piece. Echoes of these earlier writings are also stirred into the writing for the new quartet.
stir was commissioned by the Proteus Saxophone Quartet to celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2021 with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
