Scratch (2014) Nina Šenk: “When I first began contemplating a piece for saxophone and percussion, I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the world of percussion, so I decided to restrict myself. I chose the cajon (»wooden box«, an instrument that comes from Peru) and added only a limited number of accessories to it (sticks, brushes, ...), focusing mainly on the range of sounds that can be produced by the instrumentalist’s use of their hands, palms, fingers, fingernails and feet. The piece is composed as an equivalent duet for two virtuosos who search for a common timbre, a common rhythm, a dialogue, while at times breaking away from one another and trying to gain the upper hand. There are many virtuoso elements that are interrupted by improvisation.” Echo Fluido (2009) Matej Bonin: “Echo fluido unites two completely different instruments, at least in terms of their particular method of producing sound. On the one hand, we have the saxophone, which only produces sound for as long as the musician sends air from his lungs through it – on the other, the vibraphone, which emits sound in the moment when the stick strikes a bar and can thereafter only be controlled via the damper pedals. Despite their differences in sound production, I feel that the two instruments share a very similar timbre. The piece plays with the idea of the echo. The instruments continuously imitate each other and intertwine with one another, creating an acoustic texture driven by melodic phrases or gestures that the vibraphone and the saxophone alternatingly introduce in the musical flow.” Saxala (2014) Uroš Rojko: “The main guideline for composing this piece was my intent to unite two contrasting ways of producing sound in an interactive dialogue, to bring the identity of one instrument closer to the other, have it acquire the other’s characteristics. There are several instances where the two instruments meet: the glissandi of the Chinese gongs are reflected in the »transcribed« echo of the »distant« saxophone. Its long, rising tone fuses with the vibraphone’s arc of harmonized crescendos as the spotlight passes from one to the other in unison. In a motoric pulse, the musicians pass between one another’s patterns of emerging entities, back and forth, in a pulsating rhythm.” Deuce (2008) Vito Žuraj: “Deuce is my first composition dedicated to the game of tennis. As an avid tennis player and aficionado, I present my own psychological reaction to the particular element of the game, described in the title. None of this is presented programmatically, but rather serves as the starting point for the musical structure of the composition concerned. “Deuce” describes a situation towards the end of a single game within a tennis match, in which the opposite players (or teams) are locked on an identical score, requiring a single point to secure the game. In order to achieve this, however, two rallies must be taken in succession. Deuce opens almost imperceptibly, with the marimba being played with soft mallets, producing a diffuse humming, and the saxophone joining in very gently. The instruments both build to a sharp duet in a rhythmic interplay with one another, before subsiding once again and fading into the diffuse timbres from whence they came.” Chant (2009) Matej Bonin: “This piece was influenced by various interpretations of the word “chant”, which functioned as a sort of guideline when I was searching for basic sonic characteristics. » A short, simple series of syllables or words that are sung on or intoned to the same note or a limited range of notes. » A canticle or prayer sung or intoned in this manner. » A song or melody » A monotonous rhythmic call or shout, as of a slogan I have utilized these guidelines in three movements of varying intensities. In the first movement, I emphasized rhythmic-melodic recitative qualities, in the second, the textural and timbre differentiations in relation to a monotonous melodic line of the saxophone, while the third movement is designed as something of an outburst, an eruption that recapitulates the entirety of the material.”