PRISM Saxophone Quartet Perform World Premiere of Bernard Rands' PRISM in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents the world premiere of Bernard Rands' PRISM (Memo 6b) on November 21 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the hands of the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. The piece, commissioned by the ensemble, is an adaptation of Rands' Memo 6 for solo alto saxophone, which will be performed alongside the new work in the follow up concert at New York's Symphony Space on November 22. As one annotator has written:

PRISM (Memo 6b) ... takes Memo 6 for alto saxophone, segments it and threads it through a labyrinth of detailed "commentary" sometimes resulting in a complex texture in which the original is barely discernable; at other times the original is dominant though not necessarily played by the alto. In this process the often-implied, acerbic harmonies of the Memo are transmuted resulting in a quartet, which has the playful characteristics of a Divertimento.

More information on Bernard Rands and his music can be found at www.bernardrands.com.

To learn more on the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, visit www.prismquartet.com.

Go to www.philadelphiachambermusic.org and www.symphonyspace.org for more information on the performances.

Bernard Rands
PRISM (Memo 6b) (2008)
for saxophone quartet
ca. 13'