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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO
Greeley, Colorado
The Graduate School
AN ANALYSIS OF DAVID MASLANKA’S

CHAMBER MUSIC FOR SAXOPHONE
A Dissertation Suhmitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Arts
Nathan Andrew Keedy
College of Performing and Visual Arts

School of Music
August, 2004
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UMI Number: 3139612
Copyright 2004 by
Keedy, Nathan Andrew
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THIS DISSERTATION WAS SPONSORED
BY
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Research Advisor
Nathan Andrew Keedy
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Co-Advisor
-OgeiuGreenberg, M.M.
Advisory Professor
I o n i a n Bellman, D.M.A.
Faculty Representative
William Hoyt, Ph.D.
DEAN OF THE GRADUATE Si
Examination Date 01 Dissertation
ABSTRACT
Keedy, Nathan Andrew. An Analysis o f David Maslanka’s Chamber Music fo r

Saxophone. Published Doctor of Arts Dissertation, University of
Northern Colorado, 2004.
During the past twenty-five years, American composer David Maslanka has
enjoyed increasing critical and popular success, with his compositions for wind band,
percussion, and saxophone receiving particular acclaim from performers and audiences.
While several research projects focusing on his wind band compositions exist, little
scholarly attention has been given to his solo and chamber music for saxophone.
This study examines three of David Maslanka’s compositions for saxophone: the
Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, and
Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet. The primary goal of the study is to provide
information that will be valuable in preparing these pieees for performance, including
analysis of thematic, harmonic, formal, and referential aspects of the music. Insight into
David Maslanka’s composing process, including his inspiration for the pieces and the
development of his compositional style, is provided as well. Corrections to the pieces
and suggestions for performance, many of which are derived from interviews with the
composer, are also included.
A transcript of an interview with David Maslanka conducted by the author, a
catalog of his solo and chamber music, and a discography of his solo and chamber music
recordings are also presented as appendices to the study.
IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to express his appreciation to his committee members,
Dr. Kenneth Singleton, Dr. Jonathan Bellman, and Dr. William Hoyt, for their
encouragement, knowledge, and thoughtful advice during the completion o f this project.
To Professor Roger Greenberg, special thanks are due not only for his help on this
project, but also for his constant role as an exceptional teacher and mentor. The writer
wishes to thank Dr. Stephen Bolstad of the University of Montana for his willingness to
share his own research and his help in coordinating an interview with the composer, and
also Professor Roger McDonald for his continuing mentorship.
To the North American Saxophone Alliance and Carl Fischer, EEC, thanks are
due for their kind permission to include numerous excerpts from the Sonata fo r Alto
Saxophone and Piano, Song Book, and Mountain Roads.
To David Maslanka, the author extends overwhelming gratitude for his music,
insight, encouragement, and complete willingness to be involved in all aspects of this
project.
The author would also like to express his love and gratitude for his wife, Angela,
and his children, Julia and Samuel, for their constant love, support, and inspiration.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................1
Biographical Sketch of David Maslanka........................................................1

Purpose of the Study........................................................................................ 3
Justification for the Study................................................................................4
Overview of the Music.....................................................................................5
Methodology.................................................................................................. 7
II. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE...................................... 12
Dissertations....................................................................................................12
Interviews and Articles.................................................................................. 15
Recordings...................................................................................................... 16
III. SONATA FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND PIANO.....................................19
Overview......................................................................................................... 19
First Movement.............................................................................................. 22
Second Movement......................................................................................... 47
Third Movement............................................................................................ 68
Errata and Performance Suggestions........................................................... 98
IV. SONG BOOK FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND MARIMBA............... 104
Overview....................................................................................................... 104
First Movement: Song fo r Davy - The old year is past............................ I l l
Second Movement: Lost..............................................................................118
Third Movement: Hymn Tune with Four Variations................................ 122
Fourth Movement: Serious M u sic -In Memoriam Arthur Cohn............ 127
Fifth Movement: Summer Song.................................................................. 134
Sixth Movement: Song fo r Alison...............................................................138
Seventh Movement: Evening Song.............................................................144
Errata and Performance Suggestions..........................................................155
VI
V. MOUNTAIN ROADS FOR SAXOPHONE QUARTET........................... 160
Overview....................................................................................................... 160
First Movement; Overture...........................................................................167
Second Movement: Chorale: Wo soil ich fliehen......................................177
Third Movement: Aria (in the style o f a chorale prelude)........................182
Fourth Movement: Chorale........................................................................ 186
Fifth Movement: X n a..................................................................................193
Sixth Movement: Fm a/e..............................................................................199
Errata and Postscript....................................................................................213
VI. CONCLUSION............................................................................................ 216
Significance of the Study............................................................................ 216

Recommendations for Further Research.................................................... 217
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................... 219
APPENDIX A: Interview with David Maslanka................................................................223
APPENDIX B: Catalog of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works........................241
APPENDIX C: Discography of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works...............246
APPENDIX D: Letters o f Permission for Use of Copyrighted Materials........................249
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1®*movement....... 25
Table 3.2: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 2"‘*movement...... 48
Table 3.3: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 3'^‘*movement....... 71
Table 4.1: Form of Song Book, “Chorale Trio” ........................ 108
Table 4.2: Form of Song Book, Serious Music......................... 109
Table 4.3: Form of Song Book, “Peaceful Duet”..................... 110
Table 4.4: Form of Song Book, Evening S o n g ......................... 111
Table 5.1: Form o f Mountain Roads, Overture........................ . 164
Table 5.2: Form o f Mountain Roads, Movements 2-5............. 165
Table 5.3: Form o f Mountain Roads, Finale............................ ......166
V lll
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
(All examples are compositions by David Maslanka unless otherwise noted)
Example 3.1: Franz Liszt, Sonata fo r Piano in B minor, mm. 1-15................................. 24
Example 3.2: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 3-23..................................27
Example 3.3: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 26-36............................... 31
Example 3.4: Franz Schubert, Fantasie in F minor, op. 103, mm. 1-14...........................32
Example 3.5: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 56-59............................... 33
Example 3.6: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 60-64.............................. 34
Example 3.7: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 71-79................................37
Example 3.8: Franz Liszt, Sonata fo r Piano in B minor, mm. 105-119..........................38
Example 3.9: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 90-102............................ 39
Example 3.\0\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 110-112........................... 40
Example 3.W\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 128-132.......................... 42
Example 3.12: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 150-170........................... 44
Example 3.\3\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 184-186.......................... 45
Example 3.14: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 11, mm. 1-10.................................51
Example 3 .\5 \ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 11, mm. 23-27............................. 52
Example 3.16: Francis Poulenc, Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, 1, 93-96............................ 52
Example 3.\1'. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 11, mm. 97-100........................... 53
Example 3.18: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 11, mm. 34-49............................. 54
IX
Example 3.19; Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 63-65............................ 55
Example 3.20: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 56-61..............................56
Example 3.21: Francis Poulenc, Sonata fo r Clarinet and Piano, II, mm. 11-18............... 61
Example 3.22: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 92-100............................ 64
Example 3.23: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano,...II, mm. 71-74..............................65
Example 3.24: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 85-87.............................. 67
Example 3.25: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 1-12................................ 72
Example 3.26: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 21-33.............................73
Example 3.27: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 145-150........................ 74
Example 3.28: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 180-189....................... 75
Example 3.32: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 110-114..........................79
Example 3.33: Francis Poulenc, Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, I, mm. 60-63.................... 79
Example 3.37: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 34-38............................ 84
Example 3.38: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 45-49........................... 86
Example 4.1: Bach Chorale, number 162, The Old Year is Past.....................................112
Example 4.2: Song Book, I, mm. 1-24............................................................................ 114
Example4.3: SongB ook,l,m m .25-ZA.......................................................................... 115
Example 4.4: Song Book, I, mm. 52-61............................................................................ 117
Example 4.5: Bach Chorale, number 33, Lord, I have done the wrong thing...............119
Example 4.6: Song Book, II, mm. 1-15..............................................................................120
Example 4.7: Song Book, II, mm. 28-31............................................................................120
Example 4.8: Bach Chorale, number 233, Be glad, my soul............................................ 123
Example 4.9: Song Book, III, mm. 1-4...............................................................................124
Example 4.10: Song Book, III, Variation 4, mm. 1-6..........................................................125
Example 4.11: III, Variation 3, mm. 1-4..........................................................127
Example 4.12: Song Book, IV, mm. 16-45...........................................................................129
Example 4.\3: Song Book, IV, mm. 60-81...........................................................................130
Example 4.14: Song Book, IV, mm. 98-99......................................................................... 131
Example 4.15: Song Book, IV, mm. 93-95......................................................................... 133
Example 4.16:5'ong5ooA:, IV, mm. 125-130..................................................................... 134
Example 4.17: V, mm. 1-7................................................................................135
Example 4.18: Song Book, V, mm. 10-20............................................................................137
Example 4. \9: Song Book, V, mm. 39-47.......................................................................... 138
Example 4.20: Song Book, VI, mm. I-l 1.............................................................................139
Example 4.21: iS'ongôoA:, VI, mm. 16-34...........................................................................140
Example 4.22: Song Book, I, mm. 62-66........................................................................... 142
Example 4.23: Song Book, VI, mm. 64-65............................. 142
Example 4.24: Song Book, VI, mm. 77-87......................................................................... 144
XI
Example A.25\ Song Book, VII, mm. 1-21...........................................................................147
Example 4.26; Song Book, VII, mm. 46-60....................................................................... 149
Example A.21: Song Book, VII, mm. 70-73....................................................................... 150
Example 4.28: Song Book, VII, mm. 94-100..................................................................... 150
Example 4.29: Song Book, VII, mm. 28-30....................................................................... 154
Example 5.1: Bach Chorale, number 153, All Men Must D ie.......................................... 168
Example 5.2: Mountain Roads, I, mm. 1-9....................................................................... 169
Example 5.3: Mountain Roads, I, mm. 18-22................................................................... 170
Example 5.4: Mountain Roads, I, mm. 44-49................................................................. 171
Example 5.5: Mountain Roads, I, mm. 67-77................................................................. 172
Example 5.6: Bach Chorale, number 331, Where Shall I Run To?................................. 173
Example 5.7: Mountain Roads, 1, mm. 124-131............................................................... 174
Example 5.8: Mountain Roads, 11, mm. 1-4...................................................................... 178
Example 5.9: Mountain Roads, 11, mm. 12-16.................................................................. 180
Example 5.\0\Mountain Roads, 11, mm. 35-37................................................................ 181
Example 5.W\Mountain Roads, 111, mm. 5-15.................................................................. 183
Example 5 A2: Mountain Roads, 111, mm. 16-18.............................................................. 185
Example 5A3:Mountain Roads, IV, mm. 1-6.................................................................. 187
Example 5A4:Mountain Roads, IV, mm. 21-24.............................................................. 188
Example 5AS:Mountain Roads, IV, m. 9 ............................................................................189
Example SA6:Mountain Roads, IV, mm. 30-35.............................................................. 191
Example SAl: Mountain Roads, IV, mm. 43-44.............................................................. 192
Example 5.18: Mowntom V, mm. 1-14......................................... 194
XU
Example 5.19: Mountain Roads, V, mm. 21-27................................................................ 196
Example 5.IQ'. Mountain Roads, V, mm. 39-48............................................................... 197
Example 5.21: Mountain Roads, V, mm. 67-72............................................................... 197
Example 5.22: Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 1-6....................................................................201
Example 5.23:Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 16-19.............................................................. 201
Example 5.24: Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 20-26............................................................. 202
Example 5.2^:Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 95-97............................................................. 206
Example 5.29: Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 161-185......................................................... 208
Example 5.30: Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 186-193......................................................... 210
Example 5.3\:Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 236-237......................................................... 213
X lll
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Sketch of David Maslanka
David Maslanka was horn in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1943. As a high
school student he was a memher of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. He
later attended the Oherlin Conservatory, studying clarinet with George Wain and
composition with Joseph Wood. In 1963 and 1964 he attended the Mozarteum in
Salzburg, Austria, working in composition with Cesar Bresgen and conducting with
Gerhardt Wimherger. He did graduate studies at Michigan State University with H.
Owen Reed in composition, Paul Harder in theory, and Elsa Ludwig in clarinet.
David Maslanka is one of the major composers of the last third of the twentieth century in
the areas of wind band and chamber music composition. He has received three National
Endowment for the Arts Composer Awards, and five residence fellowships at the
MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In addition he has received grants
from the State University of New York Research Foundation, the University of
Connecticut Research Foundation, the American Music Center, the New York State Arts
Council, the Martha Baird Roekefeller Fund for Music, and the American Society of
Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
Maslanka’s works for winds and percussion have beeome especially well known.
They include, among others, A Child’s Garden o f Dreams for Symphonic Wind
Ensemble, Concerto for Piano, Winds and Percussion, the 2^^, 3'^^’, and 4*'^ symphonies,
and Mass for soloists, chorus, boys chorus, wind orchestra and organ. Percussion works
include Variations on ‘Lost Love ’ and My Lady White for solo marimba, and three
ensemble works: Arcadia II: Concerto fo r Marimba and Percussion Ensemble, Crown o f
Thorns, and Montana Music: Three Dances fo r Percussion. His ehamber works for
winds, which include three wind quintets. Duo for flute and piano, a saxophone quartet.
Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, and Sonatas for alto saxophone, oboe, and
horn, are all major pieces, with his compositions for saxophone standing out as especially
significant additions to the repertoire of that instrument.
David Maslanka’s compositions are published by Carl Fischer, Inc., Kjos Music
Company, Marimba Productions, Inc., the North American Saxophone Alliance, and OU
Percussion Press, and have been recorded on Albany, Cambria, CRI, Mark, Novisse, and
Klavier labels. He has served on the faculties of the State University of New York at
Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough College of
the City University of New York. He now lives in Missoula, Montana. David Maslanka is
a member of ASCAP.'
' Most o f the biographical information on David Maslanka comes from the composer’s website,
http://www.davidmaslanka.com/Bio.html (2003), accessed 11 November 2003.
Purpose of the Study
This project seeks to provide an in-depth study of three of David Maslanka’s
works that feature the saxophone in a solo or chamher setting: the Sonata fo r Alto
Saxophone and Piano, Song Book for alto saxophone and marimha, and Mountain Roads
for saxophone quartet. Pieces hy Maslanka that feature the saxophone hut will not he
included in this study are the Concerto fo r Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, the
Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano (transcrihed for soprano saxophone by the composer),
Heaven to Clear When Day Did Close, a piece for string quartet and tenor saxophone,
and H ell’s Gate, a piece for three saxophone soloists and wind ensemble.
This study is intended to he of interest to performers desiring to gain additional
insight into the structure and referential aspects of these pieces. Its secondary intent is to
provide information for those seeking knowledge of David Maslanka’s background and
compositional processes.
These aims will be met by providing an analysis of these three pieces,
incorporating elements of harmony and form. The sometimes significantly referential
aspects of Maslanka’s music will also he explored, comparing the pieces in this study to
others that have had an effect (direct or otherwise) on Maslanka’s composition. Specific
influences on the pieces discussed in this project include the music of J.S. Bach, Johannes
Brahms, Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, and Allan Pettersson. This analysis will he
supplemented by the composer’s own observations. Performance considerations for
Maslanka’s music in general and the three pieces included here in particular will also he
discussed.
Justification for the Study
All of David Maslanka’s solo and chamber compositions for the saxophone are
emotionally intense, large-scale pieces of music. These are pieces that are widely studied
and performed, and have also been frequently recorded. No fewer than five
commercially available recordings of the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano exist, an
impressive number given the relatively small market for classical saxophone recordings
and the fact that the piece was composed only fifteen years ago. Recordings of Song
Book for alto saxophone and marimha and Mountain Roads have also been produced, as
has a recording of Maslanka’s Concerto for alto saxophone and wind ensemble. If the
number of recordings of a piece can be taken as an indication of the importance of a work
to the saxophone repertoire, Maslanka’s music for the instrument has certainly been
established as a significant part of that repertoire for years to come.
While the importance of David Maslanka’s music for saxophone has been
acknowledged through performances, recordings, and interviews, these particular pieces
have received little scholarly attention. Several dissertations have been written dealing
with Maslanka’s music, but these have largely focused on his music for wind ensemble,
and none have dealt directly with his solo or chamber music for the saxophone. Of the
extant dissertations dealing with Maslanka’s music, three focus on pieces for wind
ensemble, two on concerti, and one on the choral work A Litany fo r Courage and the
Seasons. All of these dissertations are fairly recent in origin, having been completed
between 1994 and 2002.
Given these factors, the need for an in-depth look at this particular portion of
David Maslanka’s chamber music is clear. Considering the large scale and significance
of these pieces, this author thinks such an undertaking to be well worthwhile. A study of
this kind would he of interest and benefit to many saxophonists, as well as to other music
scholars interested in the music of David Maslanka.
Overview of the Music
The Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano is the earliest of the three pieces
included in this study. It was composed in 1988 on a commission from the North
American Saxophone Alliance, and was premiered at the North American Saxophone
Alliance National Meeting and Navy Band Symposium on January 28, 1989 by
saxophonist Susan Jennings and pianist Bruce Patterson. It is a large-scale work,
consisting of three movements and taking approximately thirty minutes to perform.
While the musical language used by Maslanka in the Sonata is certainly that of the
twentieth century, the form of the piece largely follows the conventions of the eighteenth
century. The movements of the piece are organized in a moderately fast - slow - fast
progression, and Maslanka also uses traditional formal structures within each individual
movement. The first movement, for instance, clearly uses the exposition - development
- recapitulation structure of Sonata form, while the third movement is a large-scale
Rondo (ABACA). In composing the Sonata, Maslanka was influenced by the music of
Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, and Allan Pettersson.^
Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet was composed in 1997. This work was
commissioned by the Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet, and was premiered by that
^ David Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
group in November 1998 at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton,
Wisconsin. This piece, which is thoroughly saturated hy the music of J.S. Bach, is
organized in six movements along the lines of a Baroque cantata. Inspiration for the
piece came from a dream that Maslanka had, in which he could discern the related hut
opposing symbols of the acceptance of death and the renewal of life.^ These themes are
explored throughout the six movements of Mountain Roads in part through the use and
transformation of the Bach Chorales “Alle Menschen mussen sterhen” and “Wo soil ich
fliehen.” The result is a very powerful and deeply emotional piece of music.
Song Book fo r alto saxophone and marimba was composed hy Maslanka in 1998,
and was commissioned hy saxophonist Steve Jordheim and percussionist Dane Richeson.
Song Book was premiered concurrently with Mountain Roads in November 1998 at the
Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. This piece, organized in seven brief
movements (brief in comparison to the movements of the Sonata, at least), might best he
described as a series of “emotional s c e n e s . L i k e Mountain Roads, Song Book uses
borrowed material from the Chorales of J.S. Bach, including “Das alte jahr vergangen
ist,” “Herr, ich habe misgehandelt,” and “Werde Munte, mein Gemute.” This piece,
while certainly not without moments of gravity and tension, is in general much more
simple, relaxed and calming in character than the Sonata.
David Maslanka, “Mountain Roads,” http://www.davidmaslanka.com/display.asp?Piece_ID=47

(2003), accessed 30 October 2003.
David Maslanka, “Song Book,” http://www.davidmaslanka.coni/display.asp?Piece_ID=67
(2003), accessed 30 October 2003.
Methodology
This document is intended to provide performers with a useful analysis of Sonata
fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, Song Book, and Mountain Roads. This analysis will
consist primarily of a discussion of the musical aspects of these works, but will also
illustrate some of the referential aspects of Maslanka’s music, ranging from influences on
his compositional style in these pieces to actual quotation or adaptation of existing
material. This information is presented with the goal of assisting performers in creating
an effective personal interpretation of these works.
In addition to this analysis, the composer’s own thoughts on his music will he
included where appropriate. While Maslanka feels that it is appropriate for the performer
to draw his or her own conclusions about the nature, character, or mood of the music,^ it
is certainly equally appropriate to take the composer’s conclusions about his music into
account. These will include Maslanka’s specific observations on the pieces included in
this study, as well as general thoughts on composition, style, and the influences (musical
and extra-musical) that have shaped David Maslanka as a composer.
Viewed from an analytical standpoint, the pieces included in this study are
difficult to classify definitively. Maslanka’s compositions contain large amounts of what
can best be deserihed as tonal music, although, except in some cases in Song Book and
Mountain Roads where pre-existing tonal music is the basis for Maslanka’s writing, there
are few instances in which the music is tonal in a conventional sense. That is, while
many of Maslanka’s harmonies can be easily described using the language of tonal
analysis, the harmonic progression of the music is not often based on a traditional tonic-
dominant relationship. Melodic development, which in Maslanka’s music often takes the
form of a “continuous unfolding of t u n e s , o f t e n seems to take precedence over
traditional harmonic development.
Maslanka has said that “my music now has been referred to as ‘post-modern’ . . . I
think the implication was when someone spoke of it that way was that it was not
beholden to the quote-unquote ‘modem’ techniques of the twentieth century.”’ This is
certainly tme; Maslanka does not seem at all concemed with writing music that will be
associated with a specific style. Rather, there is a sense of his music being formed by
whatever compositional means are appropriate at the time. Consonance and tonality are
often punctuated (or even obliterated) by jangling dissonance, and Maslanka sometimes
uses pre-existing music as the basis for his own composition. For these reasons, standard
analysis techniques such as Schenkerian analysis are often ineffective in accurately
describing Maslanka’s music. More modem analysis techniques, such as those used to
describe serial compositions, are likewise inadequate given the process of Maslanka’s
composing. As one researcher of David Maslanka’s music states, “Because the music is
the product of the composer’s intuition, complex relationships of pitch class, if they even
exist, occur as mere happenstance and only on an occasional basis.”*
Therefore, the analysis of these three pieces will combine elements of
conventional tonal analysis with a more descriptive and narrative analysis, which will be
more effective in clearly identifjdng important elements of the pieces and illustrating the
Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.

®David Maslanka, personal E-mail, 6 October 2003.
’ Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
* David Martin Booth, An Analytical Study o f D avid M aslanka’s A Child’s Garden o f Dreams
(D.M.A. Document, University o f Oklahoma, 1994), 10.
essence of Maslanka’s music. This analysis will generally use methods presented in Jan
LaRue’s Guidelines fo r Style Analysis. Certain elements of the music will be given
analytical priority, and will be considered as follows.
The referential aspects of the pieces, especially when they play a pivotal role in
the structure and organization of the music, will be studied based on; how Maslanka uses
pre-existing material or bases his own composition on elements of pre-existing material,
and how this influence can affect study and interpretation of Maslanka’s music for the
performer. A description of the original composition (or type of composition) will be
provided, with a discussion of the elements that are changed or retained by Maslanka.
This will be a particularly important aspect of the analysis of Song Book and Mountain
Roads, compositions in which the music of J.S. Bach plays a vital role.
Maslanka’s use of melody and thematic material will be analyzed in terms of: the
contribution of themes to the structure and form of a movement or entire piece, the
patterns that develop within Maslanka’s melodies (rising and falling, points of tension,
climax, or relaxation within a theme), and the types of motion used in the development of
melody. Melody plays a primary role in Maslanka’s compositions, and as such it will be
given similar emphasis in this study. The composer’s use of standard musical forms,
which is often determined by his use and development of themes, will also be described.
Texture within Maslanka’s music will be considered in terms of: the degree of
continuity or contrast between parts (particularly in the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and
Piano, where the differences between sections of continuity and polarization or
independence are significant), and the textural effects created by overlapping material.
Other aspects of sound that will be discussed include the characteristics and function of
10
timbre and tessitura as used by Maslanka. The composer’s use of dynamics (and the
importance of their interpretation by performers as a means of creating musical and
emotional intensity) will also be highlighted.
As mentioned previously, Maslanka’s harmonic language freely combines
elements of tonal and atonal music. Some analysis will be made of harmonic movement
and key schemes, but given Maslanka’s free use of harmony and the fact that harmonic
progression is often of secondary importance to the structure of the music, this will not be
an extensive part of the study. More important to a study of Maslanka’s music is a
description of how his use of harmony (tonality/atonality, and particularly
consonance/dissonance) creates emotional effect.
Rhythmic aspects of the music are often affected by textural and melodic
concerns, and so will often be discussed in the context of those elements. The most
significant aspects of Maslanka’s music that can be described primarily in terms of
rhythm include the usage of meter and tempo, changing rhythmic textures
(homorhythmic vs. polyrhythmic, often indicating periods of repose or stress), and the
degree of rhythmic activity. The significance of harmonic rhythm, particularly at points
of harmonic repetition, will be described in terms of its structural importance.
Lastly, notational factors that might be ambiguous, as well as errors in musical
notation, will be clarified. This will usually be included as an errata list at the end of the
analysis for each piece.
The analysis will generally concentrate on these aspects of the music within
individual movements, and will describe the use and interaction of these different
elements on both a large scale (throughout a movement or a large section thereof) and a
11
smaller one (elements within a phrase or group of phrases). Occasionally, elements that
can be seen to extend through multiple movements or an entire composition will also be
analyzed. While some of this analysis will take a narrative form, much of it will
concentrate on aspects that can be observed by investigation of large sections of the
music, rather than by simple chronological progression.
Since Maslanka’s music tends to be driven by intuition and emotion rather than
by purely intellectual concerns, all of this analysis will be focused toward a description of
the music that will aid performers in approaching the most meaningful and informed
personal interpretation of the music possible, and consequently providing a meaningful
performance for the audience. Descriptive labels for sections or themes occurring in the
music will sometimes be used to give the reader a clearer idea of the structure of each
piece. Some of these labels have been suggested by the composer, but since Maslanka
feels that it is valid for the researcher or performer to suggest their own reactions to and
associations with the music,^ some are my own descriptions. Since saxophone
performers and teachers are the intended audience for this study, it is not my intent to
provide an exhaustive theoretical analysis that describes every detail in the music.
Rather, the intent is to describe and explain the important aspects of each piece, and how
they fit together and interact with each other, in a way that will be most useful to the
performer in understanding and interpreting the music of David Maslanka.
^ Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
12
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
Dissertations
Most of the scholarly work on David Maslanka’s music that has been produced to
date is in the form of dissertations. As mentioned previously, most of these deal with his
compositions for wind ensemble, the genre for which he is most well known. While none
of them deal specifically with the music covered in this study, they are useful in that they
all, to a greater or lesser extent, describe Maslanka’s compositional processes, his
background, and his influences. This information, often presented in the form of
interviews with the composer, would in many cases be applicable to any study of David
Maslanka’s music regardless of the specific pieces being analyzed.
One of the earliest of these projects, completed in 1994, is David Martin Booth’s
“An Analytical Study of David Maslanka’s A Child’s Garden o f Dreams This
document, dealing with the piece that helped establish Maslanka as a highly regarded
composer of wind ensemble music, is presented as a detailed, narrative analysis. Booth
includes extensive backgroimd information on the piece, which has its origins in
Maslanka’s reflection on the dreams of a ten-year-old girl, described by Carl Jung in Man
' Bootli, An Analytical Study o f David M aslanka’s A Child’s Garden o f Dreams.
13
and His Symbols. Booth’s musical analysis is thorough and well-written, and he also
includes extensive interviews that he conducted with the composer, as well as a listing of
Maslanka’s music for wind ensemble. Booth’s method of analysis, which combines a
narrative style with specific analysis of important musical and referential aspects of the
piece, is similar to the type of analysis that will he used in this study.
Another early dissertation on David Maslanka’s music is J. Patrick Brooks’s “An
Analysis of David Maslanka’s Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion,’’^ also
completed in 1994. This document, which focuses on one of the composer’s earlier
large-scale works for solo instrument and band, also contains other information on
Maslanka pertinent to this study. This includes a section on the influence of other
composers on Maslanka’s compositional development and a lengthy interview with the
composer. This interview focuses mainly on specific elements of composition in the
Concerto, but also contains more universal information on Maslanka’s compositional
techniques and other related topics. The actual analysis portion of this dissertation is
relatively short, consisting of approximately twenty pages exclusive of musical examples.
The importance o f Brooks’ dissertation to this study lies mainly in the extensive
interviews included by the author.
Roy Edward Breiling’s study, entitled “David Maslanka’s use of a chorale tune in
‘In Memoriam’”^ and completed in 2000, details a piece in which the composer makes
use of borrowed material. The Bach chorale “Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten” was
used by Maslanka in In Memoriam, a piece dedicated to the memory of Susan
^ J. Patrick Brooks, An Analysis o f David M aslanka’s Concerto fo r Piano, Winds, and Percussion
(D.M.A. Tliesis, University o f Cincinnati, 1994).
^ Roy Edward Breiling, D avid M aslanka’s Use o f a Chorale Tune in ‘In Memoriam ’ (D.M.A.
Document, University o f Arizona, 2000).
14
Lichtenwalter, the wife of the University of Texas-Arlington band director Ray C.
Lichtenwalter. Breiling provides a biographical section on the composer, highlighting
the influences of J.S. Bach and the psychologist Carl Jung on Maslanka’s life and
eomposing. The study also includes a description of David Maslanka’s compositional
style, which is a useful, if brief, generalization of the composer’s tendencies. The greater
part of this document is comprised of a rather economical analysis o f In Memoriam,
divided into sections dealing with form, melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture. The
usefulness of this study as a reference comes from its descriptions of Maslanka’s use of a
Bach chorale as source material for a composition, a practice that he uses on multiple
occasions in both Song Book and Mountain Roads.
Stephen Bolstad’s 2002 dissertation provides an analysis of Maslanka’s
Symphony no. 4, a large, single-movement work composed in 1993."^ This document also
contains detailed and significant biographical information on David Maslanka, as well as
a section describing his compositional approach and defining style periods into which his
pieces can be grouped. Like many of the other writers who have analyzed Maslanka’s
music, Bolstad uses a largely narrative style, presenting “ . . . an analysis that follows the
emotional line of the Symphony no. 4 and highlight(s) the unifying elements that hind its
different sections together.”^
Other dissertations dealing with Maslanka’s music include Michael Varner’s “An
Examination of David Maslanka’s marimba concerti: ‘Arcadia II for Marimba and
Percussion Ensemble’ and Concerto for Marimba and Band” and Leslie Blackwell’s “An
'' Stephen Paul Bolstad, D avid M aslanka’s Symphony no. 4: A Conductor’s Analysis with
Performance Considerations (D.M.A. Treatise, University o f Texas at Austin, 2002).
^ Ibid, 29.
15
Analytical Study of David Maslanka’s ‘A Litany for Courage and the Seasons.’” The
former consists of an overview and brief analysis of each of these marimba pieces, while
the latter is an analysis of a choral work of Maslanka’s in which he sets the poetry of
Richard Beale. Both of these contain biographical information and interviews with the
composer that could be useful to this study; most of this information is duplicated in
earlier dissertations already discussed.
Interviews and Articles
Other information in print on David Maslanka’s music exists mainly in the form
of interviews with the composer. The value of these interviews to this study lies largely
in the fact that they contain important information on Maslanka’s compositional process,
coming straight from the composer. In many cases, these interviews have focused
directly on the three pieces that will be discussed in this paper.
One of these interviews, which touches on all three of the pieces to be discussed,
was conducted by Russell Peterson in November 1998. Peterson teaches saxophone at
Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and is also a member of the Transcontinental
Saxophone Quartet, a group that commissioned and premiered Maslanka’s Mountain
Roads for saxophone quartet. Both Mountain Roads and Song Book for alto saxophone
and marimba were premiered on the same day that this interview took place. This is a
lengthy interview in which Maslanka discusses his general compositional approach, the
role of commissions, performance and intensity, and specific aspects of the three pieces
to be studied in this dissertation. Since this interview contains specific and detailed
references to all of these pieces, it is of real importance to this study. The interview was
16
published in the fall 1999 issue of the Saxophone Symposium, and also appears on David
Maslanka’s Internet website.^
The other interview in print that is of direct use to this project took place between
Maslanka and Paul Snyder, then a student at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music7 This
interview took place at roughly the same time as the Maslanka-Peterson interview, and
focuses mainly on the different elements that go into David Maslanka’s composing. The
influences of other composers and the influence of psychologist Carl Jung and his
concept of archetypes are discussed, as are Maslanka’s own personal “style periods” as a
composer. O f the three pieces central to this project. Song Book for alto saxophone and
marimba is the one discussed in most detail in the Maslanka-Snyder interview. This
interview appears on the saxophone studio page of the Lawrence University
Conservatory of Music website.
Recordings
Recordings of a composer’s work can often provide valuable insight into musical
aspects of a piece that might go unobserved through mere study of the score. This is
particularly true in the case of recordings made by a performer or ensemble of a work that
they commissioned: recordings that will likely be made with suggestions from and
feedback to the composer of the piece. There are existing recordings of all three pieces
®Russell Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,”

http://www.davidmaslanka.com/Speechdisplay.asp?ID=22 (1998), accessed 13 May 2003.
’ Paul Snyder, “An Interview with David Maslanka,”
http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/conservatory/studio/saxophone/maslanka.shtml (1998), accessed 12 June
2003.
17
discussed in this study, some of whieh will be referred to at times throughout this
document.
The Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano is the most extensively recorded piece
of the three. Saxophonists who have produced commercially available recordings of the
Sonata include Steven Jordheim, Kenneth Tse, Jamal Rossi, Russell Peterson, and
Jeremy Justeson.^ All of these recordings were released between 1998 and 2002,
although one of the recordings (Steven Jordheim’s) was actually made as early as 1993.
Since the Sonata was commissioned by a group of donors, there is no definitive recording
by a unique commissioning artist, although Rossi and Jordheim were both among those
donating to the commissioning fund. Each of these recordings offers a valuable
interpretation of Maslanka’s music.
There is currently only one available recording of Song Book for alto saxophone
and marimba. This recording was made by saxophonist Steven Jordheim and
percussionist Dane Maxim Richardson, the musicians who commissioned the work from
Maslanka.^ This album was released in 2000, and also includes Jordheim’s recording of
the saxophone Sonata. Since this recording was made by musicians who worked closely
with David Maslanka when he was composing the piece, it can be viewed as a very well-
informed performance, and one that is representative of Maslanka’s vision of the music.
As with Song Book, the one available recording of Mountain Roads was made by
the commissioning ensemble, which in this case is the Transcontinental Saxophone
* Steven Jordheim, The Music o f D avid Maslanka (2000), CD, Albany Records Troy 392;
Keimeth Tse, Senate (1998), CD, Riax Records RICA-2002; Jamal Rossi, Relentless (1999), CD, Mark
Custom Recording Service, Inc. 2553-MCD; Russell Peterson, American Breath (2001), CD, Barking Dog
Records BDR218I; Jeremy Justeson, Juggernaut (2002), CD, Equilibrium Records #49.
* Steven Jordheim and Dane Maxim Richeson, The Music o f D avid Maslanka.
18
Quartet/*^ This album was released in 2001. Since the group worked extensively with
Maslanka before the premiere of this piece, this recording can likewise be considered to
be an accurate representation of the composer’s musical ideas.
' Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet, Mountain Roads (2001), CD, Albany Records Troy 412.
19
CHAPTER III
SONATA FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND PIANO
Overview
The Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano (hereafter referred to simply as the
Sonata) was written in 1988, one of the first solo pieces for saxophone composed by
David Maslanka. It was commissioned by the North American Saxophone Alliance, an
organization of saxophone teachers and performers, many of whose members donated to
the commissioning fund. The Sonata was premiered on January 28, 1989 at the North
American Saxophone Alliance National Meeting and Navy Band Symposium by
Symposium contest winner Susan Jennings and pianist Bruce Patterson. Since that
performance, the Sonata has been recorded several times and is performed regularly by
saxophonists around the world. The piece is a thirty-minute work arranged in a three-
movement form, and makes use of many musical conventions from the Classical period
or earlier, albeit in a very contemporary way.
Since the composition of the Sonata, Maslanka has written several other works
that feature the saxophone, and often uses the instrument in a prominent role in his band
music as well. The composer had this to say about his affinity for the instrument;
20
Well, the saxophone has the quality of a human voice, almost more than
any other instrument. I mean, each instrument has its own character, but
the saxophone has a very wide variety of colors and a big intensity of
emotional expression. I think I like the instrument too because of its
boldness, not only when played with other wind instruments, but in
eombination with piano. So the instrument has a big voice, and I feel that
I sing through that voice.'
The words Maslanka uses to describe the saxophone could certainly also be used
in describing the Sonata, a highly emotional work in which both the saxophone and piano
are pushed to dynamic and expressive extremes. It is perhaps this bold. Romantic quality
of the piece that performers find so attractive. While Maslanka was reluctant to be too
specific when describing particular aspects of the Sonata, he described the piece as
having a quality of “outrage” and a “sense of violation.”^ This results in sections within
each movement that are very turbulent and unsettled, contrasted (sometimes with no
transition at all) by material that is much more triumphant and uplifting in character.
This dichotomy gives the piece a feeling of being pulled back and forth between
extremes, what Maslanka calls a “schizoid” character.^ Despite these extremes, there is,
in the author’s opinion, a pervading sense of melancholy and resignation throughout the
piece, particularly in the first and second movements. This quality is sometimes
superceded by the outrageous and triumphant music in the piece, but it is never
completely lost.
By themselves, these musical and emotional qualities might be compelling, but
would not necessarily result in an important artistic work. What binds them together and
’ Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.

^ Ibid.
^ Ibid.
21
gives them meaning in the Sonata is Maslanka’s use of a formal structure of organization.
Maslanka describes the structure of the piece in this way:
.. .each of the three movements has really quite clear formal boundaries,
and so you have an objective formal quality in the music, and within that
objective formality you have outrage. So I would think that for me the
qualities of objective form have a lot to do with how forcefully the music
can express an emotional issue. The objective form gives a backdrop, if
you want to think of it that way, for emotion to bounce off of. The
emotion is not just flopping in front of you and screaming; it has a quality
of intent because of the formality. The ideas of formality in music are not
only about, say. Sonata form - the first movement is, incidentally, in
Sonata form - but about how phrases are made and how beat structures
happen within phrases, the quality of pulse within the music, the quality of
tonality in the music."^
These organizing principles will be discussed in the sections dealing with the individual
movement of the piece.
Another characteristic that distinguishes the music of many composers is that of
referring back to the music of other composers, both in terms of style and, sometimes, the
use of quotation or reworking of existing material. This is certainly an aspect of much of
David Maslanka's music, and can be seen in each of the movements of the Sonata. While
there is no direct quotation in the piece, the particular references that Maslanka had in
mind when writing the piece were compositions by Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, and
Allan Pettersson,^ as well as the madrigals of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo.*’
Each of these influences can be seen particularly strongly in one of the movements,
although some elements recur throughout the piece.
“ Ibid.
^ Ibid.
' Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 5.
22
First Movement
The first movement of the Sonata contains themes and motives that recur in the
following movements, and is a resource for the organization of the entire piece. The
melancholy character that permeates the entire piece is established within the opening
measures of the first movement, and the “outrage” that recurs throughout the piece is also
introduced early in this movement.
When writing the Sonata, Maslanka was strongly influenced hy the music of
Swedish composer Allan Pettersson (1911-1980). “So inspiration for the Saxophone
Sonata takes me to the music of Allan Pettersson, a Swedish composer who wrote 16
symphonies . . . the symphonies are dark and huge and have a swirling kind of
atmosphere to them. They have an emotional sledgehammer feel.”^ Maslanka also had
this to say about the influence of Pettersson’s music:
The piece that I had in my head when I was thinking these ideas hack
when was his Symphony no. 12. It is called A Death in the Marketplace,
and this is after a poem by Pablo Neruda. .. .Pettersson had a quality of
angst in his music, and that was expressed by very intense textures that
stayed within a very primitive orbit. So, if he started in C minor, for
instance, the music would tend to be in C minor for great lengths of time,
almost persistently hitting the same chordal things, and after a while
there’s a sense of being battered by it, you’re continually hit by it.
.. .Pettersson’s was - music made by a neurotic man, there’s no question
about it. I responded to that very strongly early on. He died when he was
70, hut he grew up in the poor part of Sweden, and always felt himself to
he troubled, emotionally troubled, in difficulty, and the music reflects it.
.. .There’s a powerful sense of fixed tonality in the music; once a thing
starts it tends to express a certain key area, to stay there. So there’s
Pettersson, and particularly in the third movement it (the Sonata) has a
nagging kind of crunching quality to it.^
’ Ibid, 5.
23
The “powerful sense of fixed tonality” that Maslanka refers to is evident
throughout the Sonata, and his use of this “insistent nagging” gesture on a single pitch or
harmony will be discussed in more detail later. While Pettersson’s influence is
important, it can be seen most clearly in the last movement of the piece. The strongest
reference that Maslanka recognizes in the first movement is the music of Franz Liszt.
The first movement, interestingly enough, has a reference point to the

Franz Liszt B minor Sonata fo r Piano. It’s only a reference in my mind,
not an actual musical one. But the emotional power that Liszt generates,
particularly in that B minor Sonata, which I think is a fabulous piece, is a
thing which moved me in the writing of my own Saxophone Sonata. So
not only is there an emotional kind of quality to the music, there is a
wistful character and there is this “monster leaping on your face” kind of
character to the piece. All of this translates into a big emotional kind of
music. ^
While Maslanka states that this influence does not appear explicitly in his music,
certain parallels can be drawn between the two Sonatas. Liszt’s Sonata, completed in
1853, is generated from a few compact themes that are developed and transformed
throughout the piece. The three most important and frequently recurring themes of
Liszt’s piece all appear in rapid succession within the first fifteen measures of the Sonata
(see Example 3.1). The first movement of Maslanka’s Sonata is similarly built from
three distinct themes. Maslanka’s piece, like that of Liszt, starts pensively and quietly
but quickly grows into something very unquiet (although not as quickly as Liszt’s Sonata,
which by m.9 has reached forte and the Allegro energico of its second theme). The
greatest similarity between themes in the two pieces can be seen in Maslanka’s third
theme, which makes its first appearance in m. 72, and Liszt’s Grandioso D Major theme
that first appears in m. 105 (see Examples 3.7 and 3.8). Both of these themes have an
®Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 5.
24
unrestrained, triumphant quality and rhythmic similarity (soaring melody over repetitive
accompaniment). The B Minor Sonata, despite the desire of many to describe it as such
(perhaps because of its overt and dramatic emotional nature or thematic similarity to the
Faust Symphony), was not a programmatic work.^^ Likewise, although the music of
Maslanka’s Sonata has been described as having a “life story” kind of character to it,"
the composer had no specific program in mind when he wrote the piece. While it is not
the aim of this study to provide an analysis of Liszt’s B Minor Sonata, it should be
emphasized that performers wishing to capture the Romantic essence of Maslanka’s
Sonata would be well advised to make themselves familiar with this piece.
Allegro energico
sent? voct
y marceto
Ex. 3.1: Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor fo r Piano, mm.1-15.

Note the immediate and obvious appearance of the first three themes (theme 1: mm. 1-3,
theme 2: mm. 8-11, theme 3: mm. 13-15), and the rapid growth from piano to forte.
Maslanka writes about Liszt’s music, “I love the ‘all out’ nature of his emotional
expression, and that the focus of that expression reaches its full power because of the
underlying Sonata structure.”^^ Similarly in Maslanka’s Sonata, this emotionally driven.
Kenneth Hamilton, Liszt Sonata in B Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996),
29-31.
11Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
David Maslanka, notes to Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, The Music o f D avid Maslanka
(2000), CD, Albany Records Troy392.
25
“wide open Romantic”^^ type of music is tempered and organized by the composer’s use
of form. The clear structure of the movement results in music that is passionate and
dramatic without losing cohesion or control. The general form of the movement could be
described by the following outline:
Table 3.1
Exposition Development Recapitulation/Coda

(Mm. 1-87) (Mm. 88-128) (Mm. 129-149/Mm. 150-
197)
“M elancholy” (H‘) Theme: Transition: Return o f “Triumphant”
A minor, Aeolian characteristics. Extensive “Layering,” T' Theme Theme:
Ends with authentic cadence. retums transformed. Metrical Harmonically identical with
Mm. 1-23 obscurity and increased melodic omamentation in the
independence o f saxophone and saxophone.
“W istful” (2"“) Theme: piano. Mm. 129-144
A minor, ends in F-sharp major. Mm. 88-102 (continues partially
Mm. 24-59 to m. 108) Transition:
Piano “nagging” repetition on F.
Transitional, “Outrageous” “Chasing” Section: Mm. 145-149
Section: Echoing between saxophone and
Dissonant, highly chromatic. piano, largely diatonic (C major Coda:
Mm. 60-71 and G major) with dissonant “Planing” or “Layering” between
punctuation. saxophone and piano. Return o f
“Triumphant” (3'^'') Theme: Mm. 103-128 the “wistful” (2"‘‘) theme in C
C major, ends in F major. minor.
Mm. 72-87 Mm. 150-197
The Sonata begins in A minor, with the piano providing a glimpse of the
“insistent nagging” on a single pitch that will return with much greater force in the third
movement. Here the piano begins with a single A, a bell-like tone that is sustained and
repeated, serving as a grounding point that prepares the listener for what is to follow.
The pulse of the piece is established in the second measure, where Maslanka indicates a
tempo of quarter-note = 90-96 and the direction “moderate.” This tempo remains
unchanged for the remainder of the movement, and provides an underlying pulse that is
' Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
26
essential to the overall effect, even though the listener will not always be consciously
aware of it. Maslanka had this to say about the importance of pulse in the first movement
of the Sonata and in his music in general:
.. .let’s say you take the first movement of the Sonata which has a specific
groove kind of tempo, and within that tempo groove there are huge
varieties of things that happen, but you do have the tempo groove, you do
have that specific beat quality. If you isolate that beat by itself, it has not
so much emotional character, but it is the thing which allows this other
quality, this other radical kind of expression to take place. I always think
of formal arrangements, and particularly beat structure, as a grid pattern
upon which other things are laid so that you have a way of perceiving
them in a forceful way. .. .That quality of continuous pulse creates a
quality of settled acceptance in the listener, and in that space you can hear
and receive. I haven’t said it that way before, but I think that’s a really
true thing, and I think that the Sonata reflects it quite thoroughly.'"^
While there are brief moments of rubato within the movement, and many
instances of rhythmic excitement and relaxation, this underlying pulse should continue
undisturbed once established. Given Maslanka’s view of the importance of this aspect of
the piece, performers should strive to maintain this pulse even at the most frenetic
moments of rhythmic activity.
The piano, which establishes the key of A minor in the second measure, is joined
by the saxophone in measure three with the first theme of the piece, which continues until
m. 24 (see Example 3.2). This minor-key, rhythmically simple theme establishes the
melancholy, wistful quality of the movement, and also serves as a unifying element
between the separate movements of the piece. The absence of a leading tone and
Maslanka’s repeated use of the tonic triad moving to the minor triad on the fifth scale
degree then back to tonic give this theme an Aeolian sound. Echoes of this theme occur
Îbid.
27
Ex. 3.2: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, I, mm. 3-23.

Note gradual build to m .l9 followed quickly by relaxation and diminuendo to the end of
the theme.
© 1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
later in the first movement, and it is also restated, very dramatically, in the second
movement. These factors, as well as its primary position in the movement, make this
theme particularly significant. Maslanka was reluctant to put the specific importance of
this theme into words, but offered the following:
Well, its significance? I can’t put words on it, I would not know what to
say. It clearly does have significance for me, if it has any meaning for
28
you, that particular theme I composed when I was sitting injury duty in
New York City, waiting for my turn to come, you know, sitting there in
the cattle call. .. .It’s possible for you to speculate, hut for each person
approaching the pieee as a player, there is a different story, and a different
eharacter.'^
While it is tempting to label this theme as the “jury duty” theme, I will refer to it
instead as the “melancholy” theme. While this theme starts quietly, it quickly progresses
to a high point of intensity and range when the saxophone reaches a fortissimo b-flat' in
m. 19, hinting at the violent energy that will be released later in the movement. This
moment does not last long, however, and by m. 23 the tension ereated by this rising
melodic line has already been released as it descends again and gradually fades into
silenee, returning to the underlying melaneholy of the theme. This is a characteristic of
all three of the main themes in the movement: a gradual ascent to a high point of range,
dynamic, and, consequently, intensity. Once this climax is reached, departure from it
(usually in a downward direction) is rapid, which lends a fading quality to the conclusion
of each theme. The end of the “melancholy” theme also gives us the first sign of the
“insistent nagging” on a repeated pitch that Maslanka recognizes in the music of Allan
Pettersson; as the first theme ends, the piano settles into repeated eighth-notes on E as the
saxophone fades away, driving home the dominant which is sustained for three measures
before returning to A minor as the music flows into the second theme. This rhythmic and
harmonic repetition is a device that occurs frequently and often forcefully later in the
Sonata and in Maslanka’s other works as well. While this “melancholy” theme passes
relatively quickly, it serves as an introduction to the great emotional power of the pieee,
and should be played with corresponding energy and conviction.
Ibid.
29
Maslanka’s characteristic compositional technique of freely changing meter is
also illustrated within the exposition of the Sonata. Far from creating an aural sense of
mixed meter or complex rhythms, these metrical changes are usually made to fit the
shape of Maslanka’s melodic material. In the first twenty-four bars of the Sonata, for
example, the meter changes are arranged in this order; 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 3/4,
4/4, 6/4, 4/4. This fits the melody more elegantly than an unchanging 4/4 time signature
would (the first phrase of the “melancholy” theme, for instance, is fourteen beats long:
4+2+4+4), and betrays no hint of rhythmic disturbance or interruption to the listener.
The vast majority of Maslanka’s metrical changes are of this type: made for melodic
elegance and organization rather than to affect an audible change of meter.
Maslanka’s harmonic language in the first movement, particularly in the
exposition, is often conservative. Many of his harmonies would not sound out of place in
the music of the eighteenth century, although the root movements Maslanka uses are not
always typical of “common practice” music. To illustrate one example of this
characteristic, the harmonic progression of the “melancholy” theme (mm. 3-24) consists
of the following chords: A minor (mm. 3-4) - E minor (mm. 5-6) - A minor (mm. 7-8) -
E minor (mm. 9-10) - D minor (add 9) (m. 11) - C major (mm. 12-13) - G7 (m. 14) - A
minor (m. 15) - A major (m. 16) - D major (add 9) (m. 17) - D major (m. 18) - G minor
(add 9) (m. 19) - E dim.7 (m. 20) - E major (add 9) (m. 21) - E7 (mm. 22-23) - A minor
(m. 24). While this progression is occasionally given tension by dissonance between the
saxophone and the piano (e.g. m. 12, where the saxophone plays what is effectively a 4-3
suspension over the piano's C major chord, see Example 3.2), the harmony generally
remains uncomplicated by added dissonance or chordal extensions. This type of
30
harmonic usage is typical of Maslanka’s writing in the Sonata, particularly in large
sections of the first two movements. This harmonic simplicity lends an even more
striking quality to the dissonant material that appears later in the movement.
The second, “wistful” theme introduced in the exposition begins in measure
twenty-four, approached by the cadential piano figure in mm. 21-23. While this cadence
does not resolve in the traditional sense, the first appearance of the leading tone G-sharp
(in mm. 21 and 22) and the repeated dominant in m. 23 imply an authentic cadence that is
easily heard by the listener. The “wistful” theme also begins in A minor, established by a
simple A minor arpeggio in the piano that is maintained continuously for eight bars (see
Example 3.3). This is the type of figure that has led some to characterize Maslanka’s
compositions as “minimalist,” a description with which the composer does not
necessarily a g re e .M a sla n k a ’s objection to the term seems to be a valid one: while his
music often uses repetition of harmonic or melodic elements, the glacial rate of change
that is characteristic of some of the works of composers like Philip Glass and John
Adams is not evident in Maslanka’s music, nor is this technique of repetition an end in
itself. This rhythmic and harmonic repetition serves primarily as a grounding point for
the listener: a unifying element that reinforces the underlying and continuous pulse of the
movement. It also serves as a subtle vehicle for musical tension, since the changing of a
single element (one note in an arpeggiated chord, for example) takes on added
significance when it alters a harmonic pattern that has been established and repeated for a
long period o f time.
Snyder, “An Interview with David Maslanka,” 7.
31
legato Imgfte
_' -- ■
■ -
p =J= — ----- ^ j—
• W J ■ >------- 1 ^ ■

Note subtle alteration and heightened tension created by bass note motion (A-G-F-sharp-
E) under repeated melodic phrase.
The “wistful” theme, which begins with the piano in an accompanying role in m.
24 and is joined by the melody of the saxophone in m. 26, bears a resemblance (at least
on the surface, and perhaps at a more fundamental level) to the Fantasie in f minor fo r
piano four hands by Franz Schubert (Example 3.4). There is certainly a similarity of
rhythm and harmony in the accompaniment figures of both pieces, and both exhibit a
strong emotional character of wistful longing. If there is a deeper connection, it may lie
in the fact that Schubert’s music, while relatively calm and reflective at its outset, soon
grows into something very turbulent and unrestrained. This is a development that also
takes place in Maslanka’s Sonata, where the stability of the “wistful” theme eventually
gives way to something dramatically different. If this connection does exist, it was on an
unconscious level for the composer when he wrote the Sonata:
There is no conscious reference to the Schubert f-minor Fantasie.

However, I have always had a leaning toward the simplicity of Schubert’s
melodies and accompaniments. His idea of continuous unfolding of tunes.
32
rather than motivic or thematic development, is a path that I have also

followed.'^
Even if Maslanka did not consciously intend it, the sense of pathos and emotionality that
exists in Schuhert’s Fantasie, a piece written near the end of his short life, is certainly
evident in the Sonata.
Allegro moito moderato
Ex. 3.4: Franz Schuhert’s F an to ie in FMinor, Op. 102, mm. 1-14.

Note similarity of rhythm and harmonic repetition between piano 2 in this example and
the piano in Example 3.3.
Maslanka’s “wistful” theme is simple and elegant; the piano part consists of
nothing but arpeggiated eighth-notes from m. 24 to m. 61, providing an almost
unchanging background for the saxophone melody. Harmonic changes are often
accomplished by changing a single note (usually the lowest note) in the piano arpeggio,
creating a gradually descending line that is characteristic of Maslanka’s music. This has
Maslanka, personal E-mail, 6 October 2003.
33
the effect of creating a slowly descending scale: through the first half of the theme (mm.
24-41), this motion can he traced in the piano part as A-G-F-sharp-E-D-C-sharp-B -
basically an A Mixolydian scale traced in augmentation through the course of the theme
(see Example 3.3). This pattern of gradual descent, either by half- or whole-step, is a
recurring element throughout the Sonata, and creates an aural effect of resignation or
deepening sorrow. The calm, repetitive nature of this theme makes the following section
even more startling and disturbing hy comparison. At only a handful of points during the
“wistful” theme is the underlying tension and anger of the piece hinted at: once in m. 39,
where the saxophone sustains a dissonant D-sharp against a fully diminished C-sharp 7
chord that hesitates (Maslanka asks the performers to hold back a bit) before resolving to
B major in m. 40. The other instance of heightened tension occurs at the final cadence of
the theme in mm. 56-57, where a dissonant C-sharp major (flat 9) chord is sustained
before moving to F-sharp major in m. 58 (see Example 3.5). Both of these moments of
tension, occurring at the midway and ending cadential points of the “wistful” theme,
should be given slightly added emphasis hy the performers.
A lto Sax.

1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
The “emotional sledgehammer feel” that Maslanka finds in the music of Allan
Pettersson makes its first dramatic appearance in m. 60 of the Sonata (see Example 3.6).
34
The wistful quality of the simple piano figure is suddenly grotesquely transformed: the
arpeggio becomes a crunching tone cluster alternating between A against A-sharp and C-
sharp and F-sharp against C natural. This sudden change of character sets up a frenetic
outburst of thirty-second-notes in the saxophone: a violently ascending, heavily
chromatic figure that borders on the unplayable. This line quickly reaches the highest
pitch level achieved by the saxophone in the first movement, circling around sustained
notes on d^, e-flat^, and This is also a dynamic point of arrival, as the saxophone
grows from m f at m. 62 to f f f on the final sustained D in m. 69.
A lio Saxophone
=*t

This section marks the first overt appearance of the outrageous and violently
emotional character that recurs in each movement of the piece. Maslanka had this to say
about this character of the Sonata:
There is, I would say, overall in the piece a quality of outrage, if that’s a
good word. There is a more subtle kind of character which is emotionally
subtle. For instance, the very beginning of the piece opens in a very subtle
way, but very quickly turns into something outrageous. Now, there is that
35
quality of outrageousness which is, I think, an emotional sense of

violation. These words are new to me right now. A sense of violation.'*
Taking these qualities of the piece into account, it becomes evident that certain sections
of the piece, such as mm. 60-70 of the first movement, roughly amount to emotional
outbursts. In these sections, portraying the emotional and psychological outrage of the
music should be the primary goal of the performers, even at the expense of technical
perfection. This Romantic characteristic of pushing the music to an almost out-of-control
state hy straining the limits of instruments and performers is evident in many of
Maslanka’s pieces, and is a very important aspect of the Sonata. While technical mastery
of the music is of course an important goal, Maslanka would urge performers not to mute
the outrageous nature of the piece by reducing tempos or otherwise limiting the extremes
of the piece simply to avoid technical mistakes. To be effective, these outrageous
sections of the Sonata need to be played with abandon.
Maslanka’s technique of layering, which often results in an obscuring of meter
and pulse, first occurs in the section from mm. 60-70. Until this point, there is a clear
melody-accompaniment relationship between the saxophone and the piano, and an
obvious and consistent sense of pulse. During the violent and outrageous “outburst”
sections of the piece, the saxophone and piano often become more independent,
sometimes giving the impression of multiple meters occurring simultaneously, sometimes
simply creating instability. The first example of this occurs in m. 62, where the piano
changes from the repeated eighth-note pattern that has been maintained since m. 24 to a
syncopated, heavily accented pattern that moves into a series of percussive hemiolas.
This provides a sharp contrast to the saxophone, which is first rhythmically consistent
36
and driving, then soars in a sustained line over the hemiolas of the piano (see Example
3.6). Maslanka uses this effect throughout the piece, most significantly at points of great
dissonance and intensity. This technique of layering, of different and sometimes
opposing material in the saxophone and piano, emphasizes the “schizoid” character that
is significant in the piece. Whether intentional or not, Maslanka’s use of this technique
creates a strong sense of “multiple personalities” within the music, of forces struggling
against each other. Sections of significant layering between the saxophone and piano are
found primarily in the first and third movements; this author believes that it is not
coincidental that these outer movements also have the sharpest contrast of emotional
character. While the consistent pulse of the first movement may create a quality of
“settled acceptance,” the rhythmic and thematic dissonance created by layering counter
that with a definitely unsettling effect.
The “outburst” that starts in m. 60 ends as abruptly as it began, the saxophone’s
frenetic thirty-second-notes surging into the triumphant third theme of the exposition in
m. 72 (see Example 3.7). This theme, largely in C major, signals a return of the diatonic
quality that was disturbed by the outrageous “outburst.” It also marks a return of the
primarily homophonic melody-accompaniment relationship of saxophone and piano, with
the piano returning to the chordal, repeated eighth-note pattern that was first established
at the beginning of the exposition. The melody of this triumphant theme is simple and
song-like, soaring above the piano in an exuberant resolution of the turbulence that
preceded it. The “expansive, athletic, wide open Romantic”'^ quality that Maslanka
admires in the music of Franz Liszt makes its first obvious appearance here, lending a
19
Ibid.
37
jubilant and unrestrained quality to the third theme that should be emphasized by the
performers. This is also the most obvious point of comparison between Maslanka’s
Sonata and the Sonata in B Minor by Liszt: the driving rhythm of the piano
accompaniment and grandly soaring melody of Maslanka’s “triumphant” theme closely
parallel the design and affect of Liszt’s Grandioso theme (Example 3.8). This theme, like
so many others in Maslanka’s music, reaches a climax (in this case, a cadence on C major
in m. 83) and quickly recedes, and the music diminishes rapidly in intensity and dynamic
level as the theme ends. This relaxation at the end of themes is very common throughout
the Sonata, providing a release of the energy and tension that is so prevalent throughout
the piece.
2 beats
^ j —j — — -j --j j 1 j
t t 1 I i i I f J

“Triumphant” Theme.
38
J .. -g ^ H
r m r t
r f ' T
1 » - p - i- 1 -
^ r p r r r
i ^
^ d
j . . . t t S i
riienulo e dim
Ex, 3.8: Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor fo r Piano, mm. 105-119.
The end of the third theme (at m. 88) marks the end of the exposition, and a
transition into a developmental section that is strongly marked by the layering technique
that made its first appearance in the “outburst” from mm. 60-71 (see Example 3.6). In
the development, this technique has two effects: it confuses the sense of meter (the piano
begins a figure in m. 88 that implies 3/8, rather than the written 3/4), and it creates the
polyphonic effect of separate melodies moving against each other. This technique is
illustrated clearly at m. 93, where the saxophone enters with a melody that is a variation
on the first, “melancholy” theme. Two measures later, the piano adds a second melody,
one that is very clearly derived from the “melancholy” theme but altered through
augmentation (see Example 3.9). Even though both melodies are derived from the same
39
material, the staggered entrances and other differences (ornamentation in the saxophone
vs. simplicity in the piano) give the impression of different entities: melodies that are
related but are moving at different speeds and in different orbits. This technique provides
a subtle, but very important, reinforcement of the emotional duality of the piece.
P P (softer than i/ie piano)
Vlfiytfc it^ K . 1 . t . 1 » . I . Î=»=l

-Lr

Illustration of layering technique and thematic transformation: saxophone has a version
of the “melancholy” theme in m. 93, piano has augmentation of the same theme in m. 95.
A related technique that also appears in the developmental section is an “echoing’
or “chasing” relationship between the saxophone and piano, where one instrument will
repeat what the other has just played, usually within a few beats of the first instrument’s
entrance. The first occurrence of this “echo” where the entrances are in close proximity
is in m. 109, where the piano reiterates a pattern that the saxophone had begun several
40
beats before (see Example 3.10). In this case the piano’s imitation is at the interval of a
fifth, almost implying a fugal or canonic quality, but the imitation here (and in many of
A lto Sax.

Example of “echoing” technique used in the development.
) 1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
the “echo” sections) is not exact. It is close enough to make the imitative relationship
unmistakable to the listener, but Maslanka alters some material to suit the phrasing or
meter. This “chase” continues through m. 121. This section is almost completely
diatonic, consisting of descending scalar patterns in A natural minor (the piano always
remains in A minor when playing these patterns) or occasionally E minor in the
saxophone. Despite the harmonic simplicity, the prevailing thirty-second-note rhythm
and the “chase” between saxophone and piano give this section a quality of wild
abandon. As in the section between mm. 61-70, the consistent pulse of the movement
should remain the same here despite the frantic quality that this will produce, and in fact
this frantic quality is a desired effect that can only be achieved at a tempo that is close to
what is indicated (quarter-note = 90-96). The wildness of this section is occasionally
punctuated by accented cluster chords in the piano, which occur in mm. 113, 115, and
122-124. These dissonant chords are not triadic in nature (e.g. the chord in the first beat
of m. 122 is D-E-F-A-E-flat-B-flat), nor do they advance the harmony in the sense of a
41
chord progression. They serve rather as “crunch chords”^*^that punctuate the flying
streams of thirty-second-notes throughout the “chase” section, and add an additional
element of outrageousness to the music.
This turbulent developmental section ends as did the “outburst” in mm. 61-70,
with the piano’s chromatic descent to a repeated C-sharp from mm. 125-128 (identical to
mm. 68-71), leading into a return of the third theme and the beginning of the
recapitulation. The return of the third theme, now ornamented by sixteenth- and thirty-
second-notes in the saxophone, is even more triumphant and jubilant than it was when it
first appeared, and the dynamic is increased from forte to fortissimo (see Example 3.11).
Here is the center o f Romanticism in the first movement: a wild, turbulent, emotionally
disturbed “chase” that culminates in the unrestrained triumph of the return of the C major
theme. While the recapitulation does not mark the extreme high point of dynamic or
tessitura in the movement, it should certainly be treated as the emotional climax,
particularly since the coda that follows is almost devoid of dynamic motion.
This is a term used extensively by David Maslanka to describe the use o f accented, non
functional dissonance in his music.
42
A lto Saxophone
T -
2 heats
explosive
2 beats
A. Sx.
Pno.
A, Sx.
Pno. <

Rhythmic transformation of the “triumphant” theme.
The moment of energy and jubilation created in the return of the “triumphant”
theme, like so many other moments of apparent escape from the underlying brooding
turmoil of tbe Sonata, caimot be sustained for long. After the saxophone and piano reach
a final, climactic resolution on the C major chord at the downbeat of m. 140, they
diminish to pianissimo by m. 145, and the piano begins a chain of repeated eighth-note
chords that move from G major to B-flat major to F major, finally settling into a single
repeated F in m. 149. This repeated-note gesture, so characteristic of endings and
43
transitions in Maslanka’s music, is a way of grounding the listener and either bringing an
idea to its conclusion or serving as a point of departure for the unfolding of new material.
This occurs also at the beginning of the movement, where the repeated A develops into
the “melancholy” theme, at m. 23 where a repetition on E both brings the “melancholy”
theme to an end and serves as a jumping-off point for the “wistful” theme, and here at m.
149 where the piano’s rumbling F brings the last statement of the third theme to a close.
In each case this repetition marks a point of repose and relaxation amid the turbulence
that is evident throughout much of the movement.
The remainder of the first movement is basically a coda in which the piano and
saxophone again exist on different planes, both rhythmically and harmonically. The
piano’s material is repetitive and percussive, consisting of simple, isolated clusters using
the notes C-D-E-flat in octaves. This pattern has, at first, the added impact of obscuring
the beat: since the piano plays alone for five measures and has notes only on the upbeat
of beat one in each measure, the listener will naturally hear these notes as occurring on
the downbeat. This causes a brief confusion when the saxophone enters: until we reach
the sixteenth-notes in m. 157, it is difficult to tell whether the saxophone has entered on a
downbeat or an upbeat. When the saxophone does join the piano, it is with a restatement
of the second, “wistful” theme, now written down a sixth in C minor rather than the
original A minor (see Example 3.12). Now isolated from the piano because of the
“planing” technique used here, this theme takes on an even more lonesome and forlorn
quality than when it first occurred. The “planing” technique also subtly emphasizes the
duality of the piece: the “wistful” theme, while sad, seems to be conscious and rational: it
remains tonal, and has a logical progression from beginning to end, but under the surface
44
there are the clusters in the piano, an unrelenting and remorseless mechanical presence
that threatens to disturb the calm on the surface.
This relationship continues to the end of the movement, and in fact the saxophone
and piano move farther apart as the saxophone slows slightly in its final statement in m.
186 while the piano maintains strict tempo (see Example 3.13). The end of the first
movement fades almost into nothingness, providing a startling contrast to the powerful
energy that dominates the middle of the movement. This is a technique that will also be
used in the following movements, and it gives each movement a kind of “unanswered
A lto Sax.
subitop
very short
add soft vih. (add vib.)

as tone fades
A. Sx.
Piio.
A. Sx.
Pno.

Return of the “wistful” theme, now in C minor, combined with one of the most dramatic
instances of layering in the first movement.
45
slightfy
A lio Sax.
J3p
(strict tempo)
PP

question” quality. The composer had this to say about this characteristic of fading away
at the end of each movement:
This was the evolution of the music. Endings. In this case, it just seems
that the quality of dying away is a leading into mystery. There is not a
definitive statement that “yes, we have assertively finished this and we
know what we’re doing.” There’s a quality of something disappearing
into the unspoken, something that you don’t know about.
This “leading into mystery” lends an unsettled feeling to the end of the movement, one
that is further emphasized by the piano’s tone clusters and by the saxophone’s final
statement. The listener might expect the saxophone to end on G (the dominant in C
minor), which is played and then anticipated by its leading tone F-sharp, but instead the
saxophone passes through the G and ends on an A-flat, the musical equivalent of a
question left hanging in the air. The movement is finished, but not with a sense of true
resolution.
The first movement is divided by sharply contrasting stylistic, as well as thematic,
sections. In large-scale terms, there are two different styles at work here: a simple, song-
21
46
like style that is typified by sustained melodic lines and uncomplicated rhythmic and
harmonic structure, and a very turbulent, aggressive style that displays a far greater
degree of rhythmic complexity and dissonance. The “simple” style is actually more
indicative of Maslanka’s later compositional style; the pieces discussed in Chapters 4 and
5 of this document display an increasing simplicity of compositional means. Sections
dominated by this style include the greater part of the exposition (mm. 1-59 and 72-87,
see Examples 3.2, 3.3, and 3.7) and the recapitulation (mm. 129-197, see Examples 3.11,
3.12, and 3.13). While there are moments of dynamic and rhythmic aggressiveness in
these sections, the musical materials are generally simple. This simplicity should be
reflected in the performers’ interpretation - a straightforward and not overly affected
style should be maintained. The themes of these sections have a song- or ballad-like
quality that should be emphasized by the saxophonist. This can be facilitated by use of a
warm and expressive vibrato and by ensuring that, particularly during sections of
sustained notes, a sense of forward motion is maintained in order to “finish” each phrase.
The sections dominated by the “turbulent” style include mm. 60-71 (see Example
3.6) and the greater part of the development (mm. 88-128, see Examples 3.9 and 3.10).
The performers’ approach to these sections should reflect the style - this is not pretty
music, and the emotional content here will not be effectively represented by an
interpretation that is restrained or too careful. These are sections of violent energy, and
require a forceful dynamic and rhythmic intensity that can only result from the
performers’ passionate and uninhibited involvement in the music. The dichotomy and
consequent struggle of the “simple” and “turbulent” styles is a major recurring element
47
throughout the Sonata, and the differences in each style should be emphasized wherever
they occur.
Second Movement
The second movement of the Sonata is in many ways the simplest movement of
the piece; it is also the most free and perhaps leaves more room for individual
interpretation than the first or third movements. It is the most emotionally consistent of
the three movements, and while it has both moments of extremely powerful intensity and
of quiet reflection, it does not have the same degree of mercurial and instantaneous
change that the other movements do. Maslanka calls the second movement “a broad
soliloquy with an opening that has the feel of an accompanied recitative.
The form of the second movement, like that of the first, is clearly defined and
creates a framework in which the emotional content of Maslanka’s music can exist
coherently. The major sections of the second movement can be defined in the following
way:
David Maslanka, notes to Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, Relentless (1999), CD, Mark
Custom Recording Service, Inc. 2553-MCD.
48
Table 3.2
Opening Development of “Melancholy” Theme Closing

Recitative from 1** Movement Recitative
(Mm. 1-33) _______ (Mm. 34-100)___________ (M. 101)
M ournful, Reflective “M elancholy” Theme: M ournful, Reflective
Theme: Returns first in the piano, now more grave and Theme:
Begins in C minor, dramatic. Begins in G minor, then moves to A Return o f the opening
moves quickly to B-flat minor and C-sharp minor. Ends with “melting” material, now
minor. Piano provides gesture o f resignation. remaining in C minor.
chordal support for Mm. 34-61 Here it is shortened to
serene saxophone the equivalent o f m .l-
melody. Ends with Transition: 10, followed by the
tritone gesture. Begins in C minor, builds from the pp relaxation tritone gesture that
Mm. 1-33 at the end o f the previous section to fff occurs in mm. 24-27.
Mm. 62-70 M. 101
“H eroic” Section:
Begins in C minor, strictly in tempo and very
intense (marked f f f and with all possible force!).
Piano has augmentation o f material similar to the
“melancholy” theme. Ends softly with “insistent
nagging” gesture on C.
Mm. 71-83.
“Epic Tragic” Section:

Begins with long, quiet build, primarily in A-flat
major, to an apex o f intensity in m.92, followed
by descending “collapse,” ending softly with
another tritone gesture.
Mm. 84-100
All of the sections contain siinilaritics that help bind the movement together.
Each section begins and ends quietly (the loudest dynamic at the end of any of the
sections being a diminuendo from pp), and the opening and closing recitative sections
contain basically the same material. All three sections end with the melodic or harmonic
appearance of a tritone, giving the movement an overarching ominous and unsettled
quality. In the recitative sections this tritone figure occurs melodically between E and B-
flat (in the opening section, this is followed by six additional measures, which
nevertheless conclude with a chord that has two tritones: D-G-sharp and C-F-sharp). In
the middle section this gesture is achieved when a pedal D is added to an A-flat minor
49
(sharp 9) chord. Finally, the reappearance and transformation of the “melancholy” theme
in the middle section of the second movement lends familiarity and structure to a part of
the piece that is, at times, very anguished and dissonant.
Maslanka acknowledges the specific influence of two composers on his writing in
the second movement. One of these is the French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-
1963), about whom he has this to say:
I’ve liked Poulenc’s music forever. When I started writing wind Sonata-
type pieces, my points of reference, I think, were the Sonata pieces of
Poulenc. I’ve performed the Clarinet Sonata, then there’s the Flute
Sonata, the Oboe Sonata of course, and a work for wind quintet and piano.
He’s a very gifted melody writer, and his sense of harmony is
extraordinary.^^
Similarities to Poulenc’s wind music, which are also sometimes evident in the third
movement, will be explored later. The second specific influence that Maslanka
acknowledges in this movement is that of the sixteenth century composer Carlo Gesualdo
(c.1561-1613).
In the second movement, the historical references, which I can perceive,

have to do with madrigal writing of the sixteenth century. I’m particularly
fond of those kinds of things, and some of the qualities of the madrigals of
Gesualdo. Chromatic experimentation of the sixteenth century was quite
extreme. The middle movement has a type of extended song feeling to it,
an extended poem, very passionate piece, and Gesualdo’s music was that
way. He wrote short things, but these short statements of his were
impassioned. So, there is something in me, I write lengthy pieces, and yet
there is a poetic intensity about them that seems to be demanded at every
step of the way.^"^
Consequently, the second movement is relatively simple harmonically, but within that
harmonically economic framework is very poignant, and Maslanka makes particularly
expressive use of dissonance in this movement. While Maslanka’s harmonic language is
' Maslanka, interview by autlior, 27 June 2003.
50
much closer to that of Poulenc than to that of Gesualdo, the song-like qualities and
intensity of feeling that the composer mentions are certainly evident.
The entire second movement is essentially derived from two themes. One of
these is the “melancholy” theme from the first movement, which is subjected to extensive
development in the second movement. The other is a theme that is introduced in the
opening recitative and returns in the closing section of the movement (see Example 3.14).
This theme is very similar to the “melancholy” theme in affect, sharing both the minor
key characteristics and melodic shape of that theme. The “recitative” theme picks up
where the first movement ended, in C minor, and acts almost as a resolution to the final
bars of the first movement. Gone are the dissonant clusters in the piano, replaced by an
unadorned C minor chord, and the saxophone begins with the G we expected to hear at
the end of the previous movement.
Comparing the shape of the first section of the “recitative” theme (the portion that
can be seen in Example 3.14) to that of the “melancholy” theme of the first movement
(Example 3.2), several similarities can be seen. Both themes begin in the same range of
the saxophone (a in the “melancholy” theme, a tone lower on g in the “recitative” theme),
and both reach a climax of range and dynamic intensity at a point roughly an octave
above their starting pitch (b-flat^ in the “melancholy” theme, f' in the “recitative” theme).
The “recitative” theme is more symmetrical, reaching that climax in the fifth measure of
a ten-measure long statement, but both themes descend quickly from their zenith to end
quietly on an E (e in the “melancholy” theme, an octave lower on E in the “recitative”
theme). Unlike the underlying impetus of the first movement, however, here we have the
rhythmic flexibility and rushing/hesitating qualities of recitative. The saxophone is
Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 5.
51
clearly the melodic voice, and the static, chordal nature of the piano part that can be seen
in Example 3.14 is typical of the entire opening section. This arrangement helps facilitate
the flexibility of the “recitative” theme, providing the saxophonist with numerous
opportunities for the use of rubato.
w y e x p r e a i v t - l a m t r d g h t a n e a u J v a - ta u s v i t r d b j a d Jib where ejprcp ria te.

J - J v sitd e . akm po
A lto S ax q :> h aie
slow ing
|i
Ex. 3.14: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 1-10.
First part of “recitative” theme.
Maslanka’s previously mentioned tritone gesture makes its first appearance at m.
24 (see Example 3.15), adding a discomfiting element to the end of the opening recitative
section - an element that will return at the conclusion of each thematic section. In this
case, the tritone is not only melodic in nature, but provides a discordant augmented fourth
against the prevailing harmony (A-sharp against an E minor (add 9) chord). This is one
52
of the gestures that can be attributed to the influence of Francis Poulenc, who uses a
similar gesture (with similar effect) in his Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano (see Example
3.16).
Alto Saxophone
/CS
The melodic tritone gesture (E to A-sharp) found here also occurs at the end of the
movement.
O boe
PP
lachez et laissez vibrcr

Piano PP
Ex. 3.16: Francis Poulenc’s Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, I, mm. 93-96.
Tritone gesture (Gs against C-sharps) similar to that found in Maslanka’s music.
Poulenc makes use of this tritone emphasis at the end of the first movement of the
piece. Of all Poulenc’s compositions for wind instruments mentioned as influential by
David Maslanka, the Oboe Sonata is perhaps the closest in style and mood to Maslanka’s
own writing. Written in 1962 near the end of the composer’s life, this beautiful piece is
dedicated to the memory of Sergei Prokofiev, and its first movement is titled Elegie. The
53
mood of Poulenc’s Oboe Sonata is certainly one of sadness and remembrance, not at all
unlike that of the second movement of Maslanka’s Sonata, and the two pieces also share
a sense of moving between emotional extremes. The way that Poulenc uses the tritone
gesture, adding the unsettling tritone to a chord (in this case, an already very dissonant
chord) being sustained by the oboe and the piano, is very similar to the way that
Maslanka uses it at the end of the middle, “melancholy” theme section of the second
movement (see Example 3.17). Moreover, Poulenc’s penchant for simplicity and his
remarkable gift for beautiful melody writing are traits that are also evident in the
compositional style of David Maslanka.
sluving -
A lto Saxophone
Slowing
long hold - let tm

moment settle
Note similarity of gesture in m.IOO (tritone between D and A-flat) to that found in
Poulenc’s music.
The section that ends with the preceding example is derived from the
“melancholy” theme of the first movement. In the second movement, this theme makes
its first appearance in the piano at m. 34, and is given both greater length and a greater
sense of gravity than it had in the first movement (see Example 3.18). Here it first
appears in the piano, which begins a sequence on the first phrase of the “melancholy”
theme. While this theme begins quietly and with the indication “serene” in the piano
part, it quickly grows into music that is very intense and, at times, bears little
54
resemblance to the “melancholy” theme of the first movement. Throughout this middle
section (mm. 34-100), however, the germ of this theme returns again and again,
reminding the listener that it is still present under the surface. This melodic fragment
usually occurs in the left hand of the piano, and consists of the first 3 or 4 notes of the
theme (an ascending minor scale) in augmentation (see Example 3.19). The
“melancholy” fragment returns at m. 63, 71, 84, and repeatedly in the section from mm.
92-100, providing an echo of the theme throughout. Except in the last instance, where it
begins in G minor, this melodic fragment occurs in C minor, which (usually) reflects the
prevailing harmony and, on a larger scale, the key in which this movement is based.
a tempo {i- 5^ ) don't drag or rush
P (enter sifter than the piano)
tn p legato
Fed. ad lih
(don't slow)
poco a poco
J cresc poco a poco
M ,
a tempo
holding back. . .
n n n ,n .
Return of the “melancholy” theme, now presented melodically in both the saxophone and
piano.
55
hesitate... a tempo a tempo
Alto Saxophone
Return of “melancholy” theme melodic fragment in the piano LH.
^ 1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
The emotional power of the “melancholy” theme as it appears in the second
movement is evident as it grows dynamically and the saxophone soars to a high b' in m.
47. This ascent is followed by downward chromatic motion as the crescendo continues to
f f f at the dramatic point of arrival in m. 49 (see Example 3.18). A written description of
this section may be informative, but it does little justice to what is one of the most
striking and powerfully moving moments in the entire Sonata. The aural effect is intense,
to say the least. As in the “wistful” theme from the first movement (see Example 3.3),
Maslanka’s use o f descending motion, here achieved by half-step in the saxophone (B to
A-sharp to A to G-sharp) and by whole-step in the piano (from mm. 49-54, the first note
in each measure forms the pattern D-sharp, C-sharp, B, A, G, F) portrays a mood of
resignation and sorrow. The shape of this section is consistent with Maslanka’s most
commonly used melodic shape: A rising theme that reaches a zenith of range, dynamic
power, and tension at roughly the same time (in this case, the point of arrival at m. 49 is
the clearest climax), and then begins a parallel descent of dynamic and range to a quiet
conclusion. In the “melancholy” theme section described here, this descent is a long one,
beginning at m. 52 and extending to m. 61 (see Example 3.20).
56
fasttrem.
dim. poco a poco
(dim.)
no break
A. Sx.
(dim.)
PP
P --
A. Sx.
lake time •
lei this mumenl
PP
Appearance of “melting” gesture in mm. 58, 60, and 61.
The end of this part of the middle section of the movement contains a melodic
gesture that has been described as having a “melting” quality, and that Maslanka terms a
“gesture of resignation.”^^ It takes the form of a descending cascade of notes, first stated
by the piano in m. 58 as the “melancholy” theme nears its conclusion, then appearing
three times in rapid succession in mm. 60-61, this time played by the saxophone (see
Example 3.20). The saxophone does not have an exact repetition of the piano’s gesture,
but the effect is the same. While neither “melting” gesture is completely chromatic, both
25
57
create an aural sense of decaying tonality, and the conclusion of the saxophone’s final
statement a diminished oetave away from its starting point has an unsettling effect similar
to that created by the tritone gesture that appears at the end of each major portion of the
movement. This is not the last time we will encounter the “melting” gesture: a version of
it oecurs at the very end of the third movement of the Sonata, again used as a symbol of
resignation and disturbance.
Texturally, the musie of the second movement is both more consistent and less
complex than that of the outer movements. The layering techniques found in both the
first and third movements are absent here, and there are very few instances of rhythmic or
metric ambiguity. There are occasionally moments where the piano takes on a leading
role (the re-introduction of the familiar “melancholy” theme at m. 34, repetition of the
“melancholy” melodic fragment at m. 92), but in general there is a very clear
melody/accompaniment relationship between the saxophone and piano. The entire
movement is in simple meter, usually clearly outlined by eighth-note or sixteenth-note
motion in the piano (see Examples 3.14 and 3.18 for an illustration of both of these
principles). In a way these factors help add to the degree of freedom that performers can
have when playing the movement: the simple materials and clearly discemable pulse
allow a greater flexibility than would be possible in, say, the developmental section of the
first movement, where the complexity and polyrhythmic nature of the music demand a
more consistent approach.
The deployment of dynamics within the movement is likewise very consistent:
not in that the dynamics stay the same, but that there is similar motion between dynamic
extremes within each section. The peaks of these sections are very intense, and
58
perfomers would be advised not to use too much restraint when a forceful dynamic is
called for - take for example the f f f arrival at m. 71, where along with the dynamic
marking Maslanka has written with all possible force! The opening recitative starts softly
(piano), reaches a peak o f forte, and recedes to pianissimo at the end of the section. The
middle portion of the movement has three such dynamic swells: from mp to f f f to pp
(mm. 34-61), from pp to fff\.o pp (mm. 62-81), and from pp to f f i o pp (mm. 82-100). In
each case, this long-range crescendo and diminuendo marks a division between thematic
parts of this section, making it very clear where one idea ends and another begins. The
closing recitative is the only section that doesn’t quite follow this pattern, beginning with
a crashing chord in the piano, and dying away to a whispering pppp at the end of the
movement. At first glance, these dynamic extremes might seem to add an element of
chaos or instability to the movement, but wben viewed on a large scale (looking at the
entire movement), it can be seen that this is not the case. While certainly providing
moments of great tension and intensity, the consistent pattern of growth and relaxation
helps outline the form of the movement and gives it a sense of roundness or completion;
despite the extremes, it ultimately begins and ends in the same dynamic area. Rather than
being in a storm of unpredictable dynamics, we are riding a regular wave of dynamic
change. Significantly, the only completely startling moment in the piece comes when
this pattern is not followed. After the fading of m. 100, we could reasonably expect
another long dynamic buildup, but instead we get a crashingj^chord in the piano. While
the entire movement is very passionate, this is the only moment where the music is
startling, where it no longer conforms to our expectations.
59
The harmonic language of the second movement is typical of Maslanka’s style
and is, at times, almost deceptively simple. The harmonic building blocks used by
Maslanka for the majority of the movement consist primarily of minor triads (often with
dissonant non-harmonic tones) and jarring, highly chromatic material. A modal flavor is
often apparent in the second movement, usually due to the fact that dominant chords,
when they do occur, take the form of minor rather than major dominants. This is in
keeping with the harmony of the “melancholy” theme, which is largely Aeolian in nature
both here and in its original appearance in the first movement.
An illustration of these techniques can be provided by looking once more at the
opening recitative section of the movement (see Example 3.14 for reference). The first
thirty-three bars of the movement are characterized by sustained, often triadic harmony in
the piano, given added color and tension by the saxophone, whose melody is highlighted
by frequent non-harmonic tones. As mentioned previously, the opening C minor chord
provides a kind of delayed cadence for the first movement, resolving the piano’s tone
clusters and providing the anticipated G for the saxophone. The saxophone immediately
has two dissonant notes against this chord: the D on beat two of the first measure, and the
D on beat one o f the second measure, both a second (or ninth) above the root of the
chord. Both of these notes have the effect of an appoggiatura (dissonance occurring in a
strong metrical position), and as such could be given a slight emphasis by the
saxophonist. This use of dissonance is typical throughout the opening (and closing)
sections of the movement. The modal aspect of the movement is brought out by the
move from C minor to B-flat minor, a chord without a strong tonal relationship to C
minor. Again the saxophone provides dissonance a ninth, and at the end of the measure.
60
a sixth above the root of the chord. B-flat minor moves to F minor in m. 4 (a tonic-
dominant motion, but to a minor dominant), to E-flat minor (add 9) in m. 5, and back to
B-flat minor (add 6) in m. 6. As the dynamic increases, so too the harmonic tension
grows, reaching a peak in m. 6 where the saxophone’s D (major third against a minor
chord), A (seventh) and B (minor ninth or augmented octave) provide a series of
prominent dissonances at the apex of the phrase. Measures 8-10 are nothing but ominous
dissonance: against the repeated B-flat minor (add 6) chord in the piano, the saxophone
has first a tritone, then a minor ninth, then another tritone. These poignantly expressive
dissonances in the opening section give an intensity and mournful shade to what would
otherwise be an unremarkable series of chords.
The rest of the opening recitative is similar in harmonic style, with chord changes
that may or may not follow typical common practice root movements taking place once
per measure. These chords are not so unrelated as to create a true pan-triadic style
(harmony created by a series of triads moving freely to any other triad), but there are
certainly elements of that style present. The progression from mm. 12-19, for example,
contains the chords C minor - B-flat - E-flat - G (major 7) - D - G - E (flat 9). These
are not all typical root movements, but most of the chords are not completely unrelated to
the chord that follows. This section contains two of the few authentic cadential patterns
in the movement: at m. 11, where a G (dominant 7) moves to C minor (add 9) in m. 12,
and at m. 33, where a D (dominant 7) sets up G minor in m. 34. The D chord in m. 33
contains both a minor and a major third, but the effect is still obviously cadential. These
dominant-to-tonic tonic progressions clearly mark the mid- and endpoints of the opening
recitative. In the case of the cadence in mm. 33-34, G minor (the minor dominant) is
61
established as the opening key of what is essentially a developmental section (albeit a
development of a theme borrowed from the first movement).
The return of the “melancholy” theme in m. 34 bears a strong harmonic (as well
as melodic and rhythmic) resemblance to another of Francis Poulenc’s pieces: the Sonata
fo r Clarinet and Piano. Like the Oboe Sonata, Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata was completed
very shortly before his death and is dedicated to the memory of another composer, Arthur
Honegger, who was like Poulenc a member of the group of French composers
collectively referred to as “Les Six.” The primary theme of the second movement,
Romanza (see Example 3.21), shares several similarities with Maslanka’s “melancholy”
theme, particularly as it appears in the second movement of the Saxophone Sonata (refer
to Example 3.18).
J ip tres iJoux el mehincoliquf
» f ^ 1 I’ m ' t t '> J 0 ^ 0
pp
g i ------------ . -
Ejjleurer (beeiucoup de pedate)
Ex. 3.21: Francis Poulenc’s Sonata fo r Clarinet and Piano, II, m m .II-I8.
Both themes begin in G minor, and share a relatively slow harmonic tempo. The
first four bars of Poulenc’s theme appear as G minor | C minor 7 (add 9) A dim. | G minor
I C minor 7 (add 9) A dim., while Maslanka’s “melancholy” theme has G minor | G minor
62
I D minor | A minor, in each case setting up an expected return to G minor. Maslanka’s
theme differs in that it begins a harmonic development immediately by moving to A
minor (ii in G minor becoming i in A minor), but the themes are very similar nonetheless.
The themes also share melodic similarities: a slow tempo (the same tempo, in fact, both
themes are marked at quarter-note = 54) combined with related usage of the ascending G
minor scale give the “melancholy” theme a flavor that is very close to that of the
Romanza theme. Finally, the texture of each theme is so alike that any attentive listener
could not help but compare the two. In each case, the piano has consistent eighth-note
motion in the right hand coupled with longer notes in the left hand. The melodic
movement of both the clarinet and the saxophone consists primarily of quarter-notes,
each coming to rest on half- or whole-notes after completing their scalar pattern. Each
theme is even written in virtually the same range, and the mood indicated is very much
alike (Poulenc has tres calme, Maslanka writes serene.) Given these multiple similarities
and the fact that Maslanka himself is familiar with Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata as a
performer as well as a composer,^^ the coimection is indisputable, and performers
preparing Maslanka’s Sonata could certainly benefit from a study of Poulenc’s piece.
Maslanka’s harmonic treatment of the “melancholy” theme from mm. 44-61 is
highly distinctive and is characteristic of his style. Again dominated by minor triads, the
harmony becomes more tortured and dissonant as we approach the “melting” gestures
that begin in m. 58 (see Example 3.20). The cadence that is reached at the peak of the
phrase in m. 49 begins a long, slow descent from E minor that produces the aural (and
visual, for the performers) impression of collapse and despair that is maintained until the
63
energy of this powerful moment is finally dissipated in the resignation of the “melting”
gesture at the end of the phrase. This effect is achieved by an unrelenting downward
harmonic movement by whole-steps. From its beginning in m. 49, this progression
moves from E minor - D minor - C minor - B-flat minor - G-sharp minor - F-sharp
minor - E minor, at which point (m. 56) triadic harmony begins to break down into
massive dissonance. The final dissipation of energy is achieved as the saxophone plays a
descending chromatic tremolo, heralding the “melting” gesture in the piano.
Another section of striking (and characteristically “Maslankaesque”) harmonic
movement occurs in what I refer to as the “epic tragic” part of the movement (mm. 81-
100). The long build-up in this section begins with Maslanka’s familiar repeated pitch
gesture, in this case on a repeated C as the C minor chord that ends the previous section
fades away. This develops into the appearance of one of the “melancholy” theme
fragments (m. 84), and a beautifully extended progression from the ppp saxophone
entrance in m. 85 to the triumphant f f arrival at m. 92. This point of arrival also marks
the beginning of a chain of chords that will ultimately end in the sinister tritone gesture at
m. 100 (see Examples 3.17 and 3.22). With the exception of the first two chords in this
sequence, it consists entirely of minor triads, making it very typical of Maslanka’s
harmonic usage in this movement. Once the minor triads begin, this sequence uses the
consistent root movement pattern of up a 5'*’ - up a minor 3'^‘*, although all of the
individual note motion takes the form of downward moving patterns (see Example 3.22).
To see an example of this pattern, observe mm. 97-100, where the chord motion is A
minor - C minor - G minor - B-flat minor - F minor - A-flat minor (and finally the
addition of the pedal D, creating the tritone gesture). This chord progression allows the
64
saxophone to descend chromatically (excepting the D to C in mm. 92-93) from the
climactic arrival at m. 92 to the end of the phrase, while at the same time the left hand of
the piano descends by whole-step in a reiteration of the “melancholy” theme fragment, a
combination not unlike that used by Maslanka in mm. 48-51. This combination, coming
as it does after the long dynamic growth that begins at m. 85, provides the essence of the
“epic tragic” section. The effect is that of something strong and monumental collapsing
in upon itself, an effect that is aurally extremely powerful and moving.
sub a tempo i
slowing
Lfffurr
slowing
long hoki - Ui the

moment te a k
js*r
Ex.3.22: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, II, mm. 92-100.

Climax of the “epic tragic” section, culminating with tritone gesture in m. 100.
Aspects of rhythm and tempo in the second movement remain reasonably
consistent throughout, creating, as does the unchanging tempo of the first movement, a
sense of regularity and reliability for the listener. While the tempo of the second
movement is not as unfailingly steady as that of the first, and is sometimes changed
subtly through the use of rubato and other devices, it still maintains a pulse that is never
outside the range of quarter-note = 44-54. While certain sections can be difficult to
65
execute convincingly at such a slow tempo, the spirit of the movement will be altered if
too much liberty is taken with the written indications. Maslanka is very specific about
this in some instances, for example at m. 71 where along with the written tempo
indication of quarter-note = 44 he has added no faster (see Example 3.23). This
particular example is one of the most uplifting moments of the piece, and when played at
this tempo has a quality that leads me to describe it as the “heroic” section of the
movement.
no faster
Alf.o Sax.
JJ J" with all possible farce!
When asked about the overall pulse of the movement, particularly in regard to the
recitative sections, the composer had this to say:
The question of rhythmie freedom in the second movement is a complex

one. There is clearly a lot indicated, but I always recommend that the
player start with the given pulse of quarter = 48. If you get used to that
basic pulse, then there will be a guideline for the lengths of fermatas, and
the variety of expressive changes that are asked for. The underlying pulse
must be internalized as a starting point. After that, the expressive quality
of the music will begin to speak with time. It takes a long while to go
66
deeply into this music. At a certain point it opens up, and you know that
what you are doing is right.^^
Like the overall tempo, the rhythmic texture of the movement is fairly regular. In
the recitative sections, there is an ebb and flow of rhythmic activity, but always within
the context of lyrical, sustained music. The extended middle section development of the
“melancholy” theme has a consistent underlying pulse, maintained with repeated eighth-
note motion through large stretches of this part of the movement. There are a few
instances, made more striking by comparison, where the rhythmic activity is increased.
These usually coincide with an increase of tension or energy as well - for example the
sudden change from eighth-note to sixteenth-note motion at the dramatic point of arrival
in m. 49 (see Example 3.18). In this instance, the increased rhythmic excitement
continues to be played out by the tremolos in the piano and saxophone’s swirling
sextuplets and septuplets from mm. 51-56. Other similar instances occur in mm. 68-70
(again at a moment o f increased tension, building to the arrival of the “heroic” section at
m. 71), and in the section from mm. 84-91 (see Example 3.24). Again this coincides with
a gradual increase of energy and excitement, and the dynamic progression from ppp to f f
is accompanied by a change from eighth-notes to sixteenth-note triplets in the piano and a
gradual change to thirty-second-notes in the saxophone that add even more power to the
massive crescendo. Significantly, the conclusion of the movement comes nearly to a
rhythmic standstill as it recedes to the softest possible dynamic level. The ringing of the
piano’s final chord has faded away completely by the time the saxophone begins its four
slow, mournful repetitions of the tritone figure, the last of these diminishing from a
whispering pppp. Rhythmically and dynamically the movement has been put to rest;
67
harmonically, much as at the end of the first movement, we are left with the sense of
something unfinished.
A lto Sax.
molto t n f
cresc. poco apoco
O f the three movements of the Sonata, the second is the most stylistically
homogeneous. The overall emotional effect of the movement is one of sadness, and there
is an underlying tension to the music, even in the quieter recitative sections. There is
nothing hurried about the movement, rather there is a strong sense of seriousness and
weight throughout, underscored by the tritone gestures that close each section. The
second movement allows, and in fact requires, that the performers develop a thoughtful
personal interpretation of the music to accurately portray the emotional nature of the
piece. While there is no single “right” or “best” interpretation, the music must be
consistently legato and songlike. The saxophonist might well approach the movement as
if he or she was a vocal soloist, using subtle shifts of tone color as well as vibrato in their
interpretation. Both performers must be willing to stretch their dynamic range to the
extremes required (pppp to fff), and to sustain these levels to truly express the emotional
tension and passion of the music.
68
Third Movement
The final movement of the Sonata is the longest, and is also the most unrelenting
in its dynamic and emotional intensity. Like the other two movements, it is built on
themes that are stretched and developed by transformation, often resulting in sharply
different moods between sections that are derived from the same basic material. This is
the movement that was specifically influenced by the music of Swedish composer Allan
Pettersson. Maslanka has this to say about the influence of Pettersson’s music (parts of
this quote can also he found earlier in reference to the first movement):
Pettersson had a quality of angst in his music, and that was expressed by
very intense textures that stayed within a very primitive tonal orbit. So, if
he started in C minor, for instance, the music would tend to be in C minor
for great lengths of time. It is not like the music, let’s say, of Philip Glass,
which can also be totally static. Glass’ music is emotionally a lot lighter
than Pettersson’s music. Pettersson’s was - music made by a neurotic
man, there’s no question about it [laughter]. I responded to that very
strongly earlier on. Pettersson was not a happy man. He died when he
was 70, but he grew up in the poor part of Sweden, and always felt himself
to be troubled, emotionally troubled, in difficulty, and the music reflects it.
He was not happy in his head. I’ve come up through a lot of personal
troubles o f my own, which are of no account at the moment for this
discussion, and I responded very strongly to that character in the music.
So there’s a powerful sense of fixed tonality in the music; once a thing
starts it tends to express a certain key area, to stay there. So there’s
Pettersson, and particularly in the third movement it has a nagging kind of
crunching quality to it.^*
This nagging quality, particularly in the case of chord or pitch repetition, can be
seen to a certain degree in the first two movements of the Sonata, but in the third
movement it becomes one of the most prominent characteristics of the music. The
69
overall C minor tonality of the movement is driven home time and again. This harmonic
simplicity is balanced by a rhythmic texture that is, at times, frenetic and complex,
creating a violent energy that is the essence of the third movement. The specific piece
that Maslanka had in mind when creating the Sonata was Pettersson’s Symphony no. 12,
subtitled “A Death in the Marketplace” (or “The Corpses in the Plaza”) after a poem by
the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). The poem, like Pettersson’s music (and
parts of Maslanka’s Saxophone Sonata) is filled with vivid images of grief and rage.
Another reason mentioned by the composer for the nature of this music is the
influence of living in New York City at the time that he wrote the Sonata. He has since
moved to western Montana, and recognizes the effect that his environment has had on his
composition:
New York is a very special place which I still love a lot, but I don’t have
to live there, I don’t want to live there anymore. New York City has about
it a pressured kind of quality. There is a need in New York to have a
mental shield against all the pressure. There is a constant layered hum of
noise in New York City, starting with electricity, and then adding to that
all the sounds, all the layers of sounds in the city at all times, and all the
pressure of all those people. So the psychic pressure there is intense.
What it does is to split people apart, if you’re sensitive to it, and what it
did to me was to facilitate crash and bum, which did happen to me, and
then it also facilitated the recovery. Because in spite of all the intensity of
the city there is a remarkable quality of health in the place. People don’t
often speak of New York City that way. It’s large and dirty, and there are
too many people, and it’s dangerous, and so on, but there is a remarkably
vibrant quality of health, and that quality of health has to do with a contact
with a spirit of making and building, a contact with a spirit of invention,
and people go there and tap into it. I went there and spent sixteen years
there and tapped into it, and I became a good composer in my time in New
York City, and I count the fact of the city itself a big part of the stimulus
to write music well. I was forced to leam to concentrate in New York City
because there was so much distraction, so much noise. I had to leam to
concentrate with disraption, and I did. So, New York requires of a person
that they have a protective shield, because if you are emotionally and
spiritually open to the full power of that thing it will fry you completely.
So it has to be taken in in the doses that you can take it. So it results, yes.
70
in a certain kind of music, and I think that some of the schizoid character
that you referred to in the piece, and also the Pettersson character, is very
much a city response, city music, city life?^
This influence is very vivid in the third movement, which exhibits more of the wild
energy and schizoid nature of the piece than any other part does.
The movement is structured in a massive Rondo form (ABACA), in which the
greater parts of the outer A sections are nearly identical. The B and C sections are less
motoric and more song-like than the A sections, and the middle A section is light and
playful in comparison to its outer counterparts. The major divisions of the movement can
be described as follows:
29
Ibid.
71
Table 3.3
Opening A B Middle A Closing A

Section Section Section Section Section
(Mm. 1-99) (Mm. 100-144) (Mm. 145-261) (Mm. 262-312) (Mm. 313-467)
C minor Theme: “M ournful Song” C major Theme: “Improvised C minor Theme:
Leaping, flying Theme: Galloping, light Song” Theme: Return o f the
chromatic theme Flowing hearted Troubled, dense original theme in
in C minor, piano saxophone transformation o f section with more almost identical
begins harmonic melody, piano original C minor rhythmic freedom form.
nagging gesture in evocative o f theme. than any other part Mm. 313-351
m .l2. Poulenc Oboe Mm. 145-179 o f the movement,
Mm. 1-33 Sonata. Loosely occasionally “Echo” Theme:
centered in F “Lilting” Theme: sounding almost Also a literal
“Echo” Theme: major, becomes Transformation o f improvised. repeat o f the
Very similar to L* more dissonant the 2"“*half of Mm. 262-285 earlier section.
section, and anguished original C minor Mm. 352-377
distinguished by near the end o f this theme, now serene “Edge of the
consistent echoes section. and lilting. Piano W orld” Section: C minor Theme:
o f the saxophone’s Mm. 100-144 “layering” Retums to original Identical repeat to
theme in the piano. beneath. tempo. Wild m.399, where the
Mm. 34-59 Mm. 180-215 screeching similar 2"‘‘ half o f the
to Barney Childs’ theme is
C minor Theme: C major Theme: “The Edge o f the transformed.
Nearly identical to Leaping, World.” Mm. 378-399
the opening, piano arpeggiated Mm. 286-312
begins to fade version o f the “Lilting” Theme:
away in m.74, original. Transformed
anticipating the B Mm. 181-261 version from
section. middle A section
Mm. 60-99 retums in a
delicate coda.
Mm. 400-467
The melodic material of the A sections is primarily derived from the forceful C
minor theme that the movement begins with (see Example 3.25). The influence of the
“emotional sledgehammer” aspect of Pettersson’s music is immediately evident:
Maslanka’s indications within the first twelve bars include directions such as hammered,
fierce, and obsessed. The first part of this theme (mm. 1-11) consists of “flying” eighth-
notes in triple meter, given a galloping feel by insistent repetition and the occasional
syncopation in the saxophone (mm. 5-7). This theme is both more chromatic and more
energetic than any previously occurring in the Sonata. The melodic contour of this theme
72
is also more irregular than that of most of the first and second movement themes, a
characteristic caused by the frequent large melodic leaps between pitches and the frenetic
rhythmic nature of the music. On a large scale, however, Maslanka’s characteristic
thematic shape described previously does exist, and occurs twice within the first A
section (once from mm. 1-49, with the clearest apex in m. 23, and from mm. 50-99,
reaching a climax in m. 79).
Alio Saxophone
A, Sx.
A. Sx.
sempts
’iff’
„y y ] fiena. obsessed
Ex. 3.25: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, III, mm. 1-12.
The second part of this theme (mm. 12-33) gives us our most obvious repeated
harmonic “nagging” gesture yet, with the piano hammering away obsessively (as per
Maslanka’s instructions) on a series of dotted quarter-notes that return insistently to
73
octave Cs. From mm. 26-33, the piano has nothing but a repeated, accented, A-flat
major chord. Above this rhythmic hammering in the piano the saxophone begins a
soaring melodic line, sustained yet aggressive. Much of this theme is written in the
altissimo range of the saxophone (above written F-sharp), giving it a strident and
anguished quality (see Example 3.26).
'rrrif f r n f Pf f ' f fr ^ 'r ' ..

ff
li'f
Jf
'-"’U ' f " ' ' ..
[f tif f [tu-r f .... ||tF>> >."rq

1
Ti-U^r pr— .N
f—1— Lf r f—p-i—LT r P'-I—yN—1 l—1—H—-“-1------ 1---
— 1_l—H
J J J lJ 'I J T
Note influence of Allan Pettersson in the incessant repetition of harmony, particularly the
A-flat major chord that dominates mm. 26-33.
Both the “galloping” and “hammering” parts of this opening theme occur in some
configuration within each A section. The form they take in the closing A section of the
movement is virtually identical to that of their original appearance, with the exception of
the last thematic statement in the piece, which will be described shortly. In the middle A
section, however, the character of these themes is dramatically transformed. This is
partially due to a change of mode (C minor becomes C major), and partially due to the
transformation of the melodic material.
74
At m. 145, the “galloping” section of this theme begins, now piano rather than
fortissimo (see Example 3.27). As can be seen in this example, the chromatic and
repetitive aspects of the theme are still evident, but the mood is completely different. The
“galloping” takes on a very playful, dance-like quality, particularly where material has
been added (the repeated eighth-notes appearing in mm. 153-160 did not occur before).
The dark, intensely brooding mood of the original theme is drastically changed; a light
hearted romp is the result of a simple change of mode and a more transparent texture.
The melody created by the saxophone’s changing pitches (beginning on beat two of m.
153 - D, F, E, G, F, A, G, E, which is then repeated) should be slightly emphasized, but
the overall effect of this section is very light and transparent.
Transformation of the “galloping” theme.
D 1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
The second half of the original theme (the “hammering” section, mm. 12-33)
retums in m. 180, but with a saxophone melody that is dramatically different (see
75
Example 3.28). The aggressiveness is gone, replaced by an ethereal floating quality
(Maslanka writes lilting in the score). While this theme occurs primarily in the upper
register of the saxophone, most of it is written an octave lower than it was in its original,
altissimo appearance. Tempo is strictly maintained throughout this section, but the
A lto Sax.
A. Sx.
Pno.
lyrical nature of this “lilting” theme and the fact that Maslanka constantly plays with the
theme using rhythmic transformation give the impression of rhythmic freedom. When
performing this section, saxophonists should take care not to over-emphasize the rhythm
of this theme, which would be more appropriate in its first appearance. This theme
appears again at the very end of the movement, there given an even more delicate aspect
(see Example 3.29). The final A section begins to change at m. 400 (the equivalent of m.
82 in the opening section), slipping into a final version of the “lilting” theme.
76
dim. poco a poco p

...................... . -
f f FT .... i f
1--------- 1--------- 1--------- 1---------
f f F f f - F F F f if f f f
PP staccato
f f'"r^5 f fm-f fT f n
A. Sx.
Pno.
The last thematic part of the middle A section introduces a leaping, arpeggiated
pattern that is first introduced by the piano as fragments of the “galloping” theme are
played by the saxophone (see Example 3.30). The saxophone joins in at m. 223, creating
the most cheerful and light-hearted moment of the entire movement. This aspect of
happiness and detachment (rhythmic, not emotional) should certainly be emphasized by
the performers in order to create an even stronger emotional contrast to the prevailing
brooding and disturbed nature of the movement. These arpeggios, which altemate
between C major and A-flat major, lead back into the C major “galloping” theme that
first appeared in m. 145, reappearing at m. 239 to round off the middle A section.
Even in this, the brightest and most stable section of the movement, there are
always elements of disturbance and instability in the back- (and sometimes fore-) ground.
Most of this emotional and textural dichotomy is provided by the piano, often created by
77
the layering techniques used by Maslanka in the first movement, a textural phenomenon
that will be described later. For now it will suffice to mention that the primarily steady
A lto Sax.
PP
sempre
(no ped)
A. Sx.
r.
Pno.
melodic motion is occasionally disturbed by moments that are apparently “out of
control,” for example in mm. 177-179 (see Example 3.31) where the piano suddenly
starts a series of banging tone clusters and the saxophone repeats an altissimo concert C,
ending with a note that Maslanka indicates as an overblown multiphonic (a combination
of multiple pitches produced as a single sound) o f your choice: a tremendous squawk.
Moments like these often leap out of the music without preparation, underscoring the
“schizoid” character of the piece.
A lto Sax.
ôverblown mutiphonic
o f your choice: a tremendous
squawk.
Ex. 3.31: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 111, mm. 177-180.
78
The thematic material that occurs in the B and C sections of the third movement is
very different from that in the A sections. Both B and C sections are more lyrical and
less rhythmically driving than the A sections, although the emotional intensity of the
movement never disappears. When asked about the character and origins of these
sections, Maslanka had this to say;
Both of these sections step away from the motoric, aggressive feel of the
A sections, and have a songful, if turbulent quality to them. I can’t really
say about the genesis of these sections. A lot of my composing is
whatever happens and feels right to me . . . As far as the B and C sections
go, I might relate them in some way to the expressive qualities of the
second movement.^^
The first of these “songful” sections flows out of the relaxation that occurs at the
end of the first A section (like so many sections in the piece, ending with a repeated
pitch, in this case an E-flat in the piano). At m. 100, the piano begins a more relaxed
theme that is given a bell-like and echoing quality by the downbeat-upbeat alternation of
pitches (see Example 3.32). This technique continues through the entire B section, and
like much of the second movement, has a precedent in the music of Francis Poulenc. If
we return once more to Poulenc’s Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, we can see a similar
device used in mm. 60-63 of the first movement (see Example 3.33). This offbeat
“rebound” in the piano adds emphasis and creates an echoing effect that lends a
melancholy aspect to the music of both composers. This technique appears elsewhere in
Poulene’s Oboe Sonata, particularly in the third movement, but this is the most dramatic
example.
30
79
A lto Sax.
than the piano - poco cresc.

mournfully
O boe
Ex. 3.33: Francis Poulenc’s Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, 1, mm. 60-63.
The saxophone joins the piano in m. 110, with the direction enter softer than the
piano - mournfully. With the exception of the sweeping grace notes that are added to this
theme, it is very simple and peaceful music compared to the driving, insistent material
that preceded it. It may have a mournful quality to it, as Maslanka indicates, but it also
begins with a feeling of quiet reflection, repose, and harmonic simplicity. But like so
many calm moments in the Sonata, this one is fleeting, and soon gives way to a more
anguished quality that can be glimpsed as early as m. 113 in the sustained dissonance of
the E-flat in the piano against the D in the melodic line. Tension and dissonance increase
as the section progresses, and by m. 130 every chord contains a dissonant note. As the
dissonance increases, the saxophone line becomes increasingly chromatic and
80
rhythmically active, finally rising to an altissimo concert B in m. 141 that resonates with
anguish: Maslanka directs that the saxophonist choke the tone to a strangled and broken
cry as the note diminuendos (see Example 3.34).
A lto Sax.
gradual dim .. . choke tfie tone PP

to a strangled
and broken cry
rail.
g) 1988 North American Saxophone Alliance. Used with permission.
The melodic material of the C section (mm. 262-312) is similar in that it has a
sustained, song-like quality, but it is far more dissonant than the B section, and is very
turbulent from the outset. There is no sense of a tonal center in this section, and the
texture is denser here than it is elsewhere in the movement. There is also an
improvisatory quality to the music of this section, created by the combination of rhythmic
freedom, produced by the “stretching” of beats and use of loosely defined note values,
and the independence of the saxophone and piano parts (see Example 3.35). Much as in
the “heroic” section of the second movement and the “triumphant” section of the first
movement (see Examples 3.23 and 3.7 for reference), the music manages to struggle up
out of swirling turbulence and achieve a moment of exultation: the saxophone melody
achieves a more tonal and lyrical quality in m. 280, coinciding with a return to triadic
harmony in the piano. The similarity to the second movement is further reinforced by the
appearance of a figure in the piano very similar to the tritone gestures found in that
movement. The clouds of dissonance part as the saxophone soars into the altissimo
81
register, reaching what could be considered the high point of positive emotion (and
certainly of range) in the entire movement as the saxophone reaches a sustained above
the piano’s F major chord in m. 285 (see Example 3.36).
1(^1! 1 1 Kw ~n i ,1 .1 1.1 ' -n ^

__ ="“■
26! f '
A. Sx.
Pno.
1/2 P ed
82
( J = 90 )
A lto Sax.
2 beats
Ped P ed Ped Ped

Ped
A. Sx.
Pno. cresc. veiy gradually 305
This transcendent moment is fleeting, however, for the schizoid character of the
piece cannot be held back for long. As can be seen in Example 3.36, there is an
immediate return in m. 286 to the repetitive, driving rhythm of the “hammering” theme
and a growing level of dissonance. The end of the C section is a descent into wild,
unpredictable chaos. By m. 301, the saxophone begins to play what Maslanka notates as
a wild braying - brassy, frightening, can be multiphonic screech, driving away any
memory of the triumphant moment that occurred just measures before. This wild
outburst extends from m. 301 to m. 307, giving the saxophonist an extended opportunity
for uninhibited multiphonic improvisation. In the score, Maslanka adds a note in m. 301:
remembering Barney Childs ’ “The Edge o f the World. ” The composer Barney Childs
(1926-2000) was a friend and mentor to David Maslanka, and the piece referred to by
Maslanka is a composition for bass clarinet and organ written in 1981. The Edge o f the
83
World uses a combination of traditional and experimental notation, and the bass
clarinetist “at one point in the score, is directed to ‘freak out’ and has to ‘feel at ease with
the improvising style and sonic repertoire of Eric Dolphy, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy
etc.”’^’ This is an opportunity for the saxophonist to cast aside all restraint, and in fact
the entire C section allows for greater flexibility and personal interpretation than does the
rest of the movement. By m. 305, both performers have reached a dynamic of fff, the
piano returning to a repeat of the “hammering” material that first appears in m. 12, now
with Maslanka’s additional indication of obsessed, hellish - no let up. This unrelenting,
violent repetition leads us back to the final retum of the A section, and the culmination of
the entire piece.
The texture of the third movement shares several similarities with that of the first
movement, and in particular with the developmental section of the first movement.
Despite the fierce energy generated in the third movement, the texture remains relatively
transparent, and is developed in a few characteristic ways. The “layering” technique
found in the first movement occurs in a number of sections, as does the “echoing” texture
that colors the development of that movement. These techniques, along with a more
homophonic, piano accompaniment with saxophone melody texture, predominate
throughout the vast majority of the movement, the most notable exceptions including
parts of the C section from mm. 262-312.
The opening A section quickly establishes both the homophonic and “echoing”
textures. The piano leaves no room for doubt about its role in the “hammering” section
that begins in m. 12, creating a homophonic background that is unremittingly consistent
Virginia Anderson, notes to Barney Childs, The Edge o f the World (2000), CD, Black Box
Music BBM1052.
84
in its rhythm and texture (refer to Example 3.26), and that might be referred to as
accompaniment if it weren’t so thunderous. The piano alternates between octaves and
triadic chords while the saxophone has a much more sustained line above this pounding,
rhythmic texture - a combination that will be revisited in each of the A sections. While
the texture of this section is not especially thick, the brilliant tessitura of the saxophone
and the sheer dynamic aggressiveness of both instruments give the section from m.1-33
an undeniably powerful weight.
The first abrupt textural shift comes at m. 34, where we see the first appearance of
a more contrapuntal technique that is similar to the “echoing” that occurs in the
development of the first movement. Here we have a line begun by the saxophone (really
an extension of the “galloping” theme with which the movement opens) that is imitated
three beats later by the piano (see Example 3.37). As can be observed in the example, the
opening phrase o f the piano imitation (and the subsequent phrases, for that matter) is
A. Sx.
Pno,
85
written up a minor second, with the exception of the last three notes (beat two in m. 37),
which are identical to the saxophone’s C - D-flat - C-flat. While at first glance it appears
that this would produce a very dissonant effect, this is not really the case: the rapid
movement o f the theme and the fact that pitches a semitone apart occur simultaneously
only occasionally give this section a much less dissonant sound than seems apparent.
This counterpoint between saxophone and piano actually produces a very delicate texture,
although the overlapping melodic lines require both performers to be very rhjdhmically
and dynamically precise to avoid turning the section between mm. 34-50 into muddy
incoherence. It should be noted that although the thematic material used here is
consistent with that of the opening “galloping” theme, the general dynamic level is much
lower until the literal retum of that theme is reached in m. 60 (very similar to m. 12, see
Example 3.25).
Another textural phenomenon that can be observed here (mainly in the piano part)
is the appearance of disparate thematic fragments appearing amidst the counterpoint.
One example of this can be seen in mm. 45-49, where the piano interjects the first part of
the “galloping” theme, which is originally stated by the saxophone in mm. 1-4 (see
Example 3.38). Another of these fragments occurs in mm. 53-54, again in the piano,
which echoes material played by the saxophone in mm. 37-38. These do not constitute
examples of Maslanka’s “layering” technique, since they are consistent with the tempo
and rhythmic feel of the prevailing material, but they do provide an extra element of
textural activity and produce a kind of musical “stream of consciousness,” in which
seemingly random ideas appear suddenly in a new context.
86
Note the appearance o f the opening two phrases of the “galloping” theme in the hass clef
piano part.
The B section (mm. 100-144) is the most texturally homogenous part of the
movement, maintaining a clear homophonic relationship between saxophone and piano
throughout. The one notable effect here is the offbeat “echoing” in the piano that follows
every chordal downbeat. This creates the textural effect of an added, complementary
voice, almost as if another piano was engaged in a call-and-response with the downbeat
piano. This section gradually increases in density, until by m. 134 the echoing offbeat
gives us a texture of eleven or twelve notes in the piano sounding concurrently. The
dynamic growth here roughly mirrors the increasing textural density, developing from an
echoing piano and mezzo piano in m. 100 to the cvdiShingfortissimo accents of the piano
that begin in m. 133. The dynamic climax of this section actually occurs very near the
end - the saxophone’s accented altissimo concert B in m. 141 marks an important point
of arrival that is quickly (and pathetically, evidenced by Maslanka’s instruction to choke
the tone to a strangled and broken cry) departed from. The saxophonist should make
note of the fact that the piano is consistently marked one or two dynamic levels higher
than the saxophone in this section; despite the fact that the saxophone has the melodic
line, it should not be overplayed.
87
The middle A section of the movement is where we really begin to discern the full
extent of the schizoid nature of the piece, a nature that Maslanka brings out mainly
through textural and harmonic means. Although this section starts very much as the
opening A section did (albeit at a much softer dynamic level), the layering technique that
we saw so prominently in the first movement soon emerges. By m. 156, the saxophone is
well on its way to establishing the leaping, carefree version of the “galloping” theme. At
this point the piano begins to do two things: a chordal reinforcement of the saxophone in
the right hand, alternating a two-measure pattern of C major 7 - C - A minor, and a
pattern of crunching, staccato tone clusters in the left hand (see Example 3.39). For the
most part these tone clusters consist of the notes B-sharp - C-sharp - D - E-flat (four
consecutive semitones), and their genesis can he traced to the final section of the first
movement, where the piano had a similar gesture juxtaposed against a lyrical melody in
the saxophone. They are used here with comparable effect, creating a seemingly
unrelated layer beneath the cheerful combination of the saxophone and the right hand of
the piano, and providing another reminder of the emotional duality of the piece.
Significantly, these tone clusters are written subito mezzo forte, where the right hand
chords are consistently piano. At the risk of eliciting a groan from the reader, it is as if
the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. These clusters return once more
during the leaping, arpeggiated section at m. 216, although the softer, unaccented form
they take at that point makes them less intrusive and unsettling.
A lto Sax.
molto f
s u b T llf
The layering that begins in m. 156 continues into the “lilting” theme section at m.
180, here created by the great differences in the nature and dynamic level of the music
played by each instrument (refer to Example 3.28). The saxophone’s lyrical line is
almost completely devoid of any rhjdhmic aggressiveness, and rarely ventures above a
dynamic level of mezzo piano, creating a serene and beautiful melody. The piano,
however, seems to be almost willfully ignorant of this theme, barging ahead with a
version of the C major “galloping” theme that is not only marked fortissimo but also
fiercely attacked. Maslanka punctuates this theme with explosive,^chords that virtually
obliterate the continuity of the saxophone’s subdued melody, a combination that
continues unchanged until m. 215. There is no subtlety here - this section is a vivid
depiction of the struggle between calmness and madness that is at the heart of the piece.
Maslanka even requests that the piano’s “insistent nagging” on a C major chord that
begins in m. 206 and extends to m. 215 be maniacal. Paradoxically, this section contains
almost no harmonic dissonance - the dissonance here is of a textural nature, produced by
the now-familiar layering technique.
As mentioned previously, the C section of the movement (mm. 262-312) contains
some of the densest and busiest textural material in the entire piece. Layering is not
89
prevalent here - there are certainly different layers, hut they are not unrelated - but the
density of the chordal material in the piano and the high level of rhythmic activity in both
instruments combine to create this density. While a careful clarity during the
contrapuntal part of the first A section was earlier recommended to avoid a confused and
muddied effect, a certain amount of textural blurring seems almost desired here. For this
reason, and because of the fact that Maslanka gives directions such as stretch a beat and
pushing ahead a bit, this is the one section of the movement that I would suggest could
be played with (judicious) rhythmic freedom - it is not of paramount importance that
septuplets, nontuplets, and other rapid notes be played exactly proportionately, for
example. Since the overall effect created by Maslanka through the use of rubato and
notes of indeterminately increasing speed is of a quasi-improvisatory nature, a certain
amount of liberty in the interpretation of this section is consistent with its character.
Rhythmic aspects of the third movement, while at times complex, generally
maintain the same kind of tempo consistency that we observed in the first movement.
Each of the A sections is marked at dotted-quarter = 180 (a very rapid tempo, considering
that the basic rhythmic unit tends to he the eighth-note), while the pulse of the B and C
sections is exactly half that. Although it may not register with the listener on a conscious
level, this provides an underlying global pulse and a framework that, like Maslanka’s use
of traditional form, helps keep the combination of so many disparate elements coherent.
While this pulse is for the most part easily discemahle, certain sections, such as the
contrapuntal “echoing” that takes place at m. 34 and again at m. 352, should receive
added rhythmic emphasis to avoid losing the feel of the tempo. Rhythmic repetition is an
important aspect of the movement, particularly in the A sections, which are constantly
90
driven forward by repeated eighth-note or quarter-note motion (see Examples 3.25 and
3.26). This is often combined with harmonic repetition to create the “insistent nagging”
character o f the movement. In the A sections this rhythmic consistency should be
thoroughly maintained, even through periods of syncopation or hemiolias, providing the
“motor” that pushes the music ahead.
The meter of the movement changes often, beginning in 12/8 but moving often
into 9/8, 6/8, 4/4 (while maintaining the same pulse as in the 12/8 sections), and others.
As we noted when looking at the first movement, this change never occurs to actually
create the sense of a mixed meter. Instead, metric changes are made to provide a better
fit for the shape and length of Maslanka’s thematic material.
The most notable harmonic aspect of the third movement is the insistent repetition
of single notes and chords, similar to that which Maslanka found so intriguing in the
music of Allan Pettersson. When we studied this technique in the first movement of the
Sonata, it was seen that such moments of extensive repetition often served as cadential
points as well. The function in the third movement is very similar, and the ends of many
thematic sections are marked by this harmonic “nagging.” Taking a broad view of the
movement, several examples of this type of repetition are immediately apparent.
The first of these moments occurs between mm. 26-33 (refer to Example 3.26),
where the piano’s relentless A-flat major chord marks the end of the first C minor
thematic section. The same pattern occurs from mm. 344-351, during the repeat in the
final A section. Another (milder) example arrives at the end of the first A section (mm.
91-97) where the piano sets up a quiet repetition of a solitary E-flat that serves to release
the energy of the opening section and prepares the way for the more subdued, reflective
91
nature of the B section. Two important gestures of this type can be seen in the middle A
section, one appearing continuously throughout much of this section, the other serving to
pound home the clearest cadential point in this part of the piece. The first of these is
produced by the repetitive galloping eighth-note pattern that is first set up by the
saxophone, in which only the last note of each three note group ever varies in pitch (refer
to Example 3.27). This pattern occurs several times throughout the section in both the
saxophone and piano, always comprised of the same group of pitches. Considering the
amount of layering and energetic outbursts that occur in this section, this pattern serves as
a grounding point for the overall rhythmic feel of this part of the piece. The second
“insistent nagging” gesture mentioned takes place between mm. 206-215, where the
piano begins repeating a hammered (Maslanka even indicates maniacal) C major chord
that leaves the listener with no doubt that the end of the preceding section has been
reached.
The final example that could be described in this manner is not violent or
hammered, nor does it apply a death-grip to a single, unchanging chord. It does,
however, set up such a consistent pattern of rhythm, texture, dynamic level, and harmonic
motion that it creates the one section in the entire Sonata that might be convincingly
argued to have minimalist roots. At m. 386 the piano begins a repetitive quarter-note
pattern (the cornerstone of the “hammering” theme) that is maintained virtually without
change to the very end of the movement (more than eighty additional bars). By the time
we reach m. 400 and the beginning of the final appearance of the “lilting” theme, the
piano establishes a repeating harmonic motion that dominates the remainder of the piece.
The predominant harmonic motion is down a minor third (beginning with the E-minor -
92
C major repetition from mm. 400-411), with an unchanging quarter-note harmonic
rhythm. Most of these chord progressions are crafted so that one, or at most two, pitches
change from chord to chord (the progression at m. 400, for example, as well as C major -
A minor in m. 412, B-flat major - G minor in m. 420, etc.), an economy of motion that
gives this section a very peaceful and settled aspect. Maslanka himself describes this
section as “ethereal,”^^ an adjective that seems appropriate given the transparent texture,
calming repetition, and whispering dynamic level.
While it has been mentioned that the third movement makes more extensive use
of chromaticism that did the first two, it is not done in a way that seriously undermines
the tonality of the movement. As can be seen in the examples mentioned above, there is
at times a powerful sense o f fixed tonality; whenever the “insistent nagging” o f repeated
harmony occurs, it invariably takes the form of a triad or single pitch. The chromatic
nature of the movement, then, can be seen as an element of tension and dissonance rather
than something that leads to actual atonality, and Maslanka’s chromatic passages tend to
retum repeatedly to a “grounding” pitch (refer to Example 3.25, where in mm. 5-7 the
saxophone repeatedly returns to C, D, and F between chromatic departures). Looking at
this example, it is also interesting to note that the scale used by Maslanka in this
predominantly C minor section is not a traditional minor scale - instead it contains a
raised fourth scale degree and is spelled C - D - E-flat - F-sharp - G - A - B (see m. 11
for an example of the entire scale). The presence of a note an augmented fourth away
from tonic helps add to the chromatic nature of the music, and gives the passionate
“galloping” theme an added element of tension.
32
Maslanka, notes to Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, The Music o f D avid Maslanka.
93
Despite the surface chromaticism that exists throughout large sections of the
movement, the underlying harmonies are often simple and triadic, even to the point of
creating long-range key movements that are very traditional. The opening A section, for
example, clearly begins in C minor, where it remains through m. 19 (again invoking a
form of the harmonic “nagging” gesture). We can then see the beginning of one of
Maslanka’s characteristic harmonic devices - a repeated semitone harmonic descent. At
m. 20, this progression results in the resolution of the downbeat chords to B-natural, then
to B-flat in m. 22, to A-natural in m. 24, and finally settling in m. 26 on the f f f A-flat
major chord with which we are buffeted until m. 33 (see Example 3.26 for reference). So
despite all the chromaticism and emotional ferocity of the opening section, harmonically
we have managed to move logically from C minor to its major submediant, A-flat. This
is not as strong a movement as C minor moving to its relative major would be, but it is
still a movement to a closely related key at the end of the “hammering” theme. Looked at
from this harmonic perspective, we can see that this rough equivalent of an exposition
now moves to developmental material in mm. 34-60 that is, not surprisingly, more
chromatic and less key-centered than the preceding section. This returns to a
recapitulation of the opening material by means of a highly dissonant chord in mm. 58-59
(spelled B - F-natural - F-sharp - A-sharp - C-sharp), which nonetheless serves a
dominant function in leading up back to C minor in m. 60. This formal plan is at times
obscured by the sheer energy and violence of the music existing within it, but it is clearly
has a stabilizing influence on the piece, keeping sections like this from dissolving into
random, emotional incoherence.
94
The B section is, like the section just described, harmonically uncomplicated
when considered on a large scale. It moves, for the most part, between F major and B-
flat major, although from mm. 113-144 there is a dissonant element in every chord,
setting up a rising level of tension that is not released until the end of the section. The
melodic line stays completely within this F major - B-flat major tonality until the
increasing tension leads to more chromaticism (m. 134) and a reappearance of the
augmented 4* C minor scale. After the saxophone’s strangled and broken cry fades
away, a release of tension is finally provided by the A minor (add 9) chord in mm. 143-
144, which also provides a natural transition to the next section, based in C major (the
relative major of A minor).
Perhaps the most important thing to be said about the harmony of the middle A
section of the third movement is that is provides a wonderful example of Maslanka’s
economy of means. Chromatic tension aside, this section consists of the following: C
major chords, A-flat major chords, A minor chords, and the dissonant clusters mentioned
in the textural description of this part of the movement. A few additional chords appear
in the final sixteen bars of this section, but these are all chords that are diatonic to C
major, and have little impact on the harmonic color of this section. Considering that this
continues for nearly 120 bars, it is an impressive display of the characteristic “working
out” of simple or limited material that is common to Maslanka’s music.
Harmonically speaking, there are two reasons that the C section sounds different
from much of the other music of the movement: it is the least tonally centered, and when
triadic chords are used, they often contain dense, extended harmonies. An example of
this can be seen in the repeated chords in the right hand of the piano in m. 265, which are
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Spelled D-natural - G-flat - A-flat - B-flat - D-flat: a far cry from the simple major and
minor triads that dominate much of the piece. Everything between mm. 262 and 276
contains an element of dissonance or chromaticism, giving an anguished emotional aspect
to this section as well as providing another reason for interpretive freedom - without the
expectations implicit in more traditional harmony, the performers are given more room
for personal expression. The chromatic jungle of this section makes the retum to tonality
in m. 277 even more poignant and affecting, and when coupled with the f f f dynamic and
Maslanka’s exhortation to play with all possible force, creates what is probably the most
powerfully uplifting moment of the movement, if not of the entire piece. At m. 277 we
suddenly retum to triadic harmony, and from mm. 277-285 this progression can be
described from measure to measure as: G major (with dissonant saxophone B-flat), G
minor, D major, F major, C major, G major, B-flat major, F major. Triumph and clarity,
as in so many other instances in Maslanka’s music, are described by the simplest of
harmonic means: major triads. Also like those other moments, this one cannot he
sustained, and the exultation of m. 285 is immediately shattered by the retum of the
“galloping” figure in the piano, now given an increasingly disturbed aspect by the
ascending minor third pattem in the right hand above an unchanging hassline. This
pattern continues headlong through the Edge o f the World section and into the final
statement of the A section material.
One thing remains to be said about the end of the piece, and it concems the
reappearance of harmonic and thematic material from the earlier movement of the
Sonata. The retum of the “lilting” theme at m. 400 has already been described, and given
the calm and repetitive nature of this section, the piece could easily reach a settled and
96
definite conclusion. Considering the endings of the other movements, however, it is
perhaps inevitable that this does not happen. Instead, as the piece begins to fade away
after m. 450, there is a retum of three separate ending gestures, none of which sound
particularly “finished” (see Example 3.40). The first of these begins in the saxophone in
m. 454, retuming in mm. 457-458 and finally in mm. 462-463. While the pitches are not
identical, this is a retum to the “melting” gesture that first occurred in the second
movement (see Example 3.20 for reference). In both appearances, the effect is one of
resignation and sadness. The end of this gesture is repeated once more in mm. 465-466,
where it is now transformed into an almost identical reiteration of the saxophone’s
unsettling final three notes of the first movement. The piano then ends the piece with a
single staccato chord, recalling both the punctuated layering of the middle A section of
the third movement, and the end of the first movement. Rather than ending in C minor,
which would at least give the piece a sense of finality, this chord is again the dissonant
cluster B-sharp - C-sharp - D-natural - E-flat. Instead of resolution, we are given the
strong impression of the music “leading into mystery” and “disappearing into the
unspoken”^^ that the composer spoke of. More than anything, it confirms the unease and
emotional duality of the piece.
33
97
A. Sx.
Pno.
A. Sx.
ppp
Pno.
To end this description of the Sonata, I think it would be appropriate to quote the
poem The Corpses in the Plaza by Pablo Neruda, which inspired Allan Pettersson’s
Symphony no.l2, the pieee which in turn inspired David Maslanka when he was writing
the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. As the reader can see, the content of the poem
is just as serious, and unsettling, as any of the music in Maslanka’s Sonata.
I don’t come to weep here where they fell:

I come to you, I repair to the living.
I appeal to you and me and I beat on your breast.
Others fell before. Do you remember? Of course
you do.
Others who had the same names:
in San Gregorio, in rainy Lonquimay,
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in Ranquil, scattered by the wind,

in Iquique, buried by sand,
all along the sea and desert,
all along the mist and rain,
from the pampas to the archipelagoes,
other men were assassinated,
others like you named Antonio,
who were fishermen or blacksmiths like you:
Chile’s flesh, faces
scarred by the wind,
martyred by the pampa,
marked by suffering.
Along the country’s walls,

beside the snow and its crystalwork,
behind the river of green foliage,
I found a drop o f my people’s blood,
and each drop burned like fire.^'*
Errata and Performances Suggestions
Errata:
The following is a list of errors or omissions in the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano,
most of which were confirmed by the composer. Any corrections to the saxophone part,
either in the score or the individual part, will be given in written, not concert, pitch.
First Movement:
Measure 93: The saxophone’s dotted half-note B should be a half-note.
Second Movement:
Measure 23: The half-note F-sharp in the right hand of the piano should be a dotted half-
note.
Pablo Neruda, Canto General, trans. Jack Schmitt (Berkeley, CA: University o f Califomia
Press, 1991), 186. Reproduced by kind permission o f the Regents o f the University o f Califomia.
99
Third Movement:
Measure 140: The saxophone’s last note in this measure should be an F-natural (as it
appears in the part), not an F-sharp, as it appears in m. 138. There is no error in the part,
but it is easy for performers to assume that both figures should be the same, when in fact
they are different.
Measure 176: The A that appears in the saxophone part should be written an octave
higher, matching the altissimo As that occur in m. 177 (this is notated correctly in the
score, but not in the saxophone part).
Measure 239: In the saxophone part, there is no dynamic level indicated after a two-
measure rest. The dynamic should be piano.
Measure 240: In the right hand of the piano, the A-flat eighth-note that occurs at the end
of beat three should be tied to the eighth-note on the downbeat of beat 4.
Measure 201: In the saxophone part, there is an asterisk here but no accompanying
notation. The appropriate notation should be what appears in the score: remembering
Barney Childs's “The Edge o f the World. ”
Performance Suggestions:
The suggestions offered here are not intended to represent the definitive interpretation of
the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, nor are they designed to supplant the
instruction of a skilled teacher for students learning the piece. Rather, these are
techniques that the author has found helpful and interpretations that have been successful
in the performance of this piece, some of which may be helpful to other musicians in the
preparation of the Sonata.
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First Movement:
1. David Maslanka indicates a tempo range of quarter-note = 90-96 at the beginning
of the movement. A tempo at the slower end of this range seems to be more
successful, particularly if the starting tempo is to be maintained during sections of
repeated thirty-second-notes.
2. The thirty-second-note pattem in mm. 62-63, and particularly the part at the end
of m. 63, is technically very difficult for the saxophonist to perform. Two
suggestions might be offered to facilitate accuracy here: a slight slowing of the
final four or six notes in m. 63, making the climb to the altissimo G less difficult
as well as providing slightly more time to prepare for the leap to the altissimo C
on the downbeat of m. 64, and also playing the altissimo G with the following
fingering (assuming the use of a front F finger for the precending E-sharp): front
high F + first finger RH + side B-flat.
3. In m. 71, a very slight slowing might also be added to the last four notes in the
saxophone part. This is not for technical reasons, but rather to prevent the
downbeat of m. 72 from arriving too abmptly. The same technique can be applied
atm . 128.
4. In m. 119, the second group of four thirty-second-notes in the saxophone part (F-
sharp - G-sharp - F-sharp - G-sharp) is technically very difficult. The following
fingering combination makes this exchange slightly easier to play: for F-sharp,
use the front F key (played with the first finger o f the left hand), plus the second
finger of the left hand, plus the first finger of the right hand, plus the side B-flat
key in the right hand. For G-sharp, keep the same fingering but lift the first finger
101
of the left hand off of the front F key. The intonation and tone quality resulting
from these fingerings is less than ideal, but this is not noticeable when the passage
is played at the marked tempo, and is worth the trade-off for the easier fingering
combination.
Second Movement:
1. In m. 10, Maslanka requests that the saxophone’s D grace-note and following C-
sharp whole-note be played at a dynamic of ppp. Such a soft dynamic level is
difficult to achieve in this range of the saxophone. One possible solution is to use
what has variously been referred to as a “classical subtone” or “undertone,”
produced by moving the embouchure close to the tip of the reed and playing the
notes entirely with lip pressure (i.e. no pressure on the reed from the lower teeth).
This can sometimes produce a somewhat “fuzzy” tone, but improves response and
control in this register. The same technique can be used at the end of the
movement (the end of m. 101).
2. In mm. 18-20, the saxophonist must play an extended line of sustained altissimo
notes, not the easiest thing to do musically. Two things can improve the effect of
this passage: taking a large breath prior to beat 4 of m. 17, and refraining from
adding vibrato to the altissimo G-sharp in m. 18 until beat 3 or 4 of that measure.
Playing the first part of this note with straight tone adds a poignant tension to the
music and prevents the potentially tedious effect of eleven continuous beats of
altissimo register notes played with unvaried vibrato. This technique can be used
in many other places during the second movement, and in fact Maslanka suggests
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at the beginning of the movement that performers use straight tone and various
vibratos ad lib where appropriate.
3. Maslanka requests that there be no break before the “melting” gesture in m. 60.
This can be a difficult request to comply with: the most logical place for the
saxophonist to breath before this point comes after the altissimo A-sharp that is
tied over from m. 55 to the downbeat of m. 56, making for a very long phrase.
One solution is to circular breathe (if possible) at some point during the tremolos
in mm. 58-59. The last tremolo (D to B) is probably the best spot for this,
especially if the D is played (as I would also recommend) with a palm key
fingering: probably the first two palm keys (high E-flat fingering with no octave
key) plus the first finger of the left hand.
Third Movement:
1. The A sections of this movement are marked at dotted quarter = 180, a tempo that
can be very challenging. Nevertheless, the performers should strive to be as close
to this tempo as possible to help produce the wild, frenzied effect needed in this
movement. The movement requires a feeling of being on the verge of losing
control that cannot be convincingly achieved at a more moderate tempo. This
“all-out” approach must also be applied to dynamics and other expressive
indications in the music to bring out the “schizoid” extremes that are such an
integral part of the movement and the Sonata as a whole. The movement requires
a significant mental and emotional commitment, as well as a technical one. The
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“classical subtone” described above can also be used by the saxophonist from
mm. 96-103.
2. In m. 140, the saxophone’s last two notes (E and F) move more smoothly into the
altissimo G-sharp that follows if they are played with front fingerings rather than
the standard palm key fingerings.
3. In m. 277, the indication with all possible force that appears in the score could
easily apply to the saxophone part as well. The nine hars from mm. 277-285 are
among the most exultant in the entire piece, and merit the kind of “all-out”
emotional expression that Maslanka often asks for from performers.
104
CHAPTER IV
SONG BOOK FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND MARIMBA
Overview
Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba was written by David Maslanka in
1998 on a commission from saxophonist Steven Jordheim and percussionist Dane
Richeson of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. Jordheim and Richeson
premiered the piece at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 30,
1998. Song Book is a seven-movement work requiring approximately thirty minutes to
perform, and demanding both expressive sensitivity and moments of technical virtuosity
from the performers. Each of the first three movements incorporates material from one
of J.S. Bach’s four-part chorale settings, although these chorale melodies are treated quite
differently by Maslanka than they are by Bach. Since its premiere. Song Book has been
commercially recorded (by the commissioning duo) and has received numerous
performances.
While roughly equivalent in overall length to the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and
Piano, Song Book is quite different in character. The ten years between the composition
of the Sonata and Song Book saw David Maslanka’s compositional style take on an
105
aspect of elegant simplicity that the composer describes in a 1998 interview when
discussing the completion, in 1995, of his Mass:
The Mass was a cumulative project that brought everything into one place
that I had been thinking for the previous twenty years. When I finished
that, I didn’t know really again who I was anymore and I had to start
reinventing myself. What I’ve been doing for the last two or three years is
trying to find a new path. The pieces that were premiered in November
[Song Book and Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet] represent
elements of that new path. You see in them what could be seen as a
complete regression to absolutely tonal music and the traditional ways of
going about things. I’m not trying to make a statement about how music
should be written. Rather I’m just following the internal needs which say,
“I like this”; it feels good to do this and make music this way. I’ve done a
lot of study in the Bach chorales and I use them as a kind of
contemplation. They’ve told me a whole bunch about how to make music.
They get drawn into the music and into the way I think about music
making. What has come out of the chorales has been a very clear way of
making melodies and a very clear sensitivity to harmonic motion as it
relates to melodies.
It’s a very childlike thing which happens now. I’m attracted by
bright colors. Red is beautiful. Shiny objects are beautiful. Things that a
baby would be attracted to attract my attention. They come out in musical
terms in what seem to be extremely simple textures at times, yet those
textures tend to conceal a whole lifetime of experience and of thought and
feeling, so that a whole-note in a given texture is not just four beats of
something, it’s a whole world. So the music begins to look simpler on the
page and yet it becomes more difficult to perform well.'
In the case of Song Book, this shift of compositional style results in a musical
character that is much more contemplative and less aggressive than that found in the
Sonata, and in a harmonic language that, with a few exceptions, makes extensive use of
very simple tonal material. The challenges for performers in the Sonata are those of
sustained endurance, intensity, and technical brilliance. In Song Book, the emphasis is
much more on expressive interpretation, musicality, and delicate execution. While the
completion of a substantial project like the Mass is certainly responsible for some of
Snyder, “An Interview with David Maslanka,” 9-10.
106
these changes, Maslanka also credits his move from New York to Montana in 1990 as a
significant influence on his composing;
So, the big change, in a few words, is the release of the shield that New
York required, the release of that. And the result is that the mind flows
outward here, at least mine does, contacts the land in a different way,
allows the contact of the voice of this land, which is big and powerful, to
come through. So I feel the capacity here to be much more open to the
vibration of the Earth, and to allow that to speak itself. I think the
evolution of myself as a person, the evolution of my awareness, of myself
as a composer, has to do with the release of ego in the composing process.
To move from making up music to allowing music, and I think that is
typified by the big step from New York City to Montana. So the quality
of allowing, I think, is a serious change that you can perceive.^
This “quality of allowing” produces a musical clarity and straightforwardness that
is one of the most important aspects of Song Book. While there are sections that require
considerable technical skill to execute, there is never a sense of virtuosity for its own
sake: the composer is not showing off by demonstrating how difficult he can make the
music. Likewise, the music is for the most part much more introspective; it does not
demand your attention in the same way that the Sonata does. This quality results from a
combination of the musical simplicity of the piece and the blend of the saxophone with
the marimba, an instrument that is naturally much less aggressive than the piano.
Maslanka acknowledges the influence of this instrumental combination, saying:
The marimba to me suggests always a more delicate music. You can write
softly for the piano, too, but the piano has a much bigger power, it can do
a lot more things than the marimba can. And so the marimba - when I
took it up for this piece I was asked to write for this combination - the
immediate thoughts were not, in any way, dynamically overbearing,
although there are some loud passages. The first thoughts were intimate
and continued for the whole piece to have an intimate quality. Now I
really enjoyed that about this piece, and I think it was a key thing for me,
because I have a quality of intimacy which can happen in the music;
there’s also a quality of bombast which can happen in the music
107
[laughter]. Overload. And this pieee for marimba and saxophone tended
to move me consistently toward the more intimate side, and since I’ve
written that piece I have written a lot more music which is of an intimate
nature.^
In Song Book, this intimate music is organized into movements that are brief,
especially in comparison to the movements of a piece like the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone
and Piano. As the composer says, “They have a particular thing to say, a particular mood
and attitude to express, and then they are done. I think of the pieces as emotional
scenes.”^ Partially due to the brevity of each individual movement, certain movements
can be grouped together in larger units of related material. A possible grouping of related
movements is included here, along with a series of tables providing a brief outline for
each movement.
The first three movements of Song Book could be referred to as the “Chorale
Trio.” Each incorporates the melody of one of J.S. Bach’s four-part chorales, although
the only movement that quotes the chorale melody exactly is the third. The
harmonization of the chorales is Maslanka’s own. The first two movements, both in A
minor, have a very similar emotional aspect, while the third, set in A-flat major, provides
a contrasting cheerfulness to the wistful quality of the first two (see Table 4.1).
^ Ibid.
'*Maslanka, notes to Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, The Music o f D avid Maslanka.
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Table 4.1
Chorale Trio
1. Song for Davy 2. Lost 3. Hymn Tune with Four

Variations
Chorale Statement: Chorale Melody: Hymn Tune:
Unfolding o f Das alte Jahr Transformation o//ferr, ich habe Closely follows melody (with
vergangen ist in A minor, misgehandelt, stated in the omamentation) and harmony o f
cadence on E. saxophone with very sustained Werde munter, mein Gemiite in
Mm. 1-24 marimba accompaniment, three-part texture. The key is A-
begiiming in A minor and flat major.
“Traveling” Harmonic cadencing on E Major (add 9). Mm. 1-16
Development: Mm. 1-19
Repetitive pattem in marimba Variation 1:
beneath languid saxophone “Passionate” Statement: Much faster, louder, and
melody, progression starts in A Somewhat more aggressive, energetic than original.
minor, moves through keys dynamically active section, still Mm. 1-12 (renumbered with each
including B major, C-sharp based in A minor, in which key variation, actually 16 measures
major, A major, D major, C this section begins and ends. including repeat o f first 4)
major, G major. E-flat major, D- Mm. 20-31
flat major, ends in G-flat major. Variation 2:
Mm. 25-61 Staccato texture and wide
dynamic variation, also more
Return of Chorale: compact.
Chorale material retums quietly, Mm. 1-7 (9 meas. with repeat)
now firmly rooted in A minor.
Mm. 62-111 Variation 3:
More rhythmically active and
even more compact.
Mm. 1-4
Variation 4:
Marked as fa st as possible; a
mad dash to the finish.
Mm. 1-6
The fourth movement stands alone at the center of the piece. It is the longest
movement in Song Book, and is also the most brooding and least tonal. Composed in
memory of a friend of Maslanka’s who died in 1998, the fourth movement has an overall
tonal center o f C minor, but the composer’s use of quartal techniques and chromaticism
give the movement an unsettled quality and set it apart from the other movements of the
piece (see Table 4.2).
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Table 4.2
4. Serious Music
Introduction:
Soft and sustained, primarily in C minor but with frequent
quartal and chromatic motion. Ends on F-sharp.
Mm. 1-49
Arpeggiated “chase” :
Increases rapidly in speed and dynamic power.
Highlighted by rapid saxophone arpeggios over C pedal in
marimba. Ends softly with quartal chords.
Mm. 50-95
Reflective ending:
Returns to mood o f the opening, with occasional saxophone
“outbursts.” Returns to C minor with frequent suspension
effects. Ends with questioning augmented fourth.
Mm. 96-130
The fifth and sixth movements form what could be called a “Peaceful Duet.”
Each is roughly the same length, and each uses the combination of a beautifully simple
saxophone melody with a calming, repetitive arpeggiated pattem in the marimba. The
fifth movement is centered in C major (providing a kind of delayed resolution for the
doubtful C minor of the fourth movement), and ends in G minor. The sixth remains in D-
flat major for most of its length before moving to C minor and finally B-flat minor (see
Table 4.3).
110
Table 4.3
Peaceful Duet
5. Summer Song 6. Song for Alison
“Settling” Introduction; Emotional Introduction:

Based in C major, very free and relaxed. Creates a Begins in D-flat major, quietly but with moments
settled feeling after the uncertainty o f the 4* mvt. o f dynamic passion.
Mm. 1-7 Mm. 1-15
Simple Song: Flowing Melody:

Marimba establishes gently repeating pattern, New tempo with marimba establishing a similar
joined by the saxophone with a thoroughly simple pattem to the 5* mvt. Simple Song pattern. Moves
melody. Moves through C, F, G minor. E-flat, B- mainly between D-flat and A-flat.
flat, D-flat, settles on G minor at the very end. Mm. 16-63
Mm. 8-47
“Echoing” Conclusion:
Moves to C minor with soft and spacious marimba
chords. Reflective, quiet echo o f melody in
saxophone. Ends in B-flat minor.
Mm. 64-87
The last movement, much like the fourth, stands on its own by virtue of its length,
and also by its overt passion, which is not as obvious in most of the preceding
movements. Primarily in F minor, the seventh movement also has an energetic Phrygian
section that gives the music an exotic flavor. Although the movement has sections of
more “extroverted” emotion and busy rhythmic texture, it ends quietly and reflectively in
C major, bringing to a close what is ultimately a very intimate and thoughtful piece of
chamber music (see Table 4.4).
Ill
Table 4.4
7. Evening Song
Scalar Introduction:
Quietly established by a descending F minor scale, followed by
rapid F minor arpeggios in the marimba, then a return to the F
minor scale.
Mm. 1-35
“Emotional Crescendo”:
Increase o f dynamic, tension, and rhythmic activity. Some
chromatic motion, but based in F minor and E-flat.
Mm. 35-45
“Passionate Exotic” Theme:

Fortissimo theme given exotic cast by use o f C Phrygian. Final
rhythmic and emotional climax o f entire piece.
Mm. 46-77
Scalar Conclusion:
Quiet retum o f descending F minor scale, remaining dynamically
peaceful to the end. Ultimately ends in C major.
Mm. 78-100
First Movement: Sons for D aw - The old year is past
This movement serves as an appropriate introduction to the overall mood and
intimate nature of the piece. Maslanka has this to say about the origin of this movement:
“Song for Davy” is a reworking of the chorale melody “Das alte Jahr
vergangen ist” (“The Old Year is Past”). This is a song for my young self,
written at a time of personal transition. The music touches a very old
memory chord and has a wistful and haunting character.^
The English translations that Maslanka uses for the chorales, rather than the original
German, will be used from this point forward. There are two versions of “The Old Year
^ David Maslanka, “Song Book,” http://www.davidmaslanka.com/display.asp?Piece_ID=67

(1998), accessed 23 January 2004, 1.
112
is Past” in Bach’s 371 Harmonized Chorales',^ the one presented here (see Example 4.1)
is the A minor version (no. 162). Maslanka uses the same key in his reworking of the
chorale. As the composer’s inspiration for the use of the chorale melodies comes from
their titles and the musical material rather than from the text of the chorale,^ the text will
not be included here.
/TN 1 1
r .. - ^ r ' r r T'-- - - - - r r ' r-
i J j /n p J J 1 1 J JiJT J J
^ » I* r r r
<
<
Ex. 4.1: Bach Chorale setting, number 162, The Old Year is Past
Maslanka’s treatment of the chorale melody is much more expansive and free
than Bach’s, and only the first three phrases of the chorale can be recognized in
Maslanka’s version. The unfolding of the melody takes place in a leisurely fashion, and
in the opening section, which includes the statement of the three chorale phrases, both
®Johann Sebastian Bach, 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with figured bass,
ed. Albert Riemenschneider (New York: G. Schirmer, inc., 1941).
’ Bolstad, D avid M aslanka’s Symphony no.4, 21.
113
instruments are used in a very sustained manner. While there are no significant technical
challenges for either performer in this movement, the “wide-open” feel of the music and
the fact that long passages of sustained notes occur without much direction from the
composer make the piece more musically challenging than a technically difficult passage
might be. When asked if performing this type of music was more difficult, Maslanka had
this to say:
Oh, of course it is. It’s much harder. I mean, when you have something
which is technically quote-unquote “challenging,” then you think you have
accomplished something when you’ve learned all the notes with your
fingers, eh? And then there’s the question of musical expression and
character. But when there are fewer notes, especially if they’re whole-
notes, then the requirement to know who you are when playing this music
just comes forward. And so the Song Book has a lot more open space in it
for the performers to be themselves, and they have to know who that is.
That’s the hard part.^
For this reason, performing Song Book requires a similar level of commitment as does the
Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, although for different reasons.
The opening melodic statement, while based on the chorale melody, has a
similarity of mood and of shape (particularly in the sustained downward then upward
motion at the end of the statement in mm. 4-6) to the opening theme of the Sonata fo r
Alto Saxophone and Piano (see Example 4.2). Both are firmly rooted in A minor and use
the minor dominant (E minor), and both have an underlying quality of melancholy and
remembrance (see Example 3.2 for reference). Maslanka believes that these old
compositional ideas recur for a reason and that such references are like a “voice wanting
to speak another thought.”^ In this case, and throughout the first movement, it would be

®Ibid.
114
appropriate for performers to attempt to evoke the same quality o f emotional expression
that is present in the exposition of the Sonata.
p p a very smooth, quiet roll
o m sc . J o r te J u lly
h e sita te
h e sita te
Ex. 4.2: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, I, mm. 1-24.
First three phrases based on The Old Year is Past chorale melody
All excerpts of Song Book are © 1998 Carl Fischer, LLC and are used with permission.
The texture of Song fo r Davy is primarily a very transparent, two-voice texture,
adding to the wistful nature of the piece. While the marimba is capable of producing a
thicker, chordal texture, it cannot sustain this style of playing with the ease that a piano
can, nor does it possess the dynamic power of that instrument. Recognizing these
limitations, Maslanka creates a mood and texture for his music that will show off the
marimba’s best characteristics. The thickest texture (four parts, beginning in m.l7)
occurs simultaneously with the most forceful dynamic level, providing a brief moment of
115
outward passion that is otherwise restrained in the pieee (see Example 4.2). Other than
this sudden elimb to forte, the dynamic motion in Song fo r Davy is very gradual.
The texture of the middle section of the movement (mm. 25-61) is virtually
unchanging, creating a settling and comfortable effect. The marimba plays an
arpeggiated pattern through this entire “traveling” section, above which the saxophone’s
expansive melody slowly unfolds (see Example 4.3). The rhythm is as consistent as the
texture, and while the saxophone’s rhythmic motion is different from phrase to phrase, it
always exists in the context of complete sostenuto. The end of the movement is even
more transparent, containing long moments of silence between the marimba’s ghostly
minor chords. The return of the first phrase of the chorale melody in the saxophone is
like an echo, almost suspended in time above the occasional rhythmic interjections of the
marimba.
a bit faster
in strict ttme
Ex. 4.3: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba. I, mm. 25-34.
116
The harmonic language of Song fo r Davy, as Maslanka alluded to when talking
about his shift of compositional style, is primarily tonal. The same could be said of
Bach’s original harmonization of the chorale melody, but in Song fo r Davy this harmonic
traditionalism is magnified by the fact that single chords are sustained or repeated for
long periods of time, giving the music a kind of childlike simplicity. The beginning and
end of the movement are particularly good examples of this “settled harmony.” Unlike
Bach’s Chorales, which generally have a quarter-note harmonic rhythm (a new chord on
each beat), Maslanka’s treatment of the chorale melody often allows a single chord to be
sustained for three or four measures at a time, and results in a much more limited variety
of chords within a given section. In the first section of the piece, for example, where the
first three phrases of the chorale melody appear, virtually the only chords used by
Maslanka are A minor, D minor, and E minor. Those same three chords make up the
entire harmonic pallet used in the ending section of the movement (mm. 62-111). The
emphasis of the minor dominant and Maslanka’s avoidance of the leading tone give these
sections a modal sound that is characteristic of the composer’s writing (see also Chapter
3, pp. 26-27 on the “melancholy” theme of the Sonata).
The greatest amount of harmonic activity takes place in the section of the
movement that has the most rhythmic consistency (mm. 25-61). The more active
harmonic motion and the steady, reliable rhythm of the marimba give this section the
quality of a peaceful journey. For this reason, 1 will refer to this as the “traveling”
section of the piece. Harmonically, this journey begins in A minor, the mood much like
that of the opening of the movement. The tonality soon changes, however, starting a
progression through several keys of varying brightness: first brightening as A minor
117
progresses eventually to C major, then B major, then C-sharp major, then moving back
toward the warmth of flat-side keys through C-sharp minor - A major - D major - E
major - C major - C minor - D major - G major - E-flat major - D-flat major, and
finally ending in G-flat major. Although this “traveling” music is colored by moments of
dissonance, usually provided by the saxophone, the overall effect is one of calm and ease.
The harmonic progression of the “traveling” section is facilitated by a
characteristic technique of Maslanka’s: consistent bass note motion by half-step, most
often descending but also occasionally ascending. This gradual movement provides a
large-scale, smoothly moving line that produces a “hidden voice” (found in the
marimba’s opening notes of each measure in this section) as well as creating harmonic
motion. Areas where this chromatic line can be found include mm. 25-35 (A - G-sharp -
G - F-sharp, see Example 4.3), and mm. 40-51, where it moves in both directions (C-
sharp - D - D-sharp - E - E-flat - D). A similar pattern found in mm. 52-57, moving
by whole-steps (G - F - E-flat - D-flat), leads toward the end of the “traveling” section
(see Example 4.4). This smooth motion gives an even more logical quality to a harmonic
progression that is already well within the bounds of traditional tonality.
A lto Sax.
M arim ba
shw ing,.. s lo w in g ..
Ex. 4.4: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba. I, mm. 52-61.
Descending whole-step bass note pattern in marimba.
118
Throughout the movement, but especially during the “traveling” music,
performers must bring out the subtle moments of stress and tension that color this
otherwise very sensible harmonic framework. Important points of tension in the
“traveling” section occur at mm. 31-32 (dissonant Gs in the saxophone against a G-sharp
dim.7 chord), m. 34 (saxophone has a 9-8 suspension), m. 38 (saxophone A against G-
sharp 7 chord, followed by the saxophone’s sustained seventh of that same chord that
eventually resolves in m. 40), m. 50 (saxophone has a sixth above a C major chord), and
m. 58 (saxophone’s augmented fourth against a D-flat major chord resolves to the root of
G-flat major in m. 59). These are hardly the only such moments of harmonic tension in
the piece, but they are mentioned here to emphasize their importance to the musical
character of the movement. If performers are sensitive to these expressive moments in
the music, they will be closer to an effective interpretation of this evocative journey
through David Maslanka’s younger life.
Second Movement: Lost
The second movement of Song Book is one the shortest and most thematically
compact of the piece. Like the first movement. Lost is in the key of A minor, and in fact
does not venture out of this key at all during its thirty-one bars. Maslanka writes this
about the second movement:
“Lost” is based on the chorale “Herr, Ich babe misgehandelt,” which

translates roughly as “Lord, I have done the wrong thing.” Out of this
sensibility comes the feeling of being lost and needing help.'*^
10
Maslanka, “Song Book,” 2.
119
This chorale melody appears in two of Bach’s chorales, both of which are in A minor.
The version of the melody used by Maslanka is found in Chorale no. 33 (see Example
4.5).
J:
Ex. 4.5: Bach Chorale setting, number 33, Lord, I have done the wrong thing
The chorale melody is played exclusively by the saxophone, which, apart from
omamentation and tempo changes, presents the melody very much as it is found in
Bach’s version. The sensation of being lost is produced by Maslanka’s use of hesitation
and sudden tempo changes (see Example 4.6). This creates an effect very similar to that
of the alternately rushing ahead and hesitating passages of the opening recitative in the
second movement of Maslanka’s Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, where the theme
is presented one uncertain piece at a time. The use of melodic minor in the chorale
melody gives Lost a more tonal sound, and consequently a more urgent sound where the
leading tone G-sharp is found, than we saw in the more modal music of Song fo r Davy.
The thematic statements in Lost can be treated with a good deal of freedom of rhythm and
expression, emphasizing the inherent uncertainty in the music.
120
v e r y s lo w ly a n d jr e e l y ^
m time hex.
suddenlyfaster J = 7 2
fotxefully .
A. Sx.
M rb.
Ex. 4.6: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, II, mm. 1-15.
The second part of the movement (mm. 20-31), which corresponds to the second
half of the chorale, is somewhat less hesitant and more hopeful than the opening, moving
ahead more confidently (andpassionately, as indicated by the composer). Ultimately,
however, we return to A minor in a sudden frenetic cascade of thirty-second-notes in the
marimba that drives home the unbalanced emotional nature of the movement (see
Example 4.7).
in tempo J
faster *=82
A lto Sax.
M arim ba
A. Sx.
M rb.
Ex. 4.7: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, II, mm. 28-31.
The texture of Lost is homophonic, maintaining a consistent relationship of
expressive saxophone melody and sustained chordal accompaniment in the marimba with
121
only two brief exceptions (the A minor arpeggio in the marimba in m. 20, and the
previously mentioned thirty-second-note run in the final measure). This consistency is
one of the few settling elements of the movement, but it also allows the saxophonist to
take as much rhythmic freedom as he or she desires in many instances, drawing out the
hesitant aspect of the music.
While the relationship of melody to accompaniment between saxophone and
marimba remains constant, the dynamic and rhythmic elements of the piece change with
an unexpected suddenness. Rhythmically, this is achieved both through the
aforementioned moments of hesitation and by rapid shifts of tempo such as the suddenly
faster at m. 12 and the changes at m. 20 and m. 28. These tempo changes are often
accompanied by a parallel change of dynamic (for example, the insistent forte entrance of
the saxophone at m. 12, the sudden change from pianissimo to mezzo-forte between mm.
19-20, and the abrupt dynamic swells in m. 27 and m. 28.) These moments accentuate
the feel of the movement as a frantic search for guidance.
Maslanka’s use of harmony in the second movement is very direct and simple,
never venturing outside of diatonic chords in the key of A minor. While the melody
follows that of the Bach Chorale quite closely, the motion of the harmony is far less
active, and the marimba often sustains a single chord under the moving melody for three
or four measures at a time. Although the melodic minor nature of the theme results in the
consistent appearance of the leading tone G-sharp, Maslanka still makes use of the
Aeolian-sounding minor dominant (E minor) at cadences in m. 8 and m. 15 (see Example
4.6). Authentic cadences appear at only two points in the movement: E7 moving to A in
122
mm. 19-20 at the beginning of the faster, “passionate” section, and the same progression
in mm. 26-28.
The composer’s treatment of dissonance is also very conservative, being limited
to occasional suspensions and passing tones in the marimba (mm. 7-8, mm. 10-11, m.
26), and to the tension created when the motion of the chorale melody produces a
dissonance against the static harmony beneath. Since the saxophonist is in control of the
latter type of dissonance, the performer can determine which of these passing moments of
tension should be emphasized (or not) to better project the worried, searching quality of
Lost.
Third Movement: Hymn Tune with Four Variations
The last part of the “Chorale Trio” that Song Book is this genial set of variations
on another of the Bach Chorales. Maslanka describes the Hymn Tune movement in this
way:
“Hymn Tune with Four Variations” is the only movement that uses a
hymn tune verbatim. The melody is “Werde Munte, mein Gemute” (sic)
(“Be strong, my heart”). Each variation is a successive speeding up of the
chorale statement, with the last being a chaotic scramble.'^
This chorale melody is found in three of Bach’s 371 Harmonized Chorales, where it is
given the title Werde munter, mein Gemute, which is translated as “Be glad, my soul.”'^
The version whose melody most closely resembles that used by Maslanka is chorale no.
233 in A major (see Example 4.8). Maslanka has moved the melody from A major to A-
" Ibid.
Bach, 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies, xvi.
123
flat major, which has the effect of giving the movement a slightly warmer sound, and also
of making the fast variations easier to perform, particularly for the saxophonist. Other
than the change of key and the addition of omamentation to the saxophone’s chorale
melody, the melodic line appears as it does in Bach’s version.
1^ y J J J J J ! ^ ^"1ly . |J J J. T-|
r r r r r f r r r ■r r r r
, j j j j j J J J J O T j U U a a
0 i. J 1
------ ----------- --------- 1---- ^-1-----------1------- J--------- J------- J 1
-----------1-------- -------------
J J n - -A—\
V r r 'C T r ' U ^ r f f
J ... n J J ^ A J A A A A A r .- T . A
1 ' ^ Vi/
Ex. 4.8: Bach Chorale setting, number 233, Werde munter, mein Gemute
The thematic material of the third movement is thoroughly legato (Maslanka
indicates smooth, singing), and has a consistently cheerful character that provides an
effective contrast to the mood of the chorale melodies in the first two movements (see
Example 4.9). The predominantly stepwise motion of the melody and the fact that it
rarely strays out of the key of A-flat major give the opening statement of the tune a very
relaxed and comfortable aspect. The entire scope of the melody stays within the interval
of a major sixth, and is written in the upper-middle range of the saxophone, a tessitura
that Maslanka tends to favor in much of his writing for the instmment. This is a range in
which the saxophonist can emphasize the “singing” quality that Maslanka requests, and
allows the hymn tune to be executed with the relaxation and ease required. This range is
maintained throughout the variations, as is the overall cheerful nature of the theme,
despite the dramatic rhythmic and tempo changes that take place.
124
fermatas
^ flexible - slowing at cadences

are not long
J
quickbreath
f r .... r— If f ■r r Ir r r r Ir r ^
p smoodx, singing
m f
Ex. 4.9: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, III, mm. 1-4.
The texture o f Hymn Tune is the most contrapuntal of any of the movements in
Song Book. Maslanka employs a three-voice texture in the statement of the theme
(melody in the saxophone, two separate lines in the marimba) that can be very clearly
discerned due to the leisurely pace of the theme. Neither of the voices presented by the
marimba follows Bach’s harmonization as closely as the saxophone follows the chorale
melody, although there are rough similarities between the bass voice in Bach’s
harmonization and the bass clef marimba part in Maslanka’s version. The treble clef
marimba line freely combines elements of both the alto and tenor voices. This
contrapuntal writing results in a thicker texture that helps add to the overall warm sound
of Hymn Tune, and gives this movement a greater similarity to the borrowed chorale than
is found in the first two movements. The texture is reduced to two voices at the
beginning of the first variation, partly due to the sudden shift in tempo. Each of the
variations is more than three times as fast as the first statement of the theme (Variation 1
moves the tempo from quarter-note = 52 to quarter-note = 172), giving the music a
sudden energy and necessitating a more transparent texture to avoid creating a confused
jumble of notes. Each variation becomes increasingly busier and more compact. The
first variation, while it maintains the same number of measures as the original theme.
125
obviously passes by much more quickly because of the increased tempo. Each of the
successive variations shortens the rhythmic values of the theme, which, by the fourth and
final variation (marked as fa st as possible) produces what Maslanka described as a
“chaotic scramble.”'^ Not only is this final variation the fastest and briefest, it is
presented as a canon, with the marimba echoing on beat three what the saxophone began
on beat one (see Example 4.10). As if the speed of the final variation wasn’t enough, this
canonic treatment of the theme produces what will likely be perceived as a “blur of
sound” by tbe listener.
V a r i a t i o n 4 - a s f a s t a s p o s s ib le
Ex. 4.10: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba. III, Variation 4, mm. 1-6.
While the chorale melody of Hymn Tune follows Bach’s version almost exactly,
Maslanka’s harmonic treatment of the theme varies slightly from the original. Each
composer uses a primarily quarter-note harmonic rhythm (a new chord on each beat), and
while each of Maslanka’s phrases contain minor differences from Bach’s (one or two
different chords), the overall harmonic shape is consistent. The only phrase that is
significantly different is the third - m. 5 for Bach, m. 9 for Maslanka. Here, where Bach
modulates to create a cadence on B minor (the minor ii chord in the key), Maslanka treats
' Maslanka, “Song Book,” 2.
126
the chorale melody more diatonically, staying in the key and ending the phrase with a
cadence on the dominant (E-flat major, see Example 4.11, m. 3). The use of dissonance,
primarily limited to diatonic passing tones and an occasional suspension, is very
conservative, and is consistent with Bach’s harmonization. This harmonic similarity,
combined with the contrapuntal nature of Hymn Tune and the use of the entire chorale
melody, gives this piece an affect very close to that of Bach’s chorale. If not for the
absence o f the saxophone and marimba in eighteenth century Germany, Bach might have
written this movement himself.
The main harmonic difference between the primary Hymn Tune and the variations
is one of rhythm. The first variation, apart from the large difference in tempo, is
basically a copy of the theme - in fact, while the marimba is reduced from two voices to
one, this voice is the same (with some octave displacement) as the bass clef voice in the
original statement. The harmonic rhythm in the second variation is doubled (quarter-
notes become eighth-notes). In the third variation it is doubled once more (see Example
4.11), and in the fourth it is further compressed by the change of meter from 4/4 to 3/4
and the reduction by one sixteenth-note of the length of each harmonic beat. In other
words, the harmony that took up the space of a quarter-note in Variation 3 now takes up
the space o f three sixteenth-notes, reducing the overall length of the chorale melody from
16 to 12 beats. This increasing harmonic compactness, coupled with the similar increase
of the surface rhythm, gives the movement the aspect of a progressively wilder (but
always joyful) dance.
127
Variation 3 • same tempo
Ex. 4.11: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, III, Variation 3, mm. 1-4
Compare to Example 4.10 for increasing compactness of harmony.
Fourth Movement: Serious Music - In Memoriam Arthur Cohn
The fourth movement of Song Book is quite different in character from the other
six movements - it contains comparatively little triadic harmony, is more technically
challenging for the saxophonist than any other movement, and is the darkest in emotional
content. The composer describes the inspiration for the movement as follows:
“Serious Music - In Memoriam Arthur Cohn” is the longest and soberest

piece in the set. Arthur Cohn was for many years Director of the Serious
Music Department of Carl Fischer, and over a lifetime a stalwart
champion of living composers and new music. My association with
Fischer began through Arthur in 1974, and over the years he became both
mentor and friend. His death in 1998, though not untimely, was a great
sadness for me. The designation “Serious Music” by the Carl Fischer
Company of what would otherwise be called “Concert Music” has always
amused me. And so I have written a VERY serious piece for Arthur and
hope that he appreciates the little joke.'"*
This elegiac piece contains some of the most explicitly passionate and aggressive music
in the entire work, and includes some of the most dramatic contrasts. Long sections of
128
soft, ominous playing move suddenly into rhythmically and dynamically forceful
outbursts.
The thematic material of the fourth movement is less melodious than that found in
most of the other movements of Song Book. There is no clear melody - harmony
relationship between the saxophone and marimba; rather, each instrument has its own
distinct voice. Many of the melodic intervals, particularly those that occur in the
marimba part, consist of seconds and fourths, weakening the expectations a more
traditionally tonal theme would have and giving the music a sense of suspension - there
are no notes that have a strong tonal leaning or impetus. The opening and closing
sections are strongly similar, both consisting of independent but similar lines in the
saxophone and marimba. Like the themes found in the other movements, this music has
a very sostenuto and unhurried quality to it. The entrance of the saxophone in m. 16 sets
up a pattern of alternating note motion with the marimba, creating an “echoing” effect
that often results in a consonant note relationship moving to a dissonant one, or vice versa
(see Example 4.12). Only toward the end of the opening section (the crescendo that
begins at m. 35 and climaxes in m. 40) does this theme move out of its quiet gloom into
more aggressive material - the first sign of the strong emotions under the surface of the
piece.
129
ir cresc grad
m U J. iJ.
r
slowing and hesilating Wm/jo I (}= 92)
slowir^
Ex. 4.12: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, IV, mm. 16-45.
The middle section of the movement, dominated melodically by the saxophone, is
notable for two reasons: a great increase of rhythmic activity and the appearance of
patterns of a more triadic nature. The section begins with a rapid accelerando to a tempo
nearly twice the speed of the outer sections (half-note = 90) and a corresponding
rhythmic agitation, first in the marimba and then taken up by the saxophone. In m. 60,
the saxophone launches into a theme dominated by rapid sixteenth-notes - by m. 65 this
becomes a repeated series of furious arpeggios based in B minor, culminating in the
soaring altissimo C-sharp^ in m. 78 (see Example 4.13). For the saxophonist, this is
probably the most teehnically demanding section of the entire work. Beneath the frantic
arpeggios of the saxophone, the marimba maintains an unwavering pedal C. While this
creates a dissonance against the majority of the saxophone’s B minor-based material, the
respective sempre fortissimo and pianissimo dynamic levels of the saxophone and
marimba make this dissonance little more than a disquieting murmur. Taken in the
130
context of the movement’s inspiration, the climactic point reached at m. 78 seems to have
the effect of an emotional release - what follows is a gradual return to the more subdued
nature and quartal harmonies found in the opening of the movement.
^ sempre
fi.. 1ii 11 rrrrrr[»ri»r["i-~iir-' |i"i,i 1.U n-jrrrrffp|£^
cresc grad m f
A. Sx.
M rb.
The texture of Serious Music consists almost exclusively of two voices, lending a
clarity and sense of “openness” to the music. At only one point (mm. 94-95, at the end of
the agitated middle section) does the marimba actually play chords - throughout the rest
of the movement it is treated as a single-voice instrument. The overall dynamic level of
131
the movement adds to its transparency - particularly in the opening and closing sections,
there are long sections of very soft music. Even when the dynamic level is (often
suddenly) increased, it never results in a texture that could be considered thick. These
periods of dynamic intensity, while produced by a rapid growth from softer dynamic
levels, rarely last long. Some of them appear merely as brief outbursts of sound and
emotion (the saxophone in m. 98 and m. 106, see Example 4.14), and even the longest of
these (the fast, arpeggiated section whose growth begins in m. 53), is relatively short in
comparison to the softer, more sustained music at the beginning and end of the
movement. The overall dynamic effect is brooding and ominous, reflecting the obviously
mournful origin of Serious Music.
A lto Sax.
ff
M arim ba
Unlike the majority of the other movements in Song Book, in which the
saxophone tends to stay mainly in its middle and upper register, the fourth movement
contains extended passages in the lower registers of both instruments. From the first
notes of the marimba’s opening soliloquy, this tendency toward a more profound tessitura
adds to the ominous quality of the music. This is not to say that this range is maintained
for the entirety of the movement. For the saxophone in particular, the extremes of range
are greater in this movement than in any other, varying from E-flat (written low C) to a
high of C-sharp^ (written altissimo A-sharp). The ascent to the upper extreme of range is
132
certainly a factor in producing the overt grief that comes through in the middle section of
the piece and reaches a peak in m. 78 (see Example 4.13), the same point at which the
saxophone makes its leap into the altissimo register. Once this display of raw emotion
has run its course, it subsides once more, descending in range and dynamic, but never
losing the brooding seriousness that is one of the most unchanging characteristics of the
movement.
As has already been mentioned, Maslanka makes free use of quartal harmony
(that is, harmony based on stacking notes in fourths rather than thirds, as is the case in
most music from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries) and chromatic motion
to create a harmonic framework different from that found in the other movements of Song
Book. While there is an overall impression of a C (minor) tonal center running through
the piece, there are times when it moves freely between any number of seemingly
unrelated pitches. The opening section of the movement, which is distinguished by a
similar (but alternating) half note motion in the marimba and saxophone that produces a
subtle tension as each instrument moves through its series of pitches, is an excellent
example of the quartal nature of the piece. The marimba part is fairly saturated with
movement by fourths: for example, beginning in m. 12 the marimba moves from C up to
F to B-flat to E-flat, then from D-flat up to G-flat, and from E to A immediately
preceding the entrance of the saxophone. This type of motion is typical of that found
throughout the piece, and especially in the opening and closing sections. The only
instance of quartal chords is found in mm. 94-95 (see Example 4.15), where the marimba
has repeated chords made up of the notes E - A - D - G.
133
A lto Sax.
M arim ba
% I iJ] IJ - j
The B minor-centered saxophone arpeggios set against the marimba’s pedal C in
the middle section of the movement (mm. 50-95) have already been described. While the
saxophone has long stretches of minor and diminished harmonic material from mm. 62-
80 (the combination of two diminished arpeggios in mm. 62-63 produces a particularly
compelling sound), any sense of having arrived at an actual key center is fleeting, and by
the end of this section triadic harmony has once again evaporated. The ending section
returns to virtually the same harmonic patterns that were set up in the beginning of the
movement, disturbed only by the saxophone’s violent C minor outbursts in mm. 98-99
and mm. 106-107. The ominous and sorrowful aspect of Serious Music is maintained to
the very end: above the sustained C in the marimba that begins in m. 123, the saxophone
has a disquieting minor ninth leap between D and E-flat that is echoed in the following
measures (see Example 4.16). Finally, accompanied by Maslanka’s request to whisper,
the saxophone moves from E-flat through E to F-sharp, settling on a mysterious
augmented fourth as the moumful fourth movement fades to niente.
134
slo w ly
I
A lto Sax.
whisper
Marimba
(pP) : = = = — jRKP
Fifth Movement: Summer Sons
The fifth movement of Song Book is a beautiful piece made up of very simple
materials. Maslanka’s only description of the movement is that “ ‘Summer Song’ is a
sweet piece that needs no further explanation.”^^ Without intending to second-guess the
composer, a slightly longer description will be provided here.
The melodic material of Summer Song is presented as a long, continuously
unfolding theme with the kind of expansive legato quality that is typical of many of the
themes in Song Book. The opening of the fifth movement serves the notable function of
providing a delayed resolution for the uncertainty of the fourth movement. The last
sound heard in the fourth movement is that of a whispering tritone between C and F-
sharp; this is followed by a perfect fifth in the marimba (C and G) to open the next
movement, and this in turn is soon confirmed by the saxophone to be the foundation for a
key center of C major (see Example 4.17). The emotional turbulence of Serious Music
seems to have been washed away, replaced by something much more at peace. This
opening section is very free, comprised of sustained marimba chords (all diatonic to the
Ibid, 2.
135
key of C major), and a very relaxed, simple melody in the saxophone. Maslanka
indicates that the begiiming of the movement can be freely interpreted by the performers,
indicating dynamic movement as it feels appropriate and, after the designated tempo of
quarter-note = 88 that This tempo gives a basic sense ofpace. Within that framework the
pulse may vary a lot, esp. on sustained tones and rests. This introduction has a very
calming and settling emotional effect after the more turbulent fourth movement.
J This tempo gives a basic

the pulse nviy vary a lot. esp. on
Wiihsn lhai frame wo/K
I tones anti
p (dynamic movement as it jeels avvrovriate)
3 Ii..........
.- '
f----f
f. ii 5 / ^ ?,
i
Ex. 4.17: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, V, mm. 1-7.
The seven-measure introduction is followed by music that establishes a
consistent, moderate pulse above which an expansive, legato melody unfolds. The sense
of pulse is created by the marimba, which begins an arpeggiated eighth-note pattern with
the pickup notes to m. 8 that continues to the last measures of the piece. This pattern is
similar to the one found in the first movement of the piece (mm. 25-61), and gives
Summer Song a similar “journeying” kind of affect. After this pattern has been stated by
the marimba, firmly establishing C major, the saxophone enters (m. 12) with a tranquil
melody that has a beautiful simplicity to it (see Example 4.18). This melody, which
136
consists largely o f slowly ascending and descending scale patterns, often with a
prevailing whole-note rhythm, can be challenging for the performers to interpret
effectively. Dynamic motion within this section is likewise very understated,
maintaining a range between piano and mezzo forte until the very end of the movement
where the marimba fades away to pianissimo. Its very simplicity makes it challenging to
present in a way that keeps the music interesting and engaging for the listener. In one
interview, the eomposer addressed this issue:
The feel of the movements became in some ways whimsical and the look
of the music - some of it looks bizarrely simple. But it’s just the issue of
simplicity which has started to intrigue me deeply. What is a sustained
tone? What do you do with it? What does a performer do with it? How
much direction does a performer need? What I’m asking for with this
kind of music more and more is that a performer has to dream as intently
as I dream and has come up with a parallel sense in him self.. .and this is
what a good performer does in any case.’^
In the case of the tranquil melody of Summer Song, which mns from m. 12 to the end of
the piece (m. 47), Maslanka gives some indieations of dynamic and tempo fluctuations,
but considering his remarks on this subject, performers should add their own musical
interpretations to the movement in order to arrive at an effeetive personal presentation of
the musie.
' Snyder, “An Interview with David Maslanka,” 10-11.
137
rime
m ame holdback
holdback mtime hold back

holdback in time
(no trem.)
The harmony of Summer Song, again providing a calming contrast to the fourth
movement, is tonal and almost completely diatonic, making limited use of dissonance.
As the “joumeying” rhythm of the marimba is similar to that found in the first movement,
so too the harmonic motion has parallels to that in Song fo r Davy. The first twenty
measures of Summer Song are firmly rooted in C major harmony; in m. 21 we begin
moving through increasingly flatter keys: from C to F to G minor to E-flat, retuming to
B-flat and then again to E-flat, to C minor to A-flat to F minor and then coming to rest on
D-flat major in mm. 39-41 (see Example 4.19). After a brief return to C major, the piece
ends by gravitating toward G, which is given a minor implication by the grace notes of
the saxophone and the F minor (add 9) chord that leads to the unharmonized G at the end
of the movement. This harmonic movement, while taking us far from our point of origin,
does so in such a gradual and familiar manner that there is nothing unusual in the sound
of the arrival at D-flat major, or even of the immediate return of C major, connected to
the fading D-flat chord by the grace note F in the saxophone. The ending of the
movement, colored by minor-key harmony, has a slightly wistful quality, but the overall
affect o f Summer Song is one of peaceful relaxation.
138
in time in time
slowir^ adlib. 9 ‘"th w in g
- slower 9 slowing
ad lib. p
slowing slowly ad lib.
Sixth Movement: Sons for Alison
The sixth movement of Song Book is similar to the fifth in many respects,
although there is a greater degree of overt emotional intensity in Song fo r Alison.
Maslanka describes the inspiration for this movement:
“Song for Alison” is for my wife, who has been a grounding influence on
me for many years. She is not a musician, but has, through her kindness,
steadiness, and love, provided a safe haven for my flights of fancy.
This movement is grouped together with the fifth due to the correspondence of overall
length, rhythmic similarity (particularly in the marimba), and the fact that each has a
structure consisting of a free, sustained introduction followed by a section of consistent
pulse and tempo.
139
The opening thematic material of Song fo r Alison is not unlike that of the fifth
movement: a broad, sustained theme is stated by the saxophone, supported by chordal
accompaniment in the marimba that often continues without change for two measures or
more. This theme contains a great deal of contrast, growing from an opening piano
dynamic to forte in m. 5 (where Maslanka also adds fu ll cry), and finally to fortissimo in
m. 7 before receding to piano (see Example 4.20). Considering the inspiration of the
music, this passionate beginning is not surprising, and the opening fifteen measures
should be treated as wholly Romantic music by the performers.
fuu cry
Ex. 4.20: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, VI, mm. 1-11.
A long period of steady pulse, paralleling that of the fifth movement, is
established by the marimba in m. 16. When the saxophone enters after a four-measure
introduction to this new section, it is with a simple, lilting theme in 3/4 (see Example
4.21). There is an unhurried but dance-like quality to this music, resulting from the
steady repetition of eighth-note arpeggios by the marimba combined with the graceful
saxophone melody. The mood is like that of a slow waltz, underscored by the marimba’s
consistent emphasis of the first beat of each measure. The saxophone melody moves
140
more rapidly than many of the other themes in Song Book, but still has a relaxed and
peaceful affect due to its extensive use of stepwise, scalar motion, and the tendency of
phrases to come to rest on long, cadential notes following more active melodic material.
This technique is used in mm. 22-25, mm. 28-31, mm. 32-34, mm. 42-48, mm. 54-56,
and mm. 58-61. As mentioned in the description of Summer Song, these moments of
rhythmic inactivity must be treated with the same amount of attention that the performer
would apply to a more technically challenging part, or they run the risk of rendering the
music stale and lifeless. Since Maslanka only occasionally adds dynamic direction
within a phrase, the saxophonist can add a certain amount (in this case, a very moderate
amount) of personal interpretation to the music of each phrase. The marimbist, given
Maslanka’s exhortation to play the rhythmic pattern beginning at m. 16 with persistent
repetition, should take fewer liberties than the saxophonist, except where marked by the
composer.
persistent repetition
! . s _________ 7
PP cresc. very grad
141
Song fo r Alison has a richness of texture, particularly in the opening section of the
movement, that is not often found elsewhere in the work. This fuller sound is provided
hy the four-note chords that are sustained by the marimba throughout the first fifteen
measures, a voicing that is infrequently used by Maslanka. Less restraint is required of
the saxophonist in this section than in many of the other movements of Song Book (see
the full cry indication in m. 7), a factor that also adds to the lush sound of the opening.
The saxophonist should use a full vibrato in this section, particularly from mm. 5-11.
The texture is reduced from five voices to two at the tempo change in m. 16,
accompanied by an increase in rhythmic activity. The marimba’s arpeggiated pattern that
is the cornerstone of pulse from mm. 16-63 (see Example 4.21) is much like the patterns
that occur in similar sections of steady tempo in the first and fifth movements of Song
Book. The consistency of the marimba is further emphasized by the prolonged repetition
of pitches as well as rhythm.
When we finally slow after nearly fifty measures of persistent repetition in m. 62,
Maslanka introduces another rhythmic element that hearkens back to the first movement.
The marimba’s spacious motive that begins in m. 64 is virtually the same in rhythm,
tempo, voicing, and the amount of space between statements as that which appears in m.
62 of Song fo r Davy, varying only in key (see Examples 4.22 and 4.23). It was not a
conscious decision on Maslanka’s part to include a “David and Alison’’ motive in
movements written for himself and for his wife, but the connection is unmistakable, and
the similarity springs from a “musical impulse’’ of the composer’s.'* Here, as well as in
' David Maslanka, personal E-mail, 8 February 2004.
142
the similar section of the first movement, the rhythmic activity and amount of dynamic
motion from this point to the end of the movement is very subdued, and both movements
end with a haunting wistfulness.
stnctly in lime {*=iOO)
Marimba
Ex. 4.22: Song Book ior alto saxophone and marimba, I, mm. 62-66.
First appearance of quiet marimba motive.
in time
* = 108
A lto Sax.
M arim ba
p
f r iPf
Second appearance of quiet marimba motive.
The use of dissonance in Song fo r Alison, while still quite constrained, is greater
than that found in the fifth movement, especially in the freely moving opening section.
This adds to the passionate, occasionally dynamically aggressive nature of this
introduction, and notes such as the saxophone’s C in m. 5 (a 4-3 suspension over a G-flat
major chord), C in m. 7 (leading tone to D-flat), E-flat in m. 9 (6-5 suspension), and the
marimba’s alternating minor and major thirds and augmented fourth above the F chord in
mm. 13-15 can be given extra weight to bring out the overtly emotional nature of this
section. Since the overall harmony of the opening fifteen measures, other than a B-flat
143
major chord and the concluding F major chord, is diatonic to D-flat major, these
occasional points of harmonic stress are additionally important to the effect of the piece.
When the rhythmic repetition begins in m. 16, it is accompanied by a
complementary harmonic repetition that is now largely free of dissonance and acts as a
settling influence during the flowing, melodic section from mm. 16-63. The “harmonic
journey” that was found in the comparative sections of the first and fifth movements is
absent, now replaced by very stable and repetitive harmony. Here is the musical
equivalent of the “grounding influence” that Maslanka acknowledges his wife having
upon him,'^ an extended section in which the harmony moves almost exclusively
between D-flat, G-flat, and A-flat major chords. The marimba reinforces this to an even
greater extent by consistently retuming to the same pitch at the beginning of each
measure; the reiteration of A-flat on the first beat of twenty-eight consecutive measures
followed, after a wildly impetuous G-flat in m. 44, by seventeen measures that return
consistently to D-flat, add another steadying element to a section already distinguished by
a high degree of stability. Only at the very end of the movement (mm. 64-87) is the
reassuring flow of the piece colored by the addition of a slightly wistful quality. The
moments of repose between statements of the marimba motive (now in C minor) help
produce this, as does the shift at m. 81 to B-flat minor (see Example 4.24). The peaceful
quality evident throughout the piece is maintained to the end, but there is at last a subtle
element of longing apparent as well.
’ Ibid.
144
77 slower -freely ad lib.

faster ^ '1 0 8
J I j.
m
slowing
p ppp
I,ra t 'u i j icif (

Ex. 4.24: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, VI, mm. ll - S l.
Seventh Movement: Evenins Sons
The tlnal movement of Song Book, much like the fourth, stands alone due to its
length and comparatively aggressive nature. It is certainly the most technically
challenging movement of the piece for the marimbist, and is also quite challenging for
the saxophonist. While Maslanka does not use musical quotation in Evening Song as he
did in the first three movements of the work, he had a specific inspiration for this music:
“Evening Song” brings to mind some of my favorite music, the Op. 116
Intermezzos by Brahms. “Evening Song,” like other pieces in the set, is
an openly Romantic music. It is ultimately quiet and resigned, but has,
over its course, an urgent and passionate statement to make.^*^
The pieces referred to by Maslanka were composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer
of 1892 when on holiday in Austria.^' While there is no quotation of Brahms by
Maslanka, there is, as the composer suggests, a clear spirit of Romanticism in Evening
Song, and Song Book as a whole shares other similarities with Brahms’s Op. 116. Each

Bernhard Stockmann, preface to Fantasien Op. 116 (Vienna: Schott/Universal Edition, 1981), v.
145
consists of seven relatively brief pieces or movements, and each movement has a
distinctive emotional character. The Intermezzos mentioned by Maslanka, of which there
are four - A minor, E major, E minor, and E major, are o f a comparatively subdued and
sensitive character, much like the majority of the movements of Song Book. The A minor
Intermezzo, which is the first of these in the set, is perhaps the most obviously
comparable to Maslanka’s work: it is melancholy in mood, and “ . . .is full of resignation
and longing. It has no great climax, yet it is satisfying.”^^ This description could easily
be applied to certain movements of Song Book, particularly the first, second and seventh.
The only deviation from this statement in the final movement is that there is a section of
outspoken, climactic material; nevertheless, this is a relatively brief section in a piece that
otherwise conforms to the overall subdued and restrained approach that unifies the
movements of Song Book.
The opening theme of Evening Song provides one of those moments of almost
absolute simplicity that sometimes appear in Maslanka’s music. Both instruments begin
the movement with a melody that is nothing more than a descending F minor scale,
stretched across the first seven measures of the piece. A similar passage appears in the
second movement of the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, and in both cases what
appears almost banal on the page takes on a very poignant and expressive quality when
given voice. In Evening Song, this scalar melody is rhythmically offset between the
instruments so that the harmony between the voices moves repeatedly from the interval
of a second to a third, producing a series of subtle dissonances that are quickly resolved,
and providing a relaxed version of the “chasing” technique often found in the saxophone
Menahem Pressler, performance suggestions to Fantasien Op. 116 (Vienna: Schott/Universal

Edition, 1981), vii.
146
Sonata (see Example 4.25). This simple theme reaches its end at the F minor chord in m.
7. Here the saxophone continues with a melody that, while still very sustained and based
in F minor, has a contrasting rising motion and is no longer scalar in construction. Below
this the marimba provides the first glimpse of the “urgent and passionate”^^ statement
that is central to Evening Song, a series of sixteenth-note arpeggios that extend unbroken
from mm. 9-21 and, while consistently quiet, gives us a glimpse of the rhythmic energy
that will emerge in the movement (see Example 4.25). Maslanka adds the direction
quietly expressive at this point, and here the marimbist, unlike in the continuously
repetitive sections found in some of the earlier movements of the piece, should feel free
to use a certain amount of rubato in the section from mm. 9-21. After the fermata in m.
21, the simple F minor scale theme returns, beginning a gradual increase of energy and
tension that will culminate in the climactic “passionate exotic” theme that arrives in m.
46.
23
147
slowing a oil r^= /fX )
A. Sx.
Mrb.
slowing-
A. Sx.
Mrb.
somewhat slower and grad, slowing
r u JJ
Ex. 4.25: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, VII, mm. I-2I.
This period of buildup, while lengthy, makes use of much of the thematic material
already presented, appearing in characteristically sustained form in the saxophone and
148
still remaining centered in F minor. The marimba provides much of the impetus for the
increasing energy by beginning another extended sixteenth-note pattern in m. 35 that,
while not the primary melodic line, almost overpowers the melody due to its rhythmic
forcefulness. The “passionate exotic” theme, when it finally appears at m. 46, provides
an overt statement of Romanticism and unbridled emotion that serves as the ultimate
climax of the entire seven-movement work (see Example 4.26). I supply the term
“passionate exotic” for this theme because of its obvious emotional force (it is
consistently fortissimo, and Maslanka adds the directions passionately and powerfully to
the score) and because of the unusual sound created by the composer’s use of harmony
that is somewhat Phrygian in affect. The Phrygian mode does not appear as a single set
of pitches, in other words, a “C Phrygian” mode of C, D-flat, E-flat, F, G, A-flat, B-flat
does not occur, but the repeated triadic motion from C major to D-flat major to B-flat
major to C major produces a sound that hints at exoticism.
While it is the marimba that has the consistent melodic material in this section
(mm. 46-63), it is the saxophone that now provides the energetic motion with a pattem of
animated sixteenth-note triplets (mm. 53-64) that explore the entire range of the
instrument {altissimo excluded) and give this section an even more driving and passionate
aspect. For both instruments this section provides the most intense Romanticism found in
Song Book, and all restraint that earlier would have been appropriate must be put aside
here to give this overt climax in an otherwise thoroughly understated work its full effect.
149
s u d d e n ly
a new tempo
* passionately
^ powetfiilfy
f-f ■ ^ ’ 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1' I 1 ’ ’ 1 1 1 1 II
^ Tj ^ J J J J J# J ■' •j-
5 J ^
1 rj r jT'* — i —
i, ‘- i i = f =
_____________ ^ r _ C _ 5 _ f
A. Sx.
M rb .
Ex. 4.26: Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba, VII, mm. 46-60.
The “passionate exotic” theme eventually leads to a return of the F minor scale
theme in the saxophone. This presentation is sustained hut still, to borrow one of
Maslanka’s earlier musical instructions, in “full cry,” with the marimba’s thirty-second-
note arpeggios driving us to a final emphatic point of arrival in m. 73 (see Example 4.27).
Once this point is reached, the energy and passion that had been sustained for almost
thirty measures dissipate surprisingly quickly. We are left with a (now quiet) return of
the descending F minor scale theme, almost identical to its original appearance at the
beginning of the movement. The only real difference is the unusual use of a D-natural in
the descending F minor scale, which occurs once in m. 83 (marimba) and once in m. 90
150
(saxophone), producing a more obviously dissonant minor second between D and E-flat.
In the final statement of this theme, the saxophone and marimba also reverse roles, with
the saxophone now taking on the pattem of weak-beat motion originally given to the
marimba. After this theme ends for the last time, there is a final, settling move to C
major (see Example 4.28). It is as if, now that the passion that lay submerged throughout
the entire work has been expended, it can end in a way that is ultimately peaceful.
Alto Sax.
Marimba
freely stretch the beat
A , Sx.
Mrb.
151
The amount of rhythmic activity in Evening Song is greater than that found in any
other movement of the work, with the exception of brief sections such as the variations of
the third movement or the saxophonic wildness in the middle of the fourth. In the
seventh movement, as in many of the others, the primary responsibility for rhythmic
motion is given to the marimbist, whose arpeggiated sixteenth-note pattem beginning in
m. 9 establishes a general level of activity that will be maintained for the majority of the
piece. Sections of even greater rhythmic animation can be found in the marimba’s
quintuplet cascades of mm. 28-31, the saxophone’s passionate sixteenth-note triplets in
mm. 53-64 (see Example 4.26), and most dramatically in the marimba’s thirty-second-
note pattems of mm. 67-72 (see Example 4.27). This final example coincides with the
final passionate, fortissimo statement of the piece, providing an additional element of
agitation to the most dramatic section of Song Book. The demands made upon the
marimbist in Evening Song make it the most technically challenging movement. To add
to this challenge, the tempos of the seventh movement (reaching a maximum of quarter-
note =116) are among the fastest in Song Book. It still requires a clarity of performance
to be effective, however, and both performers should remember that, even in the agitated
sections of the movement, the overall effect must be very legato, sustained, and of a
singing quality - never harsh. This is a consistent characteristic throughout the work, and
in fact tends to be a prominent characteristic in much of Maslanka’s saxophone music.
Elements of dynamic motion and instrumental range move between greater
extremes than in many of the other movements of Song Book. While the saxophone
never ventures into the altissimo range, it otherwise moves throughout its entire compass,
and plays extended melodic material in every register. The marimba is similarly
152
extended, particularly in the sections where it is most rhythmically active. The opening
and closing sections of the piece, dominated by the simple F minor scale theme, are very
dynamically homogeneous and generally subdued. The middle section, however, once it
reaches forte at m. 35, sustains a level of comparatively very high dynamic force for an
extended period - from mm. 35-73 a level between forte and fortissimo is maintained
with only one brief instance of diminuendo. The longest such section in the entire work,
it serves to further accentuate the dramatic character of the passionate high point of Song
Book.
On a large scale. Evening Song could be described in simple harmonic terms as
being centered in F minor. The melodic material of the movement, being derived from a
descending F minor scale, is obviously largely diatonic to that key, and the underlying
harmony is as well. There are moments of comparative dissonance, however, and times
when characteristic aspects of Maslanka’s harmonic style add color to an otherwise very
familiar language. One of these characteristics that can be seen in the very first measures
of the piece is the composer’s propensity for using major and minor (rather than
diminished) triads. The opening harmonic progression descends primarily by major
seconds - another commonly found harmonic device in Maslanka’s music - as the
melody progresses down the F minor scale. If the chord progression stayed consistent
with the scale, it would result in a G diminished triad in m. 2 and again in m. 7.
Maslanka alters this to a G minor triad instead, making this change at each appearance of
a similar harmonic progression. Only where they serve a dominant function (e.g. D dim.
7 in m. 45 moving to C major in m. 46) do diminished chords appear in the piece.
153
The most obvious moments of relatively sustained dissonance in the seventh
movement occur in the various appearances of the simple F minor scale theme, where the
previously described technique of alternating motion between the saxophone and
marimba produces what is effectively a chain of suspensions. A quick glance at Example
4.25 will illustrate this technique; the instruments’ alternating descent produces a series
of seconds resolving to thirds. Since the dissonance is produced, in all statements of this
theme save the final one, by motion in the saxophone part, the saxophonist (and the
marimbist, in the last case) could add a very slight emphasis to the beginning of each of
these descending half-notes to bring out the dissonance and resolution.
The section of greatest sustained tension and harmonic color begins with the
arrival of the “passionate exotic” section in m. 46. As mentioned earlier, the Phrygian
effect is not confined to a single scale, but rather is produced by Maslanka’s use of
chords within this section. An example from the beginning of this section will illustrate
the characteristic: the harmony (not surprisingly, consisting completely of major triads,
sometimes played over a sustained C major pedal) beginning in m. 46 moves from C
major to D-flat major to C major to B-flat major, retuming to C major in the next
measure (see Example 4.26). Even though certain chord tones fall outside the C Phrygian
mode, the C - D-flat - C - B-flat pattem produces the Phrygian effect, which can be seen
regardless of which chord tone you choose to start with (i.e. E moves to F to E to G, also
Phrygian in effect). This pattem is repeated in m. 47, occurs starting with an A-flat major
chord in m. 48, and continues in similar fashion through m. 56, giving this climactic
section a striking harmonic color.
154
One other harmonic element that ties Evening Song to the Romantic tradition and
to Brahms in particular is his frequent use of the major submediant triad (D-flat in this
case), often approached from the tonic triad. This kind of movement by third, especially
to the submediant in minor keys or the borrowed major submediant in major keys, was a
technique commonly used by Brahms, and its frequent appearance in Evening Song helps
give the movement a thoroughly Romantic sound. D-flat major occurs more frequently
than any chord other than F minor and its dominant C major, appearing significantly in
m. 28 and 30 (both approached by F minor, see Example 4.29), m. 31 (approached by C
minor), mm. 62-64 (approached by F minor), and m.77 (approached by C minor). While
not an unusual harmony, it is certainly one that relates back to the style of Romantic
composers such as Johannes Brahms.
104)
A lto Sax.
M arim b a
The final measures of the seventh movement are interesting, and perhaps puzzling
for someone not familiar with David Maslanka’s compositional beliefs. A seemingly
final progression is reached in mm. 94-95, where, after reaching the end of the last
statement of the simple F minor scale theme, we move from a sustained C major chord to
F minor (see Example 4.28). At the end of this chord we are confronted with a G (minor
155
implied) chord moving again to F minor, in which the saxophone, after starting on a C,
moves to a dissonant D. This obviously cannot be the end - so the penultimate and
slightly dissonant chord moves at last to the dominant, C major. The choice of ending the
piece on the dominant may have something to do with the fact that Maslanka is “drawn to
certain pitch areas for certain musics,” and feels “both a grandness and a great repose in
the area of C-maJor.”^"* Ending the movement on the dominant also has the effect of
bringing the entire work, after a very long interval, from A minor (the key o f the first
movement) to an ultimate resolution on the relative major of the first key established in
Song Book. The amount of music in between is probably too great for the listener to be
impacted by this, but that does not mean that the connection does not exist. What is
certain is that the movements of Song Book, while each has its own particular character,
are also tied together on a larger scale, and the work is more meaningful when viewed as
a single, multifaceted entity rather than as just a collection of unrelated pieces.
Errata and Performances Suggestions
Errata:
The following is a list of errors or omissions in Song Book for alto saxophone and
marimba, most of which were confirmed by the composer. Any corrections to the
saxophone part will be given in written, not concert, pitch.
Song for Davy
Measure 60: The marimba’s second note should be a B-flat, not a B-natural.
‘ Maslanka, personal E-mail, 8 February 2004.
156
Hymn Tune with Four Variations
Measure 2: A marimba roll from the score has heen carried over to the saxophone part.
This is obviously incorrect.
Measures 10-11: The breath mark that appears after the first note of m. 11 in the
saxophone part should he placed after the last note of m. 10, as it appears in the score.
Serious Music: In Memoriam Arthur Cohn
Measure 46: The second note of the marimba’s arpeggio on beat four should be an E, not
aD .
Measure 63: The saxophone’s third note should be a G-natural, not a G-sharp as written.
Summer Song
Measure 7: The fermata and hreath mark that appear in this bar should be placed over the
rest following the first note in the measure, not above the marimba’s third note.
Song for Alison
Measures 79-80: The tied half-notes in the marimha part should be dotted half-notes.
Evening Song
Measure 27: The fourth note from the end of the measure in the saxophone part should he
an F-natural, not an F-sharp.
Measure 54: The B-naturals in the saxophone’s final sixteenth-note triplet of the measure
should be B-flats.
Measure 60: The half-notes in the treble clef marimba part should be dotted half-notes.
157
Performance Suggestions:
There are relatively few technical challenges to be found in Song Book, so most of these
suggestions will be of a general nature or will deal with interpretational, rather than
technical, issues.
General Performances Issues:
1. Marimba rolls occur very frequently throughout Song Boot, some of these are
impractical for actual performance. As a general rule, rolls on quarter-notes and
eighth-notes can often be removed, hut the individual performer should decide
when the omission of a written roll is necessary. The recording of Song Book
produced hy the commissioning duo {The Music o f David Maslanka by Steven
Jordheim and Dane Maxim Richeson, Albany Records Troy 392, 2000) provides
an excellent guide for choosing which rolls to omit.
2. Both performers, and especially the saxophonist, must have a consistent legato
approach when performing Song Book. Maslanka’s writing for saxophone takes
advantage of the instrument’s natural gift for lyricism, and that aspect is even
more pronounced than usual in this piece. Apart from very occasional instances
(e.g. Variations 2 and 3 of the third movement, mm. 65-80 of the fourth
movement) the saxophonist can and should treat this music as if he or she was a
vocal soloist. This includes developing a subtle and refined sense of phrasing and
dynamic motion, and the use of vibrato of varying speed and intensity.
3. It can be challenging for the saxophone to achieve an effective balance with the
marimha, and even the fine recording made by Jordheim and Richeson contains
158
sections in which it is difficult to hear the marimha. To help alleviate this
problem, the saxophonist should select a reed that is responsive even at the softest
dynamic levels since the majority of Song Book lies between ppp and mp. A
harder reed might be desirable for the occasional sections offortissimo playing,
but not at the expense of overbalancing the marimba for the remainder of the
piece.
Song for Davy
1. In m. 72 and mm. 80-81, the saxophonist can use a palm key fingering (palm E-
flat key, or palm E-flat + side C key with the RH) for the middle octave Ds in
order to maintain a more homogeneous tone when moving from C-sharp.
Serious Music - lu Memoriam Arthur Cohu
1. The section of repeated sixteenth-notes in the saxophone part (mm. 65-73)
provides no logical breathing spots other than immediately before and after this
extended pattem. If it is impossible to play this section in a single breath, the
saxophonist can circular breathe during the sixteenth-notes, possibly in m. 70 or
71. This may result in the omission of one of the downbeat accents, but it is
preferable to making an actual break in the phrase to take a breath.
2. In m. 73 and again in m. 75, the saxophonist can keep the first finger of the LH
down when moving between B and E to make this combination less awkward.
3. In mm. 129-130 (the last two measures of the movement), the saxophonist may
wish to add the first finger of the RH to the normal fingerings for C-sharp and D-
159
sharp, both to adjust pitch on these notes and to better produce the whispering
quality asked for by the composer by slightly deadening the resonance of these
notes.
160
CHAPTER V
MOUNTAIN ROADS FOR SAXOPHONE QUARTET
Overview
Mountain Roads was composed by David Maslanka in 1997, and was
commissioned by the Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet, whose members at that time
were Russell Peterson, Marco Albonetti, Amanda Mateme, and Yiannis Miralis. The
piece was premiered concurrently with Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba at
Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 30, 1998. Maslanka’s only
work for saxophone quartet to date. Mountain Roads is a powerfully affecting piece in six
movements. While the emotional nature of the music in Song Book was subdued and
generally carefully controlled. Mountain Roads has a much more unbridled, forceful
nature that results in music that is exhilarating and, at times, sobering and deeply sad.
The title of Maslanka’s quartet is a reference to a dream experienced by the
composer during the composition of the piece. Maslanka feels very strongly about the
importance of dreams and other aspects of the unconscious as they relate to the conscious
mind, in part due to his study of psychologist Carl Jung’s writings.' This study led to the
' Bolstad, “D avid M aslanka’s Symphony No. 4, 17.
161
composition of one of Maslanka’s first and best-known pieces for wind ensemble, A
Child’s Garden o f Dreams. The composer states:
In 1980 I wrote a piece called A Child’s Garden o f Dreams for wind

ensemble. It had five movements based on the dreams of a child who was
close to the end of her life. The dream material came from the book Man
and His Symbols by Carl Jung. My composing process changed with this
piece. There were twelve dreams discussed in the book. I typed these out
and put them on the piano in front of me. I then stared at them until one
caught and held my attention. I then set out to try to imagine the literal
content of the dream as vividly as possible. Not only did living images
come, but also an eerie sense of their living power. In other writing Jung
describes this process as “active imagining.” I had just prior to this
learned self-hypnosis, and became aware that the images I saw in hypnosis
were qualitatively similar to the images of “active imagining.” This led to
a persistent exploration of my “inner landscape” in a process that I called
meditation . . . This exploration brought to life a dream space to which I
could consistently return. In it were animal, human, and spirit forms, as
well as a representation of a natural landscape that I now know to be a
manifestation of the instinct level, as well as a direct connection to the
powers of the earth and beyond. I found that I could “travel” in this space
and that the animal and human figures acted, in so many words, as guides.
I found that I could contact the life force of other people and feel what was
moving them. In short I had gained access to the deep unconscious and
could interact with i t . . . The forces experienced in these meditation
journeys had the quality of being “numinous,” that is, having a heightened
spiritual quality, and gave the feeling of being “right” or “true.” I was
always, and remain to this day, shy about claiming anything absolute for
these perceptions, but always took what was given with an open mind.^
In the case of Mountain Roads, the dream or “meditation” experienced by the
composer deals both with the renewal of life and the inevitability of change, and of death:
The title “Mountain Roads” comes from a dream that I had while writing
this piece. In it I was part of a work crew making new roads in high
mountain country. It was springtime, the weather was clear, sunny and
comfortable, although there was still snow on the ground. The effect of
the place was exhilarating as only mountain wilderness can be. It seemed
to me that the dream was a beautiful metaphor for new life and new
spiritual opening. The paradox embodied in this exuberant and uplifting
^ David Maslanka, “Some Things That Are True: Reflections on Being an Artist at the End o f the
20* Century,” Paper presented at the Society o f Composers Incorporated Region VIII Conference,
Missoula, MT, 20 November 1998.
162
music lies in the title of the main chorale “All men must die,” and is
further reinforced by the second chorale “Where shall I run to?” The first
title suggests the inevitability of death, but is not morbid. The idea of
death is not so much about the final end as it is about change. The process
of growth is constantly about “dying” to one way of thinking or feeling,
and opening to another. The awareness of that fact points out our deep
attachment to all the forms of this life. It makes experience of all things
both deeply sweet and deeply sad. It also suggests the inevitable release
of all the forms that we know, and movement toward whatever exists
beyond form.^
The quartet is organized using the model of a Baroque cantata, and, like Song
Book, incorporates music from Bach chorale settings. When commissioned to write a
piece for saxophone quartet, the composer did not initially set out with this plan in mind.
Maslanka discusses the unexpected inspiration for his “saxophone cantata:”
The idea for the saxophone quartet suddenly sprang to mind, I have no
idea why, that it should be in some way a cantata for these instruments.
The chorales are used in the Bach Cantatas and in the bigger pieces . . .
They’ll be arias, they’ll be orchestral pieces and so on, and he almost
telegraphs where he’ll place a chorale. Suddenly you’ve got this plain,
four-part chorale which acts, in my ear, as a very sharply focusing
emotional lens to the musical space . . . So it struck me to write a pieee
which would have this quality of an Overture, and Arias, and Chorale
presence and a Finale. And when I just sort of laid that out, suddenly it
looked like that many movements, and I said ‘oh, alright,’ and became
impelled to make a piece that size."*
Mountain Roads uses a format very similar to that commonly found in Lutheran
cantatas of the eighteenth century. In general terms, the Baroque cantata was a vocal
genre that consisted of a series of various pieces: recitatives, arias, choruses, chorale
preludes and the like. Cantatas could be either sacred or secular works, ranging from
chamber cantatas for solo singers and small instrumental groups to pieces for full chorus
^David Maslanka, “Mountain Roads” http://www.davidmaslanka.coni/display.asp?Piece_ID=47,

accessed 9 February 2004.
^ Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 3.
163
and orchestra. Today the best-known examples of this genre are the cantatas of J.S.
Bach, sacred works often based on Lutheran chorales.^ These Chorale cantatas often
incorporate the music and words of the chorale into each movement, the last movement
of the cantata typically presenting the chorale melody in a simple four-part setting.*^ This
is exactly the format found in Mountain Roads, in which Maslanka uses two chorales as
the basis for the entire piece:
Obviously there are no words in my “cantata” but the music revolves

entirely around two chorale melodies. The main one is “Alle Menschen
miissen sterben” (All men must die) and the second is “Wo soli ich
fliehen” (Where shall I run to?).^
The six movements of Mountain Roads (also a fairly typical number for the
Baroque cantata) are arranged in the following manner: I. Overture, II. Chorale: Wo soil
ich fliehen. III. Aria, IV. Chorale, V. Aria, VI. Finale. Like the Baroque cantata, the
instrumentation is flexible (e.g. the aria that makes up the third movement uses only the
soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones), and while the soprano is predominantly the solo
voice, the roles of the instruments change from movement to movement as well. The
overall tonality of the work is D-flat major. The Overture and Finale that open and close
Mountain Roads are the longest movements of the work, creating a rounded structure that
is completed by the alternating Chorale - Aria pattern of the inner movements. The
organization of the movements can be outlined in the following manner.
^ Owen Jander, “Cantata,” The New Harvard Dictionary o f Music, ed. Don Randel (Cambridge,
MA: The Belknap Press ofHarvard University Press, 1986), 131.
®Ibid, s.v. “Chorale cantata.”
^Maslanka, “Mountain Roads.”
164
The Overture is longer and more complex than any movement of the piece with
the exception of the Finale, with which it shares similarities of rhythmic activity and
emotional affect. Introducing materials from both chorales, the Overture has a very
exuberant feel. The movement is in D-flat major (the key center for the entire work) with
a contrasting B-flat minor section (see Table 5.1).
Table 5.1
I. Overture
Introduction:
Begins with variation on Alle Menschen miissen sterben, embellished but following a harmonic pattern
similar to that o f the chorale (D-flat major.)
Mm. 1-34
Joyful Elaboration:
Fast, exuberant elaboration o f the opening material, still firmly in D-flat major.
Mm. 35-66
Contrasting Chorale:
Introduction o f melody based on Wo soil ich fliehen hin, same tempo as previous section but now B-flat
minor.
Mm. 67-100
Joyful Elaboration:
Almost identical to mm. 35-66, ends with repeated retum to the dominant (A-flat major).
Mm. 101-132
Recapitulation:
Return o f opening variation on the chorale, virtually identical to original statement. Ends in D-flat major.
Mm. 133-167
Movements two through five form a group of alternating chorales and arias. They
also create a tonal and emotional pattern of motion between dark and light, successively
moving through the keys of B-flat minor, D-flat major, D-flat minor, and D-flat major.
The texture of the third and fifth movements (the “light” arias) is more transparent than
that of the “dark” chorales, and is thoroughly dominated by the solo voice of the soprano
saxophone, whereas the chorales provide all four instruments with moments of
165
prominence. The third movement eliminates the baritone voice completely, and is the
lightest and most joyful movement of the entire work (see Table 5.2).
Table 5.2
II. Chorale: Wo III. Aria IV. Chorale V. Aria

soli ich fliehen
Chorale: Introduction: Somber Chorale: Dream Aria:
4-part statement in B- Sharply contrasting to Very dark, D-flat minor Singing soprano theme
flat minor, melody in 2"** mvt. in mood and music alternating with static chordal
soprano. tempo, D-flat major. forceful “God voice” accompaniment, recalls
Mm. 1-12 Mm. 1-6 theme by alto/baritone the composer’s
with a moumful dance Mountain Roads dream,
Two-part statement: Chorale prelude: by soprano/tenor. D-flat major.
Repetition o f the Alle Menschen miissen Mm. 1-16 Mm. 1-20
chorale, using only sterben altered by
tenor and baritone augmentation and Chromatic Dance-like Theme:
Mm. 12-25 rhythmic development: Somewhat contrasting
transformation, 3-part Increasingly disturbed, but still very sustained.
Final statement: texture throughout chromatically rising Largely in A-flat major.
Return o f 4-voice (soprano melody, alto “God voice” theme, mm. 21-56
texture with more and tenor rhythmic reaching a climax in m.
ornamentation. device) 24 before fading. Dream Aria:
Mm. 25-37 Mm. 6-74 Mm. 17-29 Return o f first part of
the aria, texture reduced
Coda: Final statement: to soprano and alto.
Exuberant, rhythmic Retum o f soprano and Retums to D-flat major.
dash to the end. tenor, ending with Mm. 57-72
Mm. 75-84 repeat o f moumful D-
flat minor dance.
Mm. 30-44
The Finale is the longest movement o^ Mountain Roads, and has the greatest
amount of contrast. The opening section is similar to the rhythmically energetic
introduction of the Overture, and is largely in D-flat major with short, contrasting
sections that recall sections of earlier movements and move briefly to different keys. The
fast, rhythmic section of the movement ends with an epic cadential figure on A-flat,
which finally leads to a peaceful statement of Alle Menschen miissen sterben that occurs
four times, giving each instrument a turn as the solo voice (see Table 5.3).
166
Table 5.3
VI. Finale
Introduction:
Energetic section, made slightly wild by chromatic moments but generally exuberant. D-flat major.
Mm. 1-19
Hammered Theme:
Forceful, more dissonant theme reminiscent o f 4* movement, stated by soprano and baritone with
alternating rhythmic motive in alto and tenor.
Mm. 20-38
Transformation of Hammered Theme:

Return to D-flat major, hammered theme first in alto/tenor, then soprano/alto with much more joyful
major-key aspect.
Mm. 39-53
Transition:
Chromatic progression o f sixteenth-note rhythmic motive to B-flat minor, then to A-flat major.
Mm. 54-63
Staccato Theme:
Move to A major, material similar to the opening o f the movement, dynamically very transparent. Ends
with another chromatic transition.
Mm. 64-75
Agitated Canon:
Forceful theme begun by alto and baritone, imitated two beats later and at the interval o f a fifth in the
soprano and tenor.
Mm. 76-85
Return o f Hammered Theme/Progression to Recapitulation:

Increasingly chromatic statement o f hammered theme in soprano and alto, leads to arrival on repeated G-
sharps in m. 95 followed by chromatic transition to A-flat major, setting up a retum o f the opening
statement.
Mm. 86-101
Recapitulation:
Return o f opening theme in D-flat major, mm. 102-153 identical to mm. 1-52. Ends with dominant
repetition.
Mm. 102-185
Chorale:
Four successive statements o f Alle Menschen mussen sterben in D-flat major. Each instrument is given its
turn as the solo voice o f the chorale. Ends quietly and peacefully.
Mm. 186-237
167
First Movement: Overture
The first movement begins with a forte statement of a variation on Alle Menschen
mussen sterben, providing an emotional foundation for the entire work that is surprisingly
exuberant given the title and content of the chorale. As the composer stated previously,
however, the piece is not so much about the fear of death as it is about the change from
one state of being to another, and through that change the celebration of life. As a result,
the piece contains many moments of overwhelming joy similar in effect to the final
movement of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9. The beginning of the Overture is one of
these moments, and must be performed with an unrestrained sense of exhilaration.
Comparable sections occur in many of Maslanka’s other works, one notable example
being his Symphony no. 4. This piece also makes use of Bach chorales, and concludes
with a very personal and joyful musical statement. The inspiration for the epilogue of
this piece came to Maslanka while driving through central Idaho on a trip in 1993, at
which point “the power of the earth and space there just erupted in me and I started to
sing this music at the top of my lungs.”* This type of uninhibited jubilation is also a
primary element of Mountain Roads, particularly in the first, third, and sixth movements.
While the melody of the chorale All Men Must Die does not appear in the first
movement, the phrase structure and, to some extent, the harmony o f the chorale form the
basis of the first and last sections of the movement. The chorale is number 153 in the 371
Harmonized Chorales, where it is set in the key of D major (see Eample 5.1).^ This was
* Bolstad, D avid Maslanka's Symphony no. 4, 28.

®Bach, 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with figured bass, 35.
168
also the key originally envisioned for Mountain Roads, although Maslanka eventually
settled on D-flat rather than D as the overall tonality of the work.'*^ This was due in part,
no doubt, to the fact that D-flat major is a more technically comfortable key on
saxophone than is D major.
Ex. 5.1: Bach Chorale setting, number 153, All Men Must Die
The opening melody of the first movement, while not that of the Bach Chorale, is
very chorale-like. The soprano saxophone has the primary melodic role through the first
two phrases, which are repeated as in the chorale (mm. 1-17). This is aggressive, floridly
ornamented music in the true spirit of an Overture - something to capture the audience’s
attention (see Example 5.2). While the soprano is the most prominent voice here, this
does not consign the other instruments to a merely subsidiary role. All four voices have
' Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 6.
169
individual, often contrapuntal lines, again in the spirit of the Bach Chorales, and each is
highly ornamented and interesting in its own right. An excellent example of this linear
independence occurs in the third and fourth phrases of the piece (see Example 5.3). Here
the soprano still has what most closely resembles melodic material from the
corresponding section of ^ // Men Must Die, but it takes a secondary role to the more
rhythmically active lines of the tenor and, in particular, the alto. The thematic material of
the entire section is very scalar, often making use of broad, sweeping scales to arrive at
phrase beginnings. The expansive gestures of the first thirty-four measures project a
sense of happiness and satisfaction that completely inundates the music.
in Tempo
holdback a hit
S oprano Sax.
hold back a bit
Ex. 5.2: Mountain Roads, I, mm. 1-9.

All excerpts of Mountain Roads are © 1997 Carl Fischer, LLC and are used with
permission.
170
S oprano Sax.
Alto Sax.
i'cnor Sax.
B arilone Sax.
II..L • _ 1 u .j 1
7 ’U ■ f = i
The following section, while providing considerable contrast, is no less joyful
than the introduction. It serves as a rapid, dance-like elaboration of the preceding section
with each instrument emerging briefly in solo or duet episodes (see example 5.4).
Maslanka establishes a pattern of instruments functioning in pairs, either with alternating
material (mm. 37-41) or by doubling (mm. 42-45). This is a technique that will appear in
other movements of the piece as well; here the pairing is soprano/alto and tenor/baritone,
but this is only one of several combinations used throughout the piece. The scalar
thematic motion found in the opening chorale section is further accentuated in the
elaboration of mm. 35-66, to the point of creating a wild (but still exuberant) energy that
reaches a high point in m. 60 before diminishing in anticipation of the arrival in m. 67 of
the theme based on Where Shall I Run To?
171
S oprano Sax.
A lto Sax.
T enor Sax.
B aritone Sax.
This section maintains the rapid tempo that was established at the beginning of
the elaboration section, but the character of the music is now markedly different. A
sudden and clear division of melody and accompaniment is established with the
introduction of the tenor’s lyrical theme in m. 67, which is in turn passed to the soprano
in m. 76. Maslanka alters the melody of the chorale Where Shall I Run To? by means of
two of his favorite variation techniques: augmentation and rhythmic transformation.
Maslanka’s theme maintains the diatonic and largely stepwise motion of the chorale
melody, but extends and sometimes changes the rhythmic organization of each phrase
(e.g. the tenor’s half-note triplets in m. 70 and m. 73). This produces a theme that floats
hauntingly above an accompaniment that maintains the rhythmic drive, if not the mood,
of the previous section (see Example 5.5).
172
S oprano Sax.
B aritone Sax. Tf
1
P
— h"— ""“ I*—*■■■*■"{.* 1. '

----- 4------ ^ i’ J '----- 1;*!'- - - - - - -
f [ t r‘ r " LI 1 L U - P ^ kd
......
The actual chorale melody used as the hasis of this section {Wo soli ich fliehen
hin) appears in three of the Bach Chorales: numbers 25, 281, and 331.^' The
harmonization of this chorale melody as it appears in Mountain Roads is closest to
chorale no. 331, which is set in B minor (see Example 5.6). In Maslanka’s piece, the key
is altered to B-flat minor in both occurrences of the chorale melody, forming a logical
relative minor relationship with the D-flat major music o i All Men Must Die.
Bach, 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with figured bass.
173
J 1 J J ..-j-1 ^ 1 ^ „j ^ 11,1 - j n 1^ J -J------ iJ J J ^-1

f r f .. H r f l - r .-f- f r r r ¥
^
ItJ- J j J f L i. 1 J J- 4c . . _ j J J J
Si/ Si/
1
r r ^ r f r r ...... r r .. ~ r - r r r r ^
H j #j
. . a , / , / ; ^... f P f ^ h r = 4 rf cf
n r 1 L r — - ^ y ___
Ex. 5.6: Bach Chorale setting, number 331, Where Shall I Run To?
The Where Shall I Run To? section is followed by an almost identical repeat of
the energetic elaboration that made its first appearance in m. 35. The only deviation from
the original comes at the end of this section (mm. 119-131), where Maslanka sets up an
“insistent nagging” repeated pitch figure. This technique, which we first encountered in
Chapter 3 when exploring the influence of Allan Pettersson’s music on Maslanka’s
Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, now takes the form of a persistent retum to the
dominant (see Example 5.7). Once A-flat has been established beyond a shadow of a
doubt, the movement concludes with a full retum of the chorale-like opening theme.
174
S oprano Sax.
Alto Sax.
Tenor Sax.
B aritone Sax.
S. Sx.
A. Sx.
T. Sx.
B . Sx.
The Overture is very symmetrical, possessing a rounded ABCBA form in which
each of the sections is almost identical in number of measures. This structure gives the
Overture a strong sense of logical completeness that seems appropriate given the
historical practice of presenting overtures as stand-alone pieces. While Maslanka does
not advocate this approach for the performance of his m u s i c , t h e first movement of
Mountain Roads is certainly characteristic of an overture in this aspect. The symmetry of
the piece is further reinforced by the consistent tonality of each section, which follows a
very clear progression of D-flat major - D-flat major - B-flat minor - D-flat major - D-
flat major.
■Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
175
There is little in the harmonic language of the Overture that would seem out of
place in a Bach Cantata. The chorale-like opening and closing sections occasionally
contain dissonances that might be considered unusual in the eighteenth century (see the
accented dissonances on D and A in the alto and tenor, m. 3, in Example 5.2), but there is
a very clear presentation of a D-flat major tonality with logical cadences. With the
exception of brief dissonant moments such as the one described above, all of the parts are
almost completely diatonic to the key. In the B and C sections, a level of harmonic
consistency is achieved that would be unusual in Bach; the middle of the movement boils
down to an extended exploration of D-flat major and B-flat minor harmony. This
thorough infusion of grounded harmony adds to the settled, contented nature that is one
of the most prominent characteristics of the Overture.
The texture of the first movement of Mountain Roads is often full and somewhat
dense, but thanks to the frequent use of counterpoint and other rhythmically active
material, it also has an element of intricacy that must be carefully observed. In the
opening chorale-like section, this can be most easily observed from mm. 18-25 (see
Example 5.3), where each instrument has its own interdependent but unique line, and the
more active alto and tenor parts are juxtaposed against the more smoothly flowing parts
of the soprano and baritone. Thus, while all parts are marked at a consistently forte
dynamic level throughout the first thirty-four measures of the movement (and in the
corresponding closing section), the performers must be aware of and sensitive to the
contrapuntal nature of the music, allowing lines of greater rhythmic and harmonic interest
(e.g. the alto in m. IB) to emerge from the full-voiced texture.
176
The meter of the opening and closing sections moves rather freely between
different time signatures, a characteristic typical of Maslanka’s music. Motion between
3/4, 4/4, 2/4, 5/4 and 3/8 might at first glance give the appearance of uneven rhythmic
motion, but in fact these changes are applied mainly to fit the shape of the theme. Even
in the case of the 3/8 measures (m. 7 and m. 33), the effect produced is that of a cadential
pause or preparation rather than a sudden metrical change. The faster middle section of
the movement is more consistent, moving smoothly and infrequently from 4/4 to 3/4 and
2/4.
The middle portion of the movement, encompassing both B sections and the C
section, is both busier in terms of rhythm and more transparent in terms of texture.
Dynamics suddenly become very stratified, varying from piano and pianissimo in the
accompanying eighth-note figures to mezzo forte and forte in the more thematically
important lines. A prominent dotted eighth-note - sixteenth-note - quarter-note motive is
introduced in this section, serving as a focal point of attention wherever it appears. This
figure often occurs in an overlapping or “echoing” pattern throughout the voices, similar
to the “echoing” described between the saxophone and piano in the first and third
movements of the Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. For a clear illustration of this
technique, see Example 5.4: the soprano introduces this motive in m. 45, followed by the
alto in m. 47, the tenor in m. 48, and finally the baritone in m. 49, joined also by the
soprano, which begins the pattern anew. This rhythmic motive is accented and forte
whenever it occurs, providing clear points of thematic arrival in a section of extreme
rhythmic activity.
177
The C section, consisting of the Where Shall I Run To? theme that begins in m. 67
(see Example 5.5), is the most sharply contrasting part of the piece. The texture is very
clear, consisting of a single, lyrical melodic line supported by a quiet but rhythmically
insistent accompaniment of staccato eighth-notes. This combination produces a section
that has a very clear feeling of “open space.” It is also the only section of the movement
in which the overwhelming emotionally exuberant character o f the movement is
undermined, and for a moment we glimpse a lonely wistfulness in the music. This is an
anticipation of the darker, more turbulent material that will appear in the second and
fourth movements, but here it is only briefly maintained. By m. 103 the bubbling
cheerfulness that is the acme of the first movement has retumed and will be maintained
unwaveringly to the end o f the Overture, completing a movement that, despite its
foundation upon the music o iA ll Men Must Die, is undeniably a joyful celebration of life.
Second Movement: Chorale: Wo soil ich fliehen
The second movement of Mountain Roads provides the first literal appearance of
a chorale melody, that of the chorale Wo soil ich fliehen hin. As mentioned previously,
Maslanka’s version of the chorale is closest in key and harmonic progression to Bach’s
chorale no. 331 in B minor (see Example 5.6). In Mountain Roads, the chorale is set in
B-flat minor (the relative minor of the overall tonality of the work), and the chorale
melody appears, as expected, in the soprano voice. The harmonization of the melody is
Maslanka’s own, but the only difference in the melody itself is the addition of
178
ornamentation (see Example 5.8). The entire second movement consists of three
statements of the chorale.
_
S oprano Sax.
1 I'T^ ^ frrfti’iiiirr
p 12
P
T r r r iT f
m
P 41 ^ J H--5------- r-^k-F=i-i-^^ ^-----p-

j. .—
P
J WJ Jlj=
—
p
f—Mr— /T\ —F— r .
Ex. 5.8: Mountain Roads, II, mm. 1-4.
Maslanka recognizes the powerful effect of Bach’s own use of chorales in his
music, saying:
The thing that I found most interesting about the Bach cantatas . . . is that
when he used a chorale, which he would do fairly frequently, there would
be this - almost this quality of telegraphing that a chorale was going to
happen, and the chorale would be this community statement, reflecting on
a spiritual aspect or an emotional-spiritual aspect of what was going on in
this music. Suddenly this chorale would be this formal construction which
appeared, a very impersonal, if you want to think of it that way, but very
powerful force would show up as a sudden focus within whatever
dramatic context was happening, and it always struck me that that’s the
power of the chorales. They become impersonal and yet they have about
them the depth of character and soul and personhood, and they have that
13
potential for power.
This statement seems to have a connection with the writings of Carl Jung, whose theories
on symbols in human culture include the idea that a shared symbol or object (such as a
' Ibid.
179
chorale) becomes more powerful and meaningful through use over time, acquiring a
quality referred to as “numinosity” or psychic energy.'"^ This is particularly true in the
case of a symbol that has religious or spiritual significance for those familiar with it. In
Mountain Roads, the chorale of the second movement provides a familiar and poignant
statement for any listener familiar with Western musical history or the practices of the
Lutheran church.
The melodic material of the second movement is consistently that of the original
chorale melody. Whereas the first movement was primarily jubilant and energetic in
character, the second movement is more reflective and pensive, effectively depicting the
idea of being lost and in need of guidance suggested by the title Where shall I run to?
The seriousness of the chorale setting provides us with our first extended look at the
“deeply sad” experience of coming to terms with dying and change that the composer
suggests exists in the p i e c e . T h e soprano saxophone is the melodic voice for the first
and last statements of this sober chorale. The melody itself is very deliberate and moves
primarily by stepwise motion, although Maslanka has added considerable ornamentation
to it. This ornamentation is completely written out but designed to be played in a way
that suggests freedom of performance, much in the way that Bach himself meticulously
wrote out ornamentation that most other composers of his day left to the performer’s
discretion. The overall affect of the chorale melody is grave and serious, and it should be
performed in a way that conveys solemn emotion without becoming overly dramatic.
The second statement of the chorale uses the technique, common to Mountain
Roads, of splitting the voices of the quartet into pairs. Here it is achieved by simply
Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols (New York: Anchor Books, 1964), 93, 96.
Maslanka, “Mountain Roads.”
180
removing the soprano and alto, leaving the middle chorale statement with what amounts
to a tenor melody harmonically supported by the baritone. This statement is interesting
in that the chorale melody is not transferred to either of the instruments still playing; in
other words, the tenor saxophone’s previously supporting line becomes the melody by
process of elimination, altered only by the addition of ornamentation (see Example 5.9).
The baritone line is likewise similar to its original form. The third and final statement of
the chorale reintroduces the soprano and the alto voices, and differs from the original
statement only by the addition of slightly more ornamentation.
a Oiljastur
hold back
h o ld h a c k
While the harmonization of the chorale melody of Where Shall I Run To? is not a
copy of Bach’s, it is done in a contrapuntal style that would be typical of a Baroque
chorale. The ending chord of each phrase does correspond exactly (or rather, a half-step
removed in each case) with the matching chord of chorale no. 331, giving the two
versions a very similar overall harmonic shape. This harmonization places a strong
emphasis on the dominant, as the first three phrases of the chorale end on F major chords,
followed by cadences on D-flat (submediant), A-flat (lowered 7* scale degree), and
finally an authentic cadence on B-flat minor. Dissonances are primarily limited to
passing tones and suspensions, creating a harmonic palette that is completely in keeping
with the common practice of Bach’s day. The final chord of the movement even uses a
181
Baroque harmonic device: the appearance of a Picardy third (the D-natural played by the
alto, prepared by suspension), which brings the chorale to an end on a B-flat major chord
(see Example 5.10).
s u d d e n ly s o ft e r s le w in g
Soprano Sax.
dim. grad
tkm. grad
cfim. g r a d
dim. grad
Texture produced by voicing and dynamics also follows a Baroque pattern. The
voicing is obvious: consistent soprano melody supported by contrapuntal lines that
occasionally become more prominent in moments of rhythmic or harmonic interest (e.g.
the suspension and resolution in the alto part in m. 12, the accented passing and
neighboring tones in the tenor part in m. 29). Dynamically, Maslanka uses a terracing
technique to offset the statements of the chorale from one another. The first statement is
consistently piano in all voices, with no written indications of crescendo or diminuendo.
The second statement also begins piano, although the reduction from four voices to two
makes the opening of this section seem even softer than the first. In m. 13 there is finally
an indication of dynamic motion within the individual phrase, and the tenor and baritone
reach a high point of mezzo forte in m. 17 before returning to a more subdued level. The
final chorale statement is suddenly and consistently forte, as if a passionate sadness that
had been held in check during the first two presentations of the chorale has finally been
182
released. The contrast between this section and the previous two should be considerable.
Maslanka also adds the directions brisk and forthright to this final section, implying a
somewhat faster tempo than the quarter-note = ca. 60 indicated at the beginning of the
movement. Measure 35 drops to mezzo forte with the indication suddenly softer, marking
the beginning of a diminuendo to the end of the movement. Given the dramatic dynamic
change in the last section, an increased use of vibrato and overall emotional intensity
would be effective in portraying the bittersweet nature of the chorale.
Third Movement: Aria (in the style o f a chorale prelude)
The third movement of Mountain Roads is the briefest and in many ways the
simplest of the work. This movement is a light and energetic trio for soprano, alto, and
tenor; the baritone saxophone is tacet throughout. The entire movement is a variation on
a single statement of the melody of All Men Must Die, presented in the soprano above a
lively, rhythmic alto and tenor duet. As the title states, this is presented as a chorale
prelude; in Baroque practice, a piece based on the melody of a chorale, usually written
for organ and intended to be performed prior to the singing of the chorale. Maslanka’s
chorale prelude displays many characteristics of the cantus firmus chorale, a version of
the prelude in which the melody is presented in long notes, with phrases separated by
accompanying interludes.'^ While the chorale prelude in Mountain Roads has the chorale
tune in the soprano (rather than the bass, which was common practice in Baroque cantus
firmus chorales), it otherwise conforms very closely to this type.
The New H arvard Dictionary o f Music, s.v. “Organ prelude.'
183
The chorale melody is presented in extended note values and without any
consistent rhythmic value for the notes of the tune. The first phrase of the melody, for
example, which is two measures long and has a consistent quarter-note pulse in Bach’s
harmonization, is eight measures long and has notes as long as ten sustained beats in
combination with eighth- and sixteenth-notes (see Example 5.11). This melody, while
precisely notated by the composer, produces the aural effect of a free improvisation on
the chorale tune. The soprano saxophonist is truly the soloist here, and can (especially on
the longer notes) shape the melody expressively with subtle shifts of dynamic and
vibrato. The first note of the melody for example (beginning on the fifth beat of m. 6),
can be made musically compelling by a slight crescendo over the length of the note and
the gradual addition of vibrato after four or five beats.
^=ca.ISO I^ _
Soprano Sax.
A h v a y s s ta c c a to
Sim.
Jl.r-Dt. 4
/
S. Sx.
A. Sx.
T. Sx.
Ex. 5.11: Mountain Roads, III, mm. 5-15.
The chorale tune is presented once only (although this melodic statement stretches
over a period of nearly seventy measures), followed by a brief coda. This variation on
184
the melody displays one of Maslanka’s favorite techniques: the alteration of music by a
combination of rhythmic augmentation and metamorphosis. Not only are notes of the
chorale melody lengthened, the relationship of rhythmic values in the melody is often
slightly altered. This creates, rather than a variation that is simply made longer than the
original through augmentation, a new and unique version of the tune. One can sense that
Maslanka is almost playing with the tune, turning it this way and that to produce
whatever effect he desires. The nature of the melody, while slow and sustained, is
undeniably joyful. This movement, perhaps better than any other, reflects Maslanka’s
statement on the character oiMountain Roads:
. . .if I think about the piece as a whole, it has about it a particular buoyant
life. Even the slow music and the reflective music has about it an
energized, almost an elated quality..
The music of the alto and tenor is very different from that of the soprano,
providing a thoroughly rhythmic and energetic “motor” for the piece. The two
instruments function as two parts of the same musical idea, either reinforcing the same
material (see Example 5.11) or working alternately to produce a continuous line (see
Example 5.12). In theory, this juxtaposition with the lyrical soprano melody produces an
occurrence o f the “layering” technique that is a prominent feature of the Sonata fo r Alto
Saxophone and Piano. In Mountain Roads, however, while the rhythmic nature of each
part is significantly different, the effect of each is one of exuberant joy, producing layers
that work in concert to produce a single emotional image. The conflict that was
occasionally produced by the application of the “layering” technique in the Sonata is
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
185
nowhere to be found in this movement. Sinee the alto and tenor parts are so closely
related, the performers must work carefully to match articulation, style, and dynamics.
The overall effect of the alto and tenor line, while dynamically energetic (marked forte
throughout the movement), should be very light and detached. The fast tempo of this
movement demands a very delicate approach to prevent the music, particularly the
sixteenth-note runs, from sounding labored or heavy.
Soprano Sax.
Alto Sax.
Tenor Sax.
Ex. 5.12: Mountain Roads, III, mm. 16-18.
The texture of the third movement, while rhythmically busy, is surprisingly clear.
This is partially due to the absence of the baritone, whose presence would add thickness
to the texture, but is also due to the fact that the alto and tenor parts are so thoroughly
connected, producing a texture that is really closer to two voices than three. There are
also a number of rests within the energetic rhythmic line of the alto and tenor, producing
moments of repose in which the music can settle without becoming aurally overwhelming
(see Example 5.11).
The harmony of the third movement is ultimately very simple. Since a single
statement of the chorale melody of All Men Must Die appears in augmentation over the
length of the movement, harmonic progressions that in Bach’s chorale took place in the
space of two beats are now stretched over a much longer interval. The underlying D-flat
186
major harmony of the movement is uhiquitous: mm. 1-47 consist almost entirely of D-flat
major chords, or of D-flat major moving to G-flat major chords. A move to the dominant
of A-flat major occurs in m. 48 at the midpoint of the chorale melody; the same
progression occurs in chorale no. 153. The tonic retums at m. 65, and is reinforced from
that point to the end of the movement, producing a large scale I - V - 1 progression that
unfolds throughout the entire length of the piece. The leisurely harmonic motion, in
contrast to its excited rhjdhmic nature, adds to the textural clarity of the piece and
reinforces the consistency of its singular, joyful emotional character.
Fourth Movement: Chorale
The fourth movement of Mountain Roads is the darkest and most discouraging of
the entire work. Set in D-flat minor, this chorale is very bleak and has a brutal, almost
alien character to it that is evocative of the hopelessness of facing death. Maslanka once
again divides the quartet into pairs, alto with baritone and soprano with tenor. The
starkly contrasting material of each of these pairs contributes to the startling nature of the
movement, and creates a sense of conflict and distress.
The chorale consists of two themes, one for each pair of instmments. The
opening theme, presented by the alto and baritone, is emotionally dark and harsh.
Presented entirely in octaves (in fact, the alto and baritone have exactly the same material
with a displacement of two octaves throughout the movement), the performers are also
given the directions abrupt and forceful - no dim, no nuance (see Example 5.13). A
187
complete lack of vibrato would also be appropriate in the performance of this theme. The
composer did not have a specific reason for the startling quality of this theme, stating:
I can only say that this is what came out at the time. As the opening idea
came I knew that it needed to be as hard and forceful as possible, short of
bad tone. It has a thunderous “God voice” character, which relates it to
other things of mine . . . In my ear these are all “sermons from Mother
Nature” - a kind of stem waming.’^
It should be emphasized that this theme, like others in Maslanka’s music, must be played
with the greatest amount of force possible to achieve the effect desired by the composer.
As he indicates in the music, there is no room for nuance in this “God voice” theme,
everything must be played with an energy bordering on bmtality.
S oprano Sax.
a h m p t a n d fo r c e f iil - n o d im , n o n u a i\c e
A lto S a x .
Tenor Sax.
Baritone Sax,
1 jJ J A 'A U *
S. Sx.
A . Sx.
T . S x.
PPP
B . S x.
Ex. 5.13: Mountain Roads, IV, mm. 1-6.
' David Maslanka, personal E-mail, 20 February 2004.
188
This theme occurs three times in the movement, each separated by an interlude in
the soprano and tenor voices. The third and final presentation becomes increasingly
chromatic and agitated, rising in pitch and dynamic level to a climax that effectively
extends from mm. 22-24 (see Example 5.14). Maslanka’s melodic use of increasingly
larger intervals (augmented ninths and augmented tenths in mm. 20-21) and the
increasingly accented nature of the theme (the direction hammered is added in m. 22)
produce an increasingly anguished and violent effect. The tension created by this rising,
agitated line is not released until the gradual descent from m. 25 to m. 30, accentuated by
the slowing and dying away that begins in m. 27. Despite the energy demanded by the
“God voice” theme and the resulting anguished aural effect, the theme seems to he almost
lacking any human emotion. Instead it is a statement of uncompromising, pitiless power.
Given the overall theme of Mountain Roads, this theme seems to confront the listener
with the unavoidable and irrevocable nature of death.
J.=60
Soprano Sax.
hammered
Alto Sax.
Tenor Sax.
hammered
(j>>>
Baritone Sax.
The contrasting theme of the soprano and tenor serves as an interlude between the
abrupt statements of the “God voice” theme. In this “quiet dance” theme, the tenor
provides an introduction - almost inaudible after the violent music of the alto and
189
baritone - to a soprano melody that takes the form of a brief cadenza above a sustained
pitch in the tenor (see Example 5.15). The composer indicates that this theme is a quiet
dance, a very different kind of music than that of the “God voice” theme. Like the
contrasting alto and baritone theme, the “quiet dance” appears three times in the
movement, once containing only the first two phrases of the theme (m. 9), followed by
two complete statements (m. 16, mm. 43-44). The tenor saxophonist is asked to circular
breathe in order to sustain a single pitch below the soprano melody; given the pitch (a
written low E-flat in m. 16) this is difficult but not impossible, and is made easier by the
subdued dynamic level.
faster J = co. W
S o p ra n o Sax.
PP
A lto Sax.
T en o r Sax.
B a rito n e Sax.
Ex. 5.15: Mountain Roads, IV, m. 9.
The “quiet dance” is the only part of the movement that does not seem hopeless
and bleak; it is certainly sad, but has a sweet, wistful quality rather than a despairing one.
Unlike the “God voice” theme, it is expressive and beautiful, given a lilting and, as
Maslanka indicates, dance-like character by its frequent use of melodic leaps (most
frequently perfect fourths and diminished sevenths) and numerous dotted rhythms. There
seems to be a distant relationship between the “quiet dance” and the melody of the
chorale All Men Must Die, at least in the opening interval of a perfect fourth and what the
190
composer calls the “quiet, measured quality” present in both/^ This distant echo of the
chorale melody serves as a reminder that, despite the inevitability of death, it does not
necessarily represent a final ending.
The various elements of each of the themes produce a musical texture that is a
study in extreme contrasts. The dynamic level of the soprano/tenor combination is never
greater than pianissimo, while the “God voice” theme of the alto and baritone is
consistently fortissimo or louder. At only one point does the relentless aggressiveness of
the “God voice” material change - where Maslanka has indicated slowing and dying
away in m. 27. This eventually progresses to an actual pianissimo marking in the alto
and baritone parts, corresponding with the only section of the movement in which all four
voices of the quartet are heard concurrently (see Example 5.16). This section,
encompassing mm. 30-35, consists of a sustained D-flat in the alto and baritone, against
which the soprano and tenor present a simple, brief melodic statement in D-flat minor
and then in A-flat minor. The combination of the four parts in this section produces the
most traditionally “chorale-like” texture of the movement - a brief and mournful song
that is paradoxically both a dynamic nadir and a point of emotional release for the piece.
Everything else in the movement is completely divided: either thunderous “God voice”
theme or “quiet dance.”
' Ibid.
191
slighlfyfaster than before
J=ca. 88 slowing in Tempo

vJnw ino
S oprano Sax.
The fourth movement of Mountain Roads is thoroughly dominated by minor-key
harmony. Its D-flat minor setting provides a harmonic color that contrasts darkly with
the overall D-flat major tonality of the work. Both the “God voice” theme and the “quiet
dance” theme are set in this key, and the “quiet dance” is completely diatonic to the D-
flat minor scale. While the “God voice” theme starts with a statement that is firmly in D-
flat minor, ascending through the first four pitches of the scale, it soon begins to take on a
more chromatic quality. The first hint of this can be seen in mm. 5-6 (see Example 5.13),
where the line ascends to a G-natural before leaping by tritone down to a D-flat as the
phrase ends. This characteristic becomes more exaggerated as the pitch level rises with
the successive lengthening of each recurrence of the “God voice” theme. It reaches a
peak of tension (as well as range) in the final statement of this theme, and the dissonant
A-flats, G-naturals, and F-naturals in mm. 21-21 and m. 24 emphasize the anguish of this
section. It is no accident that this point of greatest harmonic discord corresponds with the
appearance of marcato accents and the indication that this music should be hammered - it
is the moment of greatest brutality to be found in the stem “God voice” theme (see
Example 5.14).
192
The end of the movement, after the forceful final statement of the “God voice”
theme has dissipated, settles quietly on D-flat minor, reaching a final conclusion on an
octave D-flat between the soprano and tenor (see Example 5.17). The final note is
marked ppp, and Maslanka asks the performers to end with a sudden stop o f tone. The
abruptness with which the music stops is evocative of the sudden silence that occurs
when a heart monitor is shut off - a twentieth-century symbol of death. A similar
technique is used by Maslanka at the end o f /« Memoriam, a piece for wind ensemble and
organ composed in 1989. The work is in memory of Susan Lichtenwalter, the wife of the
University of Texas-Arlington band director Ray C. Lichtenwalter. In Memoriam ends
when a single pitch sustained by the organ is suddenly silenced, providing a meaning that
is unmistakably clear. The similar gesture at the conclusion of the fourth movement of
Mountain Roads, while not as obvious, certainly suggests the ending of a life.
sudden stop o f lone
S opran o Sax.
193
Fifth Movement: Aria
The fifth movement oiMountain Roads is an interlude of settled calm after the
startling aggressiveness of the fourth movement. This is the most peaceful and reflective
movement of the entire work, and is presented in an understated way that recalls the quiet
nature of Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba (or, rather, anticipates it: Mountain
Roads was written a year before Song Book). There is, however, a sense of unification
between the fourth and fifth movements, created by the opening harmony o f the aria.
The fourth movement, which ended with the abruptly silenced octave D-flats, seems to be
continued by the first notes of the fifth: a perfect fifth and octave between D-flat and A-
flat played by the alto, tenor, and baritone. Instead of the cheerless D-flat minor of the
fourth movement, almost expected by the listener after the minor-dominated chorale, this
sound is gently transformed to D-flat major by the A-flat - D-flat - F that begins the
soprano melody in m. 2 (see Example 5.18). After the mournful ending of the fourth
movement, this subtle change of harmony serves as a device of metamorphosis or rebirth
- a reassurance that, as Maslanka wrote in his program notes for the piece, “The idea of
death is not so much about the final end as it is about change.”^®
20
Maslanka, “Mountain Roads.”
194
J = 8 6 -9 0 notslow!
S o p ra n o S ax.
alone on a mo
A lto S a x ,
T e n o r S ax .
B a r ito n e S a x .
JJJJ * cinularbteathing, orslragger breathing aJ lib in such a way

ihal a cunlinuous lone is mainlained
Ex. 5.18: Mountain Roads, V, mm. 1-14.
As was the case in the aria that makes up the third movement of the work, the
melodic material of the fifth movement is entirely in the soprano voice. While the
melody is not closely based on the All Men Must Die chorale melody, as it was in the
third movement, it is in the same key and starts with the same ascending perfect fourth
interval that occurs in the chorale tune and the soprano melody of the third, fourth, and
fifth movements. Maslanka adds the notation alone on a mountain at the beginning of
the melody, a clear reference to the dream that inspired the title of the work. The overall
mood of the movement is one of quiet calm, clarity, and happiness, which is consistent
with the composer’s description of his dream: “The effect of the place was exhilarating as
195
only mountain wilderness can be.”^' The buoyant music of this movement evokes the
overwhelming calm and peacefulness that can only be experienced in the complete
absence of civilization. The influence of the natural world is something that Maslanka
sees as an important factor in the development of his composing since moving to
Montana in 1990. When asked about this influence, the composer stated:
.. .the result is that the mind flows outward here (in Montana), at least
mine does, contacts the land in a different way, allows the contact of the
voice of this land, which is big and powerful, to come through. So I feel
the capacity here to be much more open to the vibration of the Earth, and
to allow that to speak itself.^^
The soprano melody in the fifth movement has, at least on a surface level,
elements of the da capo form of aria that was so important in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. The movement has an overall ABA form, although the final A
section is an abbreviated version of the first. The melody of the A section is a tranquil
(but also, as per the composer’s instructions, not slow!) statement, firmly in D-flat major,
that unfolds over the first twenty measures of the movement (see Example 5.18). This
“dream aria” is completely the province of the soprano, and is characterized by phrases
that come to rest on long sustained tones: F, E-flat, F, D-flat, A-flat, and E-flat, the end of
the last phrase being an anticipation of the move to A-flat major in m. 21. This music is
simple and beautiful, gliding playfully over a sustained D-flat major harmony. While the
soprano saxophonist is unquestionably the soloist, an unaffected interpretation best serves
the spirit of the music - vibrato use should be subtle, and overly dramatic rubato should
be carefully avoided. The graceful beauty of this music needs no affectation.
Ibid.
196
The thematic material of the B section (mm. 21-56) begins with a figure that has a
very dance-like quality (see Example 5.19), relying heavily on dotted rhythms and
moving more quickly than the “dream aria” section. Where the “quiet dance” of the
fourth movement was mournful, this is buoyant and joyful music, providing a refreshing
counterpoint to the dark chorale. Despite its more energetic nature, the melody remains
simple, never venturing out of the key of D-flat major and having a range of just over an
octave. If any climax occurs in this understated aria, it is in m. 45, where the soprano
reaches the high point of its range on a sustained B-flat^ (see Example 5.20). This is
followed by a descending figure that moves from A-flat through F and D-flat, coming to
rest on an A-flat an octave below its starting point. This figure is stated three times (mm.
47-54), bringing the middle section of the movement to a close.
S o p ra n o Sax.
197
S o p ra n o S ax.
A lto S a x .
T enor Sax.
The end of the movement is a shortened statement of the A section “dream aria.”
Reduced to two voices only (soprano and alto) and with the indication no vib added by
Maslanka, this final section is like an echo of the first, gently reinforcing the D-flat major
“dream aria” theme before settling on a D-flat - A-flat perfect fifth between alto and
soprano (see Example 5.21). The movement ends with a quiet clarity that effectively
expresses the elated nature of Maslanka’s Mountain Roads dream.
S o p ra n o Sax.
- H --------------------------------------------------
198
The alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones provide a texture that is virtually
unwavering throughout the movement. The music of the A sections, in fact, does not
change at all save for the melody - the other three voices sound the sustained D-flat - A-
flat - D-flat with which the movement opens without change through the first twenty
measures of the piece (see Example 5.18). In the closing A section, the alto sustains a D-
flat without pause for the final sixteen measures. The saxophonists are instructed to use
circular breathing, or stagger breathing ad lib in such a way that a continuous tone is
maintained. Each instrument sustains a written middle-octave B-flat through the first
section, which is not in an uncomfortable range for circular breathing. The baritone
saxophonist will obviously have the greatest challenge, requiring a greater volume of air
than the alto or tenor. If sustained effectively, this unchanging texture creates an effect
that is strikingly similar to a soloist with organ accompaniment. The B section provides
some (very occasional) motion for the supporting voices, particularly in the measures
leading up to the subtle climax in m. 45 (mm. 30-44) where the alto and tenor take on a
slightly more prominent role. These changes of pitch can be very subtly emphasized, and
indeed will call attention to themselves by their rarity. The baritone serves as a
grounding point throughout the movement, playing a total of six separate pitches: D-flat,
A-flat, B-flat, D-flat, A-flat, and D-flat.
As can be inferred by the preceding description, harmonic motion in the fifth
movement takes place at something approaching a geologic rate. The A sections provide
a steady D-flat major background for the soprano melody to glide above, and any
movements of harmonic tension are subtle, e.g. the ending of phrases on E-flat (the
second scale degree) in mm. 6-7 and mm. 17-19, or the suspension-like effect of the
199
downbeat B-flat moving to A-flat in m. 14. The B section is comparatively active. It
starts, as a da capo aria commonly would, in the dominant, moving eventually (and
almost completely diatonically, the sole exception being a quarter-note G-natural in m. 31
in the alto line) to G-flat at the end of the section. The area of greatest harmonic activity
is the section leading up to m. 45, especially mm. 37-44, where the relatively frequent
motion of the alto and tenor combine with the soprano melody to produce a delicate
counterpoint that adds a slight amount of tension (see Example 5.20). Even so, the D-flat
major tonality (reinforced by the baritone, which sustains a D-flat from mm. 33-56) is
never undermined, and there is never a disturbance of the calm, quiet character that is the
foremost aspect of the movement. The piece ends with a simplicity that is akin to that
found in Song Book, settling on a D-flat and A-flat that fade to silence, signaling the end
of the dream.
Sixth Movement: Finale
By far the longest movement of Mountain Roads, the finale brings together both
the energetic and contemplative elements explored in the first five movements of the
work. There is a sense of agitation in the first part of the movement, caused by a
combination of chromaticism and hectic rhythmic activity, but never to the extent that the
pervading joyful and exhilarating character of the piece is obliterated. The build-up
created by the various appearances of music from the chorale All Men Must Die also
culminates in the finale, as the movement ends with an extended presentation of the
complete chorale.
200
The first part of the movement is very segmented, made up of themes that appear
briefly and quickly move into new material. The overall character is fast, rhythmically
and often dynamically aggressive, and while thematic changes are sometimes abrupt, all
of the music in this section can be considered as a variation on the first theme. The
movement opens with an exuberant nineteen-measure theme that combines rapid scale
pattems and arpeggios to firmly establish D-flat major (see Example 5.22). The
accented, aggressive nature of this theme produces a sudden and dramatic contrast to the
peaceful ending of the previous movement. There are elements of wildness and anxiety
in this theme also, produced by the sudden chromatic shifts in mm. 4-5 and mm. 7-9 - a
seeming reminder that beneath the exuberant celebration of life there is the uncertainty of
what lies beyond. The soprano saxophone is the lead voice in this opening exuberant
theme, but all four instruments have moments of prominence in the theme, often given
material that is an echo or inversion of another part (see Example 5.23). Measures 16-19
provide a perfect example of this technique: the soprano echoes the alto at the interval of
two beats, while the tenor plays an inversion of the alto line, echoed two beats later by
tbe baritone. This type of counterpoint is common throughout the opening section of the
finale.
201
J = ca.150
S o p ra n o S ax.
/
^ ^ bJ' ' ■■■" . ^ w J J J ** i» j '- - - - - - - - - -
A {C. rT T f------ -------------
/
4
/ £ ^ ^ n ' J i,j , p f r r^r r r
r r r > F ,
r r r U-p £J1:I J 1 1 1 1 P
\fr-t ,
^ ^ " ^
Ex. 5.22: Mountain Roads, VI, mm. 1-6.

Note departure from D-flat major in mm. 4-5.
S o p ra n o S ax .
A lto S a x .
T enor S ax.
The second thematic section of the movement is one of the points of great tension
in the piece, produced by continued chromatic tension and the employment of a version
of the composer’s “layering” technique. 1 will refer to the theme that is presented from
202
mm. 20-38 as the “hammered” theme due to the violent, marcato style of the melody (see
Example 5.24). This theme is doubled in octaves in each of its appearances (here
between the soprano and baritone), and is based on what is essentially a chromatically
altered C minor scale (C - D - E-flat - G-flat - A - B). Despite the harmonic
differences, this theme can be seen as an extension of or variation on the opening
exuberant theme due to the similar melodic shape of the first phrase of each theme. This
“hammered” theme should be played extremely aggressively to accentuate its tense and
wild harmonic and rhythmic nature. The inner voices of the quartet provide the second
layer, playing an alternating F minor pattern (like the “hammered” theme, altered by the
addition of a diminished fifth, C-flat) that quickly diminishes to a quiet, agitated murmur
beneath the insistent theme of the outer voices. The alto and tenor alternate sixteenth-
notes to create what amounts to a single continuous line until the end of this section,
where they join together in a series of startlingly dissonant minor ninths that create a
sudden transition to a new, major-key version of the “hammered” theme (see Example
5.25).
S o p ra n o S a x .
(no dim.)
Alto Sax.
T enor Sax.
B a r ito n e Sax.
203
While the emotional effect of this theme (mm. 40-53) is very different from that
of the tense “hammered” theme, being much more akin to the exuberant theme at the
beginning of the movement, these contrasting themes are connected by the rhythmic
motive that is found at the end of the phrases in each (see Examples 5.24 and 5.25). This
accented, descending eighth-note figure, as well as the leaping sixteenth-note figure
found in both themes (m. 23, m. 43) provides a certain rhythmic continuity between
themes that are otherwise very dissimilar. The pairs of instraments used in the
“hammered” theme are retained here, with the alto and tenor providing the first statement
of the new theme (mm. 40-45), switching to soprano/alto melody for the second
statement (mm. 46-53).
S o p rsm o S a x .
A lto S a x .
T e n o r S ax .
B a r ito n e S ax .
It rj U"- rj J rJ j
1* ^
y Y .. ,.
1
Sim.
1>J_^ J ^
204
The next complete theme follows a chromatic transition using a fragment of the
opening exuberant theme that moves from D-flat major to B-flat minor and then to A
major. The theme introduced with the arrival of A major (m. 64) is remarkable in several
ways. It is the only extended section in the entire work in which a key not closely related
to D-flat major appears, and is further set off from the rest of the movement by its piano
dynamic level and staccato eighth-note rhythm (see Example 5.26). Maslanka uses an
“echoing” technique similar to that found in the first movement of the Sonata fo r Alto
Saxophone and Piano, with subsequent thematic statements appearing a beat apart in
descending order (soprano - alto - tenor - baritone). This produces a delicate
counterpoint that must be carefully maintained - accents and the introduction of the
theme in each instrument should be emphasized consistently by all performers to prevent
the soprano voice from dominating this section. The staccato theme, for all of its contrast
to the rest of the movement, is very closely related to the opening exuberant theme in
terms of melodic contour and mood.
, i=y=y=| \
Soprano Sax.
u^ itf J -
bV J ^ ^ J ^
^ p f ^
p
...— ^
Baritone Sax.
What follows this A major theme is the section of greatest tension and wildest
energy in the entire movement, commencing with an agitated canon in m. 76 (see
205
Example 5.27). This compositional device, normally a means of creating musical order
and stability, takes on a turbulent, riotous aspect in Maslanka’s hands, due to the
chromatic nature of the theme presented here and the way in which that theme is imitated.
Maslanka’s direction in m. 76 that this theme should be pushed provides an additional
hint as to the frenetic nature of this section. The canonic theme is a variation on the
“hammered” theme that first appeared in m. 20, here presented with an alto/baritone and
soprano/tenor pairing. The theme uses what could be called a synthetic scale, consisting
primarily of minor seconds, augmented seconds, and diminished fifths to create music
that is without a strong tonal center. The diminished fifth leaps, which begin in m. 82,
produce a particularly tense effect. The alto and baritone begin this canon in m. 76,
starting on E-flat and remaining two octaves apart throughout. The imitation in the
soprano and tenor begins two beats later at the interval of a fifth (both begin on B-flat,
also two octaves apart). This combination provides frequent moments of overt
dissonance, particularly in the form of harmonic seconds and sevenths, caused in part by
the unusual scale upon which the theme is based.
p u sh ed
Soprano Sax. r r rC T rr f "—1|- ^ r ■»ji r.

ff
>- ^
ff
ff
206
The canon ends in m. 84, followed by a rhythmic unification of all four voices
that leads directly to a repeat of music upon which the canon is based: the “hammered”
theme that first appeared in m. 20. In this appearance the theme is presented in unison by
the soprano and alto, while the tenor and baritone provide the constant sixteenth-note
murmur beneath. The theme is slightly less aggressive here than in its first appearance,
lacking the incessantly pounding marcato accents, but it takes on a pattern of rising
motion by whole-steps that leads to an increased state of agitation with each subsequent
phrase (i.e. in m. 86 the phrase begins on E-flat, in m. 88 on F, and in m. 90 on G). The
“hammered” theme ends with a rhythmically driving, tutti statement that recalls the
repeated “nagging” on a single pitch that was a prominent aspect of Allan Pettersson’s
music and of the third movement of Maslanka’s Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano.
In this instance, the rising “hammered” theme leads to an extended repetition on a G-
sharp 7 chord from mm. 95-97 (see Example 5.28). Enharmonic to an A-flat 7 chord, this
repeated harmony serves as a massive dominant preparation for the return of the
exuberant D-flat major theme that opened the movement, and a recapitulation of all of the
thematic material that was first presented in mm. 1-52.
Soprano Sax.
Alto Sax.
Tenor Sax.
Baritone Sax.
ff
207
The recapitulation is identical to the original appearance of this music until m.
154 (the equivalent of m. 53). At this point an extended repetition of the transformed
“hammered” theme rhythmic motive begins. This motive, which is first given to the
soprano and alto (mm. 154-159) and then to all four instruments (mm. 160-178),
produces an even more extreme example of the repeated harmonic “nagging” first seen in
mm. 95-97. This technique provides a dramatic culmination to the first section of the
movement, first by the repeated emphasis of D-flat major harmony (m. 154-159) and then
A-flat major (mm. 161-185). The prominence of the dominant (A-flat major) as the
concluding harmony of this section is stated emphatically: from m. 172 to m. 185, all four
instruments have an identical pounding rhythmic motive that is nothing more than
repeated A-flats in octaves (see Example 5.29). An eventual slowing and diminuendo
mark the end of this section, and the texture is reduced to the soprano voice only with the
indication allow it to truly settle, a final dissipation of the frenetic energy that has been
maintained almost without pause through the first 185 measures of the movement.
208
S o p ru n o S a x .
A lto S ax.
T e n o r S ax.
B a r ito n e S ax.
I> > > > I> > > >
b p - -p p- p
p r r V r r f r r r
V t *----------- r y r r j r r r ~
•> > > > > > i> >
^^ i>i«.
I*
g n pA g
slowing allow it to truly settle
For all of its chromatic moments and use of dissonant combinations, the large
opening section of the finale is primarily D-flat major music. Only in the A major
section where the staccato version of the exuberant theme appears (mm. 64-75) does D-
flat major completely disappear, for even in the tense, “hammered” sections a
relationship to the tonie key is maintained. While the harmonie excursions described
209
above do add to the frenetic nature of the movement, this aspect is most clearly produced
by the rapidly changing sections of the piece and by the thoroughly aggressive dynamic
level. Significantly, the only notable section that is consistently piano is the A major
staccato theme section. This brief theme provides a moment of relative quiet amid the
general boisterousness of the piece, which is otherwise maintained to the insistent
“nagging” on the dominant that ends in m. 185. Only then does the tempo relax and the
music, as Maslanka writes, truly settles. As if the outrageous energy so vital to the piece
has expended itself at last, a sense of relaxation and resignation descends - the music has
finally come to grips with the inevitable change that is brought about by death. What
follows is All Men Must Die.
Maslanka presents this chorale as it would typically occur in a Bach cantata: at the
end of the movement, in a relatively straightforward four-voice texture (see Example
5.30).^^ After the vibrant power of the first section of the movement, the chorale is a
welcome and sustained period of peaceful reflection.
The New Harvard Dictionary o f Music, s.v. “Chorale cantata."
210
A U e m e n s c h e n m iis s e n s te r b e n
flexible
S o p ra n o S ax.
A lto S a x .
T en o r Sax.
B a r ito n e S ax.
* Soprano w clearly xolo; others are a quieter backdvp.

Alto, Tenor and Baritone succesively become solo with each repetition o f the chorale.
A . Sx,
T. S x.
B , S x.
The work ends with four complete statements of ^4// Men Must Die, giving each
voice of the quartet its turn as the solo voice. This is not to say that the chorale melody
itself is moved from voice to voice; it remains in the soprano line, hut the supporting
lines are consequently highlighted and given greater ornamentation. The note given by
Maslanka at the beginning of the chorale states: Soprano is clearly solo; others are a
quieter backdrop. Alto, tenor and baritone successively become solo with each repetition
o f the chorale. Maslanka uses the Bach chorales as part of his daily study and
meditation, and the presentation of the chorale in Mountain Roads corresponds to the way
211
that the composer himself approaches this music. Maslanka had this to say about his own
approach to the Bach chorale settings:
.. .1 have another - and it’s a more Buddhist - approach to the Bach

chorales, and that is to meditate on them by essentially staring at them, at
these seemingly very simple things for great lengths of time, and they
keep giving a new thing. To stare at the same set of issues, again and
again and again and again, produces, each time, a different depth, a
different character from that same thing. So the quality o f newness in
music, to me, becomes less and less and less of interest, that is, of
inventing something new, or of a new style, or of styles in general,
become uninteresting to me as a way of going about music. The real
interest is discovering the life of the moment through the language that
you’re dealing with. I grew up in this culture, in this musical culture,
which has its full influence of European history. I am not Asian, I am not
African, I am American with a European background, and so this is the
language I know intently and deeply, and I keep staring at the same places.
The chorales do that. So when they show up .. .they have that particular
focused and powerful effect. Now the last chorale, the last movement in
Mountain Roads, which uses that chorale All Men Must Die, is the way in
which I sing the chorales. I do this when I use the chorales every day. I’ll
play all the four parts while singing the soprano, then I’ll play the four
parts and sing the alto, play the four parts and sing the tenor . . . So here
you have the . . . soprano having its say, the alto has its say, the tenor has
its say, the baritone has its vocal say within the context of this. It becomes
very personal.
In the context of Mountain Roads, this means that with each statement of the
chorale a different instrument is given “Maslanka’s voice,” and leads the chorale through
that particular statement. Maslanka provides his own harmonization for the chorale,
occasionally creating harmonic progressions that are different from Bach’s (see Example
5.1), but the cadential pattems are the same, as is the overall emotional effect. For a
chorale with the title All Men Must Die, there is a curiously calm and peaceful aspect to
the music. Maslanka commented on the effect this pervasive element of the chorale has
in Mountain Roads:
212
Even the slow music and the reflective music has about it an energized,
almost an elated quality, even though it may get soft and at the end it does
have all this serious chorale. But even when it talks about the idea of “All
Men Must Die,” it is not - it is in no way defeated, it is not a somber
music.^^
The musical approach to the ending chorale of Mountain Roads advocated here is
a fairly straightforward one. While there is an undeniably hopeful quality to the music,
the seriousness and significance inherent in the idea that “All Men Must Die” should be
emphasized. The solo parts should likewise be treated with a degree of artistic restraint;
although each solo voice is given added ornamentation and freedom of expression, this
should not be carried to Romantic extremes. Indeed, the solo parts are generally marked
only mezzo piano against a piano or pianissimo background, and Maslanka often adds the
reminder gently to the beginning of phrases in the solo part. The four statements of the
chorale, above all else, produce a sense of peace and of coming to rest, a final
reconciliation with the concept of death and an acceptance of its unavoidable uncertainty.
Mountain Roads ends with the fourth statement of All Men Must Die, fading to silence on
a final D-flat major chord (see Example 5.31) that provides a settled, reflective
conclusion to this deeply personal and spiritual piece.
Ibid.
213
dcfwin^ a lot
S o p ra n o Sax.
A lto Sax.
T enor Sax.
B a r ito n e S ax .
Errata and Postscript
Errata:
The following is a list of errors in Mountain Roads, most of which were confirmed by the
composer. Any corrections to individual saxophone parts will be given in written, not
concert, pitch.
I. Overture
Measure 3: The first note in the alto saxophone should be a written B-natural. There is
no actual mistake in the part, but the fact that this note is immediately preceded by a B-
flat and is not marked with a courtesy accidental can create confusion. A courtesy
accidental does appear in the score.
214
IV. Chorale
Measure 9\ In the soprano saxophone line, the C-natural eighth-note near the end of the
measure should be a D-flat, and should be tied to the preceding dotted quarter-note. This
error only occurs in the score, not in the saxophone part.
VI. Finale
Measure 88: The score gives the lowest note of the sixteenth-note pattern played by the
tenor and baritone as concert G. This is below the range of the tenor, and has been
changed to a concert A (written B) in the tenor part. This change should also be made to
the score and the baritone part, where the lowest note of the pattern should now be a
written F-sharp.
Measure 161: The last eighth-note in the alto part should be E-flat, not D-flat.
Measures 174-175: The score has the tenor notated an octave too high during these
measures. The tenor part is correct as written.
Postscript:
Mountain Roads is a piece whose most important characteristics include a focused
emotional intensity and sustained forceful energy. Particularly in the first, third, fourth,
and sixth movements, one of the primary goals of the performers should be to effectively
express the primarily exuberant but occasionally agonized quality. This sometimes
comes at the expense of playing with a “pretty” or “nice” saxophone quartet sound,
especially in the fourth movement - a movement that is neither pretty nor nice. When
discussing Mountain Roads with Russell Peterson, one of the members of the ensemble
215
that commissioned the piece, Maslanka mentioned the importanee of the powerful,
energetic element of the piece:
.. .when you first sent me a tape of Mountain Roads last year and my
response for the most part was, nicely played but the energy needs to be
higher and more incessant. And when I write forte that means forte and so
on. So you can see the evolution that took to play, say, the very opening
of the piece. Your first approach to it was to start off nice and to die
away. And then my suggestion was that it stays full and bright. I f s a
simple musical language on the page which you can play easily and make
sound easily, yet the emotional statement that wants to be made through
that language is of an order that maybe was surprising to you. And then
the force that you felt had to come through, once my description was
given, then fell into place for you. You could feel it, you said “oh, that’s
what wants to happen here” and then suddenly you’re playing it. And it’s
really interesting because when you had the master class with the
Lawrence University student sax quartet yesterday, which you were sitting
side by side with them and you heard them play the opening to Mountain
Roads and you realized that they were not understanding.. .they played
what they saw on the page and then the Transcontinental quartet played
what was also on the page, but you now understood it emotionally and the
whole space just goes electric and brightens up!^^
The consistent, vibrant energy described here is arguably the most important
aspect of the entire work.
Peterson, “Interview with composer David Maslanka,” 11.
216
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
Significance of the Study
Due to their length, sections of technically difficult material, and emotional
weight, the pieces analyzed in this document require a significant commitment to prepare
for performance. This study provides insight into aspects of style, technical execution,
thematic development, harmony, and Maslanka’s eompositional proeess that will aid
performers in developing an effective interpretation of these pieces. David Maslanka’s
music for saxophone constitutes an important eontribution to the ehamber music
repertoire of the instrument, and is highly regarded by both performers and audienees.
This is due to a number of factors. First, while Maslanka has extensive training in music
theory and composition, his music is largely inspired by emotional and spiritual factors
rather than by intellectual ones. It is my opinion that, whether or not they are eonsciously
aware of this aspect of compositional development, performers and listeners often
respond strongly to this element of the music. Secondly, Maslanka has an affinity for the
saxophone^ and has a thorough understanding of the instrument’s capabilities.
‘ Maslanka, interview by author, 27 June 2003.
217
Lastly, while this knowledge allows him to write music that works well for the
saxophone, his compositions never become showy or superficial displays of technique for
the instrument. The expression of musical and emotional content is always the primary
concern in Maslanka’s music, while the saxophone is simply the vehicle with which that
expression is achieved. The repertoire for saxophone in solo and chamber music settings
is replete with examples of music that never go beyond superficial virtuosity, making
Maslanka’s contribution to the instrument even more significant by comparison. As
mentioned in Chapter I, at least five commercially available recordings exist of the
Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, a piece that was premiered only fifteen years ago.
This bears witness to the high regard that saxophonists have for David Maslanka’s music,
and in particular for a piece that I believe is the most noteworthy saxophone Sonata
written in the last twenty years. This study will provide a source of information on three
pieces that I am confident will remain an important part of the saxophone repertoire for
years to come.
Recommendations for Further Research
David Maslanka’s compositional output includes notable additions to the
repertoire of music for traditionally lesser known or “neglected” ensembles and
instruments. Among these, compositions for wind band, solo percussion, percussion
ensemble, and saxophone are especially prominent. While several research projects
exploring David Maslanka’s music for wind band exist, less attention has been given to
his contributions to other musical genres. Considering only Maslanka’s music that
218
features the saxophone, several pieces fall outside the scope of this study, including the
Concerto fo r Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, the Sonata fo r Soprano Saxophone
and Piano (transcribed from the composer’s Oboe Sonata), Heaven to Clear When Day
Did Close for tenor saxophone and string quartet, and H ell’s Gate for three saxophone
soloists and wind ensemble. While this project makes note of the psychological,
spiritual, and referential elements that influence David Maslanka’s composing,
subsequent research could explore these elements in much greater depth. It has been
suggested that a compositional parallel exists between Maslanka and Gustav Mahler, in
that both use musical references in their compositions that have deep significance in their
personal lives.^ This is another topic that could be explored through further study. I
believe that David Maslanka’s importance as a composer will continue to grow, and that
many of his pieces will have enduring value for future generations of musicians.
Research that explores these compositions can provide valuable insight for performers
and composers wishing to go beyond the surface of this remarkable music.
^ Kenneth Singleton, conversation with author, 14 April 2004.
219
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dissertations
Blackwell, Leslie J. An analytical study o f David Maslanka’s ‘A Litany fo r Courage

and the Seasons ’ (Richard Beale). D.M.A. Project, University of Kentucky,
2002 .
Bolstad, Stephen Paul. David Maslanka’s Symphony no. A: A Conductor’s Analysis

with Performance Considerations. D.M.A. Treatise, University o f Texas
at Austin, 2002.
Booth, David Martin. An Analytical Study o f David Maslanka’s A Child’s Garden

of Dreams. D.M.A. Document, University of Oklahoma, 1994.
Broiling, Roy Edward. David Maslanka’s Use o f a Chorale Tune in ‘In

Memoriam. ’ D.M.A. Document, University of Arizona, 2000.
Brooks, J. Patrick. An Analysis o f David Maslanka’s Concerto fo r Piano, Winds

and Percussion. D.M.A. Thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1994.
Stirzaker, Thomas Duncan. A comparative study o f selected clarinet works by

Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. Ph.D. Dissertation,
Texas Tech University, 1988.
Vamer, Michael Lynn. An examination o f David Maslanka’s marimba concerti:

‘A rcadia II fo r Marimba and Percussion Ensemble ’ and Concerto fo r Marimba
and Band, a lecture recital, together with three recitals o f selected works o f K.
Abe, M. Burritt, J. Serry, and others. D.M.A. Dissertation, University of North
Texas, 1999.
Scores
Brahms, Johannes. Fantasien Op. 116. Vieima, Austria: Schott Musik International,
1981.
220
Liszt, Franz. Sonata in B Minor and Other Works fo r Piano. Mineola, NY: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1990.
Maslanka, David. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. The North American
Saxophone Alliance, 1988.
. Mountain Roads. Carl Fischer, LLC, 1997.
. Song Book fo r Alto Saxophone and Marimba. Carl Fischer, LLC, 1998.
Poulenc, Francis. Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano. London: Chester Music, 1963.
. Sonata fo r Clarinet in B fla t and Piano. London: Chester Music,

1963.
Schubert, Franz. Selected Piano Works fo r Four Hands. Edited by Anton Door.
New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1977.
Recordings
Childs, Barney. The Edge o f the World. Ian Mitchell, bass clarinet, Christopher
Hobbs, Keyboards. CD, Black Box Music BBM1052, 2000.
Maslanka, David. The Music o f David Maslanka. Steven Jordheim, saxophone,

Dane Maxim Richardson, marimba. CD, Albany Records Troy 392, 2000.
. Sonate. Kenneth Tse, saxophone. CD, Riax Records RICA-2002,

1998.
. Mountain Roads. Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet. CD,

Albany Records Troy 412, 2001.
. Relentless. Jamal Rossi, saxophone. CD, Mark Custom

Recording Service, Inc. 2553-MCD, 1999.
. American Breath. Russell Peterson, saxophone. CD, Barking Dog

Records BDR2181, 2001.
Poulenc, Francis. Chamber Music. Pascal Roge, piano. CD, The Decca Record Co.
Ltd. LC-0171, 1989.
221
. The Complete Chamber Music. The Nash Ensemble. CD,

Hyperion Records Ltd. CDA6755/6, 1999.
Pettersson, Allan. Symphonies Nos 5 & 16. John-Edward Kelly, saxophone,

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbriicken. CD, Classic Production Osnabruck
cpo 999 284-2, 1996.
Books
Bach, Johann Sebastian. 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with
figured bass. Edited by Albert Riemenschneider. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc.,
1941.
Hamilton, Kenneth. Liszt Sonata in B Minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1996.
Jung, Carl G. Man and his Symbols. New York: Anchor Books, 1964.
LaRue, Jan. Guidelines fo r Style Analysis. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 1970.
Neruda, Pablo. Canto General. Translated by Jack Schmitt. Berkeley, CA:

University of California Press, 1991.
Watson, Derek. Liszt. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1989.
Other Sources
Anderson, Virginia. Notes to Barney Childs, The Edge o f the World. CD, Black Box
Music BBM1052, 2000.
Duerden, Darren. “The Unaccompanied Marimba Literature of David Maslanka.”

Percussive Notes, June 1998, 39-41.
Peterson, Russell. “Interview with composer David Maslanka.”

http://www.davidmaslanka.com/Speechdisplay.asp?lD=22. 1998; accessed 13
May 2003.
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Snyder, Paul. “An Interview with David Maslanka.”

http ://www.lawrence.edu/dept/conservatory/studio/saxophone/maslanka. shtml
1998; accessed 12 June 2003.
APPENDIX A
Interview with David Maslanka
224
Interview with David Maslanka

27 June 2003
Missoula, Montana
The following is a transcript of an interview with David Maslanka conducted by
the author. This interview took place on the campus of the University of Montana in
Missoula, Montana.
(Ahhreviations: NK = Nathan Keedy, DM = David Maslanka)
NK: Okay, I know that when I e-mailed you I told you a little bit about what I’m
planning to do, hut I don’t know if I went into much detail.
DM: Not really, no.
NK: Okay, well basically what I’d like to do is a study containing some sort of analysis,
more designed for performers or just people who want to know more about your music,
and I think the pieces I’ve decided to focus on are your saxophone Sonata and a couple of
your other chamber works for saxophone, the Song Book for sax and marimba and your
sax quartet. Mountain Roads.
DM: Okay, so those three.
NK: Yeah, those three. That may end up being too much and I might have to scale hack.
DM: Depending on what you do.
NK: Yes. So what I’m looking to do is not a real detailed formal analysis where I pick
everything apart, but I’d like to put something together that would be of more use for
people who are looking to perform the pieces and get a little more in-depth information
on how to do that effectively.
DM: Okay.
NK: So, I have a few questions that I’ve written down, and if you think of anything else
that you’d like to add. I’d certainly love to hear it. So I’ll just start with a couple of
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general questions if that’s okay. I know that you’ve written a lot for the saxophone - not
only the solo and chamber works, but in your band music it tends to feature fairly
prominently. What characteristics of the saxophone draw you to it or are appealing to
you and make you want to write for it?
DM: Well, the saxophone has a quality of a human voice, almost more than any other
instrument. Each instrument has its own character, but the saxophone has a very wide
variety of colors and a big intensity of emotional expression. I think I like the instrument
too because of its boldness, not only when played with other wind instruments, but in
combination with piano. So the character of the instrument is that it’s got that big voice,
and I feel that I sing through that voice. So that’s one opening thought.
NK: Okay. Are there any particular saxophonists whose playing you use as a conception
when you’re writing for saxophone?
DM: Actually no [laughter]. I know very little about schools of performance in

saxophone playing. I know a bit about French playing and some of the qualities and
limitations that that imposes. I like the saxophone sound which goes beyond that, and
which can have a bigger emotional quality to it. I’ve gotten to know a number of very
good saxophone players over this time, and there are some extraordinary players. The
thing that I’ve found that I like the best about saxophone players that I know who are the
good ones is that they will stop at nothing to do the music well, especially playing in the
low end of the instrument and being able to play softly in the low end of the instrument.
NK: That can be very difficult to do.
DM: Yeah it is. Several people have figured out how to do that, which has been very
nice.
NK: Yeah, I know particularly when I was working on the end of the second movement
of the Sonata, figuring out ways to play as softly as you were requesting and do that
effectively is challenging, but as you say, you can figure out how to make it work.
DM: Right.
NK: So, just out of curiosity, do you have any new compositions for saxophone on the
horizon?
DM: No, nothing coming up that’s - nothing solo, no.
NK: Okay. As I said, I was just curious to know if there’s anything else. I imagine in
the future there may be.
DM: Well I should hope! There’s been talk - my friend Joe Luloff has asked me to
consider writing a piece for saxophone and orchestra, but we haven’t over several years
time come to a real arrangement about that, so that’s still just a thought.
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NK: Okay. Well, let me ask you a couple of questions specifically about the saxophone
Sonata if I can, and maybe I’ll start with just a couple of technical things which will
probably be easier to answer; things that I’ve noticed in looking at the score. In the third
movement in measure 176, here in the score this C is written in this octave, I believe in
the saxophone part it’s written an octave below. Listening to recordings of this, I think
there are a couple that do it one way, and one that does it another way. I’m assuming that
you intended this note (the higher octave, as written in the score).
DM: Yeah, I do intend that note. If it’s written that way in the part it’s a typo.
NK: One other thing about the third movement - was there a particular reason that you
wrote a section in 12/8 and a section in 4/4 that basically contain the same material?
DM: Can you show me what that is?
NK: Let’s see - 1 think starting here, this is all in 12/8, and when it returns here it
changes to 4/4.
DM: Yeah, at that point there seemed to be no real reason to be adding all those dots.
NK: [laughter] Okay, so it’s just out of convenience?
DM: I could just as easily have written this in 4/4, there’s no question about it, but the
music is - it just seemed to me that this section was still - in my mind, it was still in that
area.
NK: And then it returns to the 12/8 later.
DM: It returns to this. And the other was just - 1 don’t know, a momentary convenience.
NK: [laughter] Easier to write it that way. Okay. One of the things that strikes me about
the Sonata is the intense quality of the whole piece, but particularly o f some the themes
that you use in it. Do you associate a specific emotional character or mood with any of
the themes in the Sonata"?
DM: Well, yeah I would think so. This is always never so easy to talk about, because the
evolution of a piece o f music, that is the music that happens, happens as musical sound
and it has obviously some feeling attached to it, but it doesn’t come with names, it
doesn’t come with labels. So the composing of a piece has to do with finding the musical
sound match for that thing which is driving you, whatever it is, and I’m very hesitant
about - 1 think that you, as a person going about analyzing the piece, could suggest your
own reactions to it, that it seems to you that the piece at this particular moment feels like
thus and so. I think that’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do. There is, I would say,
overall in the piece a quality of outrage, if that’s a good word. There is a more subtle
kind of character which is emotionally subtle. For instance, the very beginning of the
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piece opens in a very subtle way, but very quickly turns into something outrageous.
Now, there is that quality of outrageousness which is, I think, an emotional sense of
violation. These words are new to me right now. A sense of violation. Now, whatever
that should mean - 1 have my own personal notions of these things, but whatever it might
mean to you is another thing. There is that, but then the piece - each of the three
movements has really quite clear formal boundaries, and so you have a kind of objective
formal quality to the music, and within that objective formality you have outrage. So I
would think that for me the qualities of objective form have a lot to do with how
forcefully the music can express an emotional issue. The objective form gives a
backdrop, if you want to think of it that way, for emotion to bounce off of. The emotion
is not just flopping randomly in front of you and screaming [laughter], it has a quality of
intent because o f the formality. The ideas of formality in music are not only about say.
Sonata form - the first movement is, incidentally in Sonata form - but it is about the
character o f how phrases are made and how beat structures happen within phrases, the
quality of pulse within the music, the quality of tonality in the music. You don’t mind if
I’m going on?
NK: Oh, not at all.
DM: Okay. When you talk about emotional expression, it rests on strictly formal
elements. So, just as an idea, when you talk about beat - and let’s say you take the first
movement of the Sonata which has a specific groove kind of tempo, and within that
tempo groove there are huge varieties of things that happen, but you do have the tempo
groove, you do have that specific beat quality. If you isolate that beat by itself, it has not
so much emotional character, but it is the thing which allows this other quality, this other
radical kind of expression to take place. I always think of formal arrangements, and
particularly beat structure, as a grid pattern upon which other things are laid so that you
have a way of perceiving them in a forceful way.
NK: So once that line starts moving it doesn’t stop, you just play with it or work with it
as it goes along.
DM: Yes. It is the baseline, that is, not meaning the bass-line of the notes, but the B-A-
S-E line of pulse in music seems to me extremely important, it seems to be that
grounding point which allows the music to be received by an audience, by a listener.
Now, that idea of grounding point - 1 guess not all of my music works this way either,
but a lot of it does, that when a listener finds that beat point of reference, and it’s
subliminal - yes, there are real beats but there’s also a subliminal character to it that
you’re constantly aware, even if it might not be shown to you every measure, but there is
a pulse going on in the music. That quality of continuous pulse creates a quality of
settled acceptance in the listener, and in that space you can hear and receive. I think that
- 1 haven’t said that out that way before but I think that’s a really true thing, and I think
that the Sonata reflects it quite thoroughly.
NK: One of the things I notice about the Sonata is that it seems to have almost a
schizophrenic quality to it in that, as you said, there’s a sense of outrage or violation. To
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me, listening particularly to the first movement, a lot of it sounds very melancholy to me,
and then there are also moments that sound incredibly joyful in the Sonata so it’s an
instant back and forth between two extremes.
DM: Yes. The extremes are there and important. People having played the piece have
said that it has a kind of life story character to it, and I think that is a valid thought. It
covers a lot of territory, it covers a lot of emotional realms.
NK: It certainly does. The very first theme in the piece, is there a particular significance
to that theme in your mind? It’s in the first movement and then it comes back in a
slightly different form in the second movement. It seems to be something that ties at
least the first two movements of the piece together.
DM: Well, its significance? I can’t put words on it, I would not know what to say. It
clearly does have significance for me, if it has any meaning for you, that particular theme
I composed when I was sitting injury duty in New York City, waiting for my turn to
come, you know, sitting there in the cattle call [laughter].
NK: [laughter] I wouldn’t have guessed that.
DM: No, but I was just sitting there, and this is what came out of that! I don’t know, I
can’t ever say too well what the meaning of a theme is. We can talk about the qualities of
the music, that there is this, as you said, schizophrenic character, at least a schizoid
character, there are these sharply contrasted qualities. As to their meaning, I don’t know.
NK: Okay.
DM: It’s possible for you to speculate, but for each person approaching the piece as a
player, and each listener, there is a different story, and a different character.
NK: Was it a conscious decision on your part to - the end of each movement ends softly
and sort of fades away. Did you do that intentionally each time or did it just sort of
happen?
DM: This was the evolution of the music. Endings. In this case, it just seems that the
quality of the dying away is a leading into mystery. There is not a definitive statement
that “yes, we have assertively finished this and we know what w e’re doing” [laughter].
There’s a quality of something disappearing into the unspoken, something that you don’t
know anything about. The farther I get into making music the less I know about what it
means. It is a sound, a musical sound which shows up through me, I can sometimes
identify its characters and qualities, but mostly it takes a lot of years of hindsight to say
“yeah, that was about that for me,” you know. The moment of its happening, I am the
instrument for it to be spoken, rather than the analytical presence saying “this is what it
means,” or trying to imply meaning for it. It may seem odd, but - of course I have a
formal sense of - of understanding the formal sense of the music that I’m making. I’ve
had a lot of training in theory and I understand harmonic language and counterpoint and
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chords and all that, but when I’m composing I’m not analyzing except in a very general
sense, and so people analyzing the music will often come up with a theory of a piece that
will be a surprise to me. I’ll say “oh, that’s a good idea. Or not” [laughter]. The analysis
of a piece of music is quite a different function from the composing.
NK: Sure. I know you’ve mentioned in liner notes and other interviews about some of
the influences on you in writing the Sonata, and in some of your other pieces you’ve
specifically taken something - I’ll talk a little bit later about the Bach chorales that
you’ve used in the other pieces. Is there any specific musical source that you’ve used in
the Sonata like that, or is it more just a point of reference in your mind?
DM: Well, the one point of reference that is very strongly in my mind - two points of
reference for the Sonata, well I’ll say three now [laughter]. It’s like the computer screen
where you get the “dit-dit-dit” [gestures]. The sharpest one is - and I’ve written about
this and spoken about it - is the music of Allan Pettersson. Do you know that music at
all?
NK: I’ve heard some of it, one of his symphonies.
DM: Well go take another look. The piece that I had in my head when I was thinking
these ideas back when was his Symphony no. 12, and it’s called ^4 Death in the
Marketplace, and this is after a poem by Pablo Neruda. You might go look at Neruda’s
poetry, too, because it’s very interesting stuff. And then there is - there are two violin
concertos of Pettersson’s which I had heard, there is also Symphony no. 16 which is for
alto saxophone and wind ensemble.
NK: I’m not familiar with that piece.
DM: No, no, it’s not wind ensemble, it’s orchestra. You might take a look. The only
recording I know is by Fred Hemke, from many years ago.
NK: I might try to get a hold of that somehow.
DM: It’s a real curious piece, not like anything you know. Pettersson had a quality of
angst in his music, and that was expressed by very intense textures that stayed within a
very primitive tonal orbit. So, if he started in C minor, for instance, the music would tend
to be in C minor for great lengths of time, almost persistently hitting the same chordal
things, and after a while there’s a sense of being of being battered by it, you’re
continually hit by it. It is not like the music, let’s say, of Philip Glass, which can also be
totally static. Glass’s music is emotionally a lot lighter that Pettersson’s music.
Pettersson’s was - music made by a neurotic man, there’s no question about it [laughter].
I responded to that very strongly earlier on. Pettersson was not a happy man. He died
when he was 70, but he grew up in the poor part of Sweden, and always felt himself to be
troubled, emotionally troubled, in difficulty, and the music reflects it. He was not happy
in his head. I’ve come up through a lot of personal troubles of my own, which are of no
account at the moment for this discussion, and I responded very strongly to that character
230
in the music. There’s a powerful sense of fixed tonality in the music; once a thing starts
it tends to express a certain key area, to stay there. So there’s Pettersson, and particularly
in the third movement it has a nagging kind of crunching quality to it.
And then, the first movement curiously relates to Franz Liszt. There is the B
minor Sonata fo r Piano by Franz Liszt, and - again, you might go take a listen to that.
NK: Yeah, Fve heard it.
DM: It’s a very expansive, athletic kind of thing with big emotional statement to it, and I
was very impressed with that quality. Especially in the Saxophone Sonata, in the
recapitulation, when that theme comes back, comes [sings] “yee-bah-dah-dah-dee” (first
movement, measure 129), that character, that open, wide-open Romantic kind of quality
to it was very appealing to me. We have a way in our music history of dividing ourselves
into periods, and of saying that - the Classical period, the Baroque period - “the Classical
period, that’s over, we don’t do that anymore [laughter]. The Romantic period, we don’t
do that anymore” [laughter]. You know, the quote-unquote “Modem” period, whatever
the heck that might be. The reality is that all of these things are always happening all the
time, and so big Romantic expression is not dead, will not die.
NK: I think one of the things that makes your music appealing, at least to me, is that
you’re not tuming your back on some of those older forms, and so there’s a familiarity to
your music, even if it’s something that’s completely new.
DM: Yeah. I’ve been really, really interested in that over time. I mean. I’ve been drawn
to this way of writing, and now I’ve formulated it in some ways, intellectually, to say that
the real need for a composer - m yself- is to continually absorb the old language. To
deny the old language is to simply cut yourself off at the neck [laughter].
NK: Yeah, you can’t survive like that!
DM: No, no. And I think this is what happened to twentieth century music when it got
into the, into atonality and into serial techniques. It became pretty much a situation of
denying the past, denying certain very, very basic elements of the past. I remember in the
1960s people saying things like, “Well, you can’t write a melody anymore, it’s just not
done!” And my thought was, “Well, yeah I can!”
NK: Yeah, watch me [laughter]!
DM: [laughter] As long as people are going to breathe, and as long as people’s hearts
beat, there will be pulse, there will be phrase, there will be melody, and it’s a matter of
each new living being understanding that connection to the ancient past. So, in the
second movement I think my reference point is Francis Poulenc.
NK: I read an interview where you mention that.
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DM: I’ve liked Poulenc’s music forever. When 1 started writing wind Sonata-type
pieces, my points of reference, 1 think, were the Sonata pieces of Poulenc. I’ve
performed the Clarinet Sonata, then there’s the Flute Sonata, the Oboe Sonata of course,
and a work for wind quintet and piano. He’s a very gifted melody writer, and his sense of
harmony is extraordinary. So, 1 started there. 1 think music took a serious wrong turn
somewhere in the 1940s or 50s, and it took a long time for it to get out of that [laughter].
So, my music now has been referred to as “post-modern.” Do you know that word?
NK: Yes.
DM: What does it mean to you?
NK: Well, I’m not really sure what that means. 1 mean, it seems to be a word that has a
paradoxical kind of meaning, but 1 guess, musically speaking, it could mean music that is
no longer in a serial or atonal style, that has passed beyond that, and maybe music that is
even looking backward now in terms of older things, but incorporating things that haven’t
been done before. But 1 don’t really know of a good definition for that term!
DM: [laughter] 1 think the implication was when someone spoke of it that way was that
it was not beholden to the quote-unquote “modem” techniques of the twentieth century.
NK: To the “mles” of composition?
DM: Yeah, the style principals of the last fifty years. So, yeah, the farther along 1 get the
more strictly tonal things become. 1 don’t know what that’s about.
NK: That kind of moves me to my next question. You mentioned that you composed
that theme sitting waiting for jury duty in New York. 1 know you wrote the Sonata when
you were still in New York, and the other two pieces I’m going to talk about 1 think you
wrote when you were living here in Montana. 1 can notice several differences, just
compositionally speaking, between the Sonata and the other two pieces. Do you feel that
any of that has to do, or how much of it has to do, with living here rather than living on
the East Coast?
DM: A lot. New York is a very special place which 1 still love a lot, but 1 don’t have to
live there, 1 don’t want to live there anymore. New York City has about it a pressured
kind of quality. There is a need in New York to have a mental shield against all the
pressure. There is a constant layered hum of noise in New York City, starting with
electricity, and then adding to that all the sounds, all the layers of sounds in the city at all
times, and all the pressure of all those people. So the psychic pressure there is intense.
What it does is to split people apart, if you’re sensitive to it, and what it did to me was to
facilitate crash and bum, which did happen to me, and then it also facilitated the
recovery. Because in spite of all the intensity of the city there is a remarkable quality of
health in the place. People don’t often speak of New York City that way. It’s large and
dirty, and there are too many people, and it’s dangerous, and so on, but there is a
remarkably vibrant quality of health, and that quality of health has to do with a contact
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with a spirit of making and building, a contact with a spirit of invention, and people go
there and tap into it. I went there and spent sixteen years there and tapped into it, and I
became a good composer in my time in New York City, and I count the fact of the city
itself a big part of the stimulus to write music well. I was forced to leam to concentrate
in New York City because there was so much distraction, so much noise. I had to leam
to concentrate with disraption, and I did. So, New York has a very - it requires of a
person that they have a protective shield, because if you are emotionally and spiritually
open to the full power of that thing it will fry you completely. So it has to be taken in in
tbe doses that you can take it. So it results, yes, in a certain kind of music, and I think
that some of the character that you - the schizoid character that you referred to in the
piece, and also the Pettersson character, is very much a city response, city music, city life.
When I first came to Montana, I had the experience of walking in an open field
and being afraid, because it wasn’t bounded, there will no buildings on either side, and
there was a big distance to be seen, and to be feeling exposed in that place. And the
typical, I think, city response that when you go to a trailhead, for instance, as a city
person and there are a bunch of cars there you say “yeah, it’s okay to be here.” If there
are no cars there you say “what’s wrong with this place?” So coming to Montana,
eventually and over a certain number of years, releasing the city stuff and now going out
and saying if there’s somebody at the trailhead, then what are they doing there? This is
my place!
NK: Right.
DM: So, the big change, in a few words, is the release of the shield that New York
required, the release of that. And the result is that the mind flows outward here, at least
mine does, contacts the land in a different way, allows the contact of the voice of this
land, which is big and powerful, to come through. So I feel the capacity here to be much
more open to the vibration of the Earth, and to allow that to speak itself. I think the
evolution of myself as a person, the evolution of my awareness, of myself as a composer,
has to do with the release of ego in the composing process. To move from making up
music to allowing music, and I think that is typified by the big step from New York City
to Montana. So the quality of allowing, I think, is a serious change that you can perceive.
NK: To me it’s amazing, especially - I’m thinking specifically of the Song Book - how
effective your music can be, and yet some of it is so simple. I played through it and it’s
nothing but a descending scale, and yet it’s beautiful!
DM: [laughter] Yes, right. That to me is a wonderful thing. The language has gotten
simpler, and there can be very few notes on the page and yet they do, they suggest what
needs to be done. I like that, yeah.
NK: Well let me ask - if you don’t mind. I’d like to move on to talking about Song Book
and Mountain Roads a little bit. Let me ask another specific question just about a
notational thing. In the last movement (of Song Book), I believe, I had another note
question. In the saxophone part, here (measure 27, seventh movement of Song Book for
Alto Saxophone and Marimba), did you intend for that to be an F-sharp or an F-natural?
233
DM: Natural.
NK: That’s what I thought.
DM: Yes, it’s incorrect.
NK: I think on the recording with Steve Jordheim, that’s how he plays it. And then there
are a few places, and I think you may have mentioned this in one of your interviews as
well, in the marimha part where there are rolls indicated in the score, but the performer
doesn’t do that. Was that just a question of tempo, not being able to physically do that at
that speed?
DM: Yes, I believe that’s the case. And it’ll be time - 1 think when I get a little hit older,
and I have a free day, I may go look at certain pieces and clean up the editing, yeah
[laughter].
NK: But it’s with your blessing that they did that?
DM: Yes.
NK: Okay. Let’s see. I know both of these pieces contain materials from Bach chorales.
Were there specific reasons for the chorales that you chose for those works?
DM: No. What happens with the chorales is - I’ve been working with them now for a
lot of years, and composing my own four-part chorales in that old style, and so I have
quite a large stack of those composed chorales. And I look at them fairly frequently, and
when I start composing, sometimes - I’m very open to allowing whatever wants to come
to hand to show up, and I’m a big believer in coincidence, that is, meaningful
coincidence. So when a chorale shows up, if you want to put it that way, when I’m in the
process of writing a piece, it will often strike me as, “oh, this is appropriate for this
particular part of this piece,” and so I’ll bring it in. There isn’t a starting point which says
I’m going to use this particular chorale and make something of it. I don’t have an intent
that way, the chorale has - to my way of thinking - the chorale has an intent to come into
the piece as opposed to my having an intent to put a chorale there [laughter]. So, if that
makes any sense.
NK: It does. To me it seems the first movement of the Song Book - 1 notice a
connection, at least, with the opening of that and the first theme from the saxophone
Sonata. I don’t know if there is any specific correlation for you with that, but it’s
basically in the same key, I think, and starts - not in exactly the same way - but listening
to it it struck me once how that’s kind of like what was happening in the Sonata.
DM: Alright. Well, there are certain characters in my composing which continue to
show up, and when they do I let them. If it happens to refer, or have some quality of
reference to another piece, well, fine.
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NK: Yeah.
DM: I always have the interesting idea that, instead of trying to push those things away
and saying this new piece must be quote-unquote “totally original,” that here is this voice
wanting to speak another thought, yeah? So, the Sonata has still something left to say
and it’s in this piece, yeah?
NK: Yeah. I think that’s one of the things that makes your music so characteristic and
easy to identify when somebody hears it - at least for me it does, if I hear one of your
pieces, whether it’s a wind band piece, or a chamber music piece, it usually doesn’t take
me very long to say, “yeah, that’s by David Maslanka.”
DM: That business of style - 1 think every composer who writes well and continues to
write develops ways of making choices, and so I think that that’s what shows up. The
voice begins to show up in a particular way, so yes, that identifies that person. And I’ve
been listening - 1 refer to Philip Glass again because I’ve been listening of late to several
of his pieces, and you can tell instantly when his music happens. And yet within the
context of those radically simple devices which he uses, and persists in using again and
again and again, each instant has its own particular character of freshness and force. And
this is what I found about musical language, is that I don’t think I’ve invented anything
new. All the chords I use, all the rhythms, all the harmonies, all the ways o f - all the
phrase structures, all the forms, these have been brought forward by other composers, and
yet the particular voice comes not by inventing new parts of language, but by allowing
the language to speak through the individual person. Now we don’t ask this of spoken
language. We sit here and we talk together, and we don’t ask for radical. . .
NK: No. All of these words have been used before.
DM: Right, yes [laughter]. We demand that we pay attention to a very conservative
grammatical construction so that we can understand each other, and I think music is
much the same way. Original speech, original poetic or prose writing, can only bend the
rules of speech so far before it becomes meaningless, and the same thing happens in
music.
NK: Sure. In the seventh movement of the Song Book - that seems very familiar
somehow, and I’m wondering if the ideas for that, particularly in the middle section of
that where it starts to get a little busier and faster - this may seem odd, but it actually
reminds me of music from one of the Star Trek movies. I’m just wondering if that, again,
if there’s any reference point somewhere else for that?
DM: Not for Star Trek, although, you know. I’ve heard the music, and all of that is in my
head somewhere. So yeah, if you hear a reference to Star Trek it may well be there, and
I’m not going to deny it. For me, this music in this last movement refers more to Brahms
than it does to anything.
235
NK: Okay.
DM: I’ve always been very, very attracted to his solo piano music, particularly the
intermezzo pieces, and this music reminds me more of that. That’s where 1 would place
the reference.
NK: Okay.
DM: Maybe John Williams listened to Brahms, too [laughter]!
NK: 1 suppose he did [laughter]! I’ve had friends of mine and a couple of teachers of
mine talk about your music, and one of my teachers said that the reason he doesn’t do
more of your music is that a lot of it is pretty lengthy. And 1 had a discussion with him;
we talked a little bit about the merits of taking a piece and performing, say, selected
movements from it. How does that strike you, as someone who writes this music?
DM: (gives a thumbs down gesture).
NK: As a bad idea?
DM: Yeah, I’m not happy with that, no. There are lots and lots of reasons that people
put forth for not doing the music, and the length thing people have said again and again,
you know, the music is too long, and they don’t want to for whatever reason. For me, in
general it tells me that the person is emotionally not ready to deal with that.
NK: And what I’ve said is that, you know, if you go to an orchestra concert you’ll often
hear pieces that are forty, fifty minutes long and nobody complains about that.
DM: That’s right. Well, some people do [laughter]!
NK: Yes, 1 suppose that’s true!
DM: Well, in wind music, particularly band music, the traditions of it have been pieces
which are three, four, and five minutes long. Eight minutes gets to be long, ten minutes
is a very long piece. That’s the history of it. And so people will put together programs
that have eight, nine, ten pieces on them, and that’s how they think. Now, I’ve said to
people who have said, “well, we want to do a movement of a symphony,” and I’ve said,
“well, why don’t you do the whole thing?” “Well, we don’t have time.” Well, how long
is your program? If your program is going to be sixty or seventy minutes of music, well,
make thirty of that the symphony. So, to my way of thinking, obviously it’s not an issue,
but clearly it is a trouble for people, and there’s nothing 1 can do about it. 1 wrote the
Fourth Symphony in a single movement so that it couldn’t be divided up [laughter], but
this is the way people think.
NK: Do you find any particular challenges in writing, say, for saxophone and marimba
as opposed to saxophone and piano?
236
DM: Well, they’re just different instruments, and the marimha has its own requirements.
The marimha to me suggests always a more delicate music. You can write softly for the
piano, too, but the piano has a much bigger power, it can do a lot more things than the
marimha can. And so the marimha - when I took it up for this piece I was asked to write
for this combination - the immediate thoughts were not, in any way, dynamically
overbearing, although there are some loud passages. The first thoughts were intimate and
continued for the whole piece to have an intimate quality. Now I really enjoyed that
about this piece, and I think it was a key thing for me, because I have a quality of
intimacy which can happen in the music; there’s also a quality of bombast which can
happen in the music [laughter]. Overload. And this piece for marimba and saxophone
tended to move me consistently toward the more intimate side, and since I’ve written that
piece I have written a lot more music which is of an intimate nature. There’s a second
piece called Song Book for flute and wind ensemble, which was premiered two years ago,
and it is in five movements, it’s a very big piece, it’s fifty minutes of music, in a concerto
for flute, and it has very little tutti ensemble music in it. Most of it is chamber music, for
the entire length, and very engaging music. So something has spoken to me in recent
times that you don’t have to overpower people, that it is - that intimate music is
engaging. I don’t know where that’s going to take me hut we’ll see.
NK: I agree, and I think there can be a real intensity even in intimate music.
DM: O f course.
NK: Just looking at the Song Book, it strikes me that it would work very well as a piece
to teach phrasing and how to play a musical line and build a phrase, if one were working
on it with a student, because I think part of the, I guess maybe the - 1 don’t know if
danger is the right word, but I’ll use the word danger - but the danger of the simplicity of
it is that you kind of stop paying attention, but you know, it’s almost more difficult to
play a phrase with so few notes and make it convincing.
DM: Oh, of course it is. It’s much harder. I mean, when you have something which is
technically quote-unquote “challenging,” then you think you have accomplished
something when you’ve learned all the notes with your fingers, eh? And then there’s the
question of musical expression and character. But when there are fewer notes, especially
if they’re whole-notes, then the requirement to know who you are when playing this
music just comes forward. And so the Song Book has a lot more open space in it for the
performers to be themselves, and they have to know who that is. That’s the hard part.
Now, if you’re people who don’t want to play the long pieces, you may not want to play
the slow pieces either, yeah?
NK: Could well be! Well, I don’t want to wear you out, are you doing okay on time?
DM: I’m fine, yeah.
237
NK; Okay. Then I’ll ask you a few more questions, mostly about the quartet, Mountain
Roads. I’ve read the program notes for the piece that are done by the Transcontinental
Saxophone Quartet, about the background of the piece, of the dream nature of the themes.
And then, of the form of the piece - are there any particular Baroque cantatas, whether by
Bach or anyone else, that you used as a model for the piece?
DM: No, there’s not a specific model, it’s just the general idea of the cantata that struck
me that that’s what 1 was doing as 1 was writing this piece, was writing an instrumental
cantata, if you want to think of it that way. So the idea of an overture, and of a finale,
and of an aria, and of chorales, which is what happens in cantatas. The thing that 1 found
most interesting about the Bach cantatas, and about the bigger choral works, say the
Passions, is that when he used a chorale, which he would do fairly frequently, there
would be this - almost this quality of telegraphing that a chorale was going to happen,
and the chorale would be this community statement, reflecting on a spiritual aspect or an
emotional-spiritual aspect of what was going on in this music. Suddenly this chorale
would be this formal construction which appeared, a very impersonal, if you want to
think of it that way, but very powerful force would show up as a sudden focus within
whatever dramatic context was happening, and it always struck me that that’s the power
of the chorales. They become impersonal and yet they have about them the depth of
character and soul and personhood, and they have that potential for power. Now you
look at them, because you studied them as freshmen, and you say, “oh man, look at Bach
chorales, we have to study Bach chorales, you know, what is that?’’ But 1 have another,
and it’s a more Buddhist approach to the Bach chorales [laughter], and that is to meditate
on them by essentially staring at them, at these seemingly very simple things for great
lengths of time, and they keep giving a new thing. To stare at the same set of issues,
again and again and again and again, produces, each time, a different depth, a different
character from that same thing. So the quality of newness in music, to me, becomes less
and less and less of interest, that is, of inventing something new, or of a new style, or of
styles in general, become uninteresting to me as a way of going about music. The real
interest is discovering the life of the moment through the language that you’re dealing
with. 1 grew up in this culture, in this musical culture, which has its full influence of the
European history. 1 am not Asian, 1 am not African, 1 am American with a European
background, and so this is the language 1 know intently and deeply, and 1 keep staring at
the same places. The chorales do that. So when they show up in the - both in the Song
Book, and particularly in Mountain Roads, they have that particular focused and powerful
effect. Now, the last chorale, the last movement in Mountain Roads, which uses that
chorale All Men Must Die, is the way in which 1 sing the chorales. 1 do this when 1 use
the chorales every day. I’ll play all the four parts while singing the soprano, then I’ll play
the four parts and sing the alto, play the four parts and sing the tenor, so 1 said
“hmm.. .well, let’s do the end of the piece this way.” So here you have alto having, or
the soprano having its say, the alto has its say, the tenor has its say, the baritone has its
vocal say within the context of this. It becomes very personal, yeah.
NK: It’s interesting that you don’t hear that until the very end of the piece. You hear all
of these variations on that, and then it leads up to, finally, the chorale.
238
DM; Yeah, uh-huh. It’s so curious, very interesting, and I like it a bunch.
NK: Is there anything you can say about the character of any of the movements of
Mountain Roadsl I know you talked about the specific meanings of the chorales that you
use, and I get a sense of the struggle with coming to terms with death and dying, but is
there anything that you can say to elaborate on that, anything specific?
DM: I don’t know. Well, I don’t think any one piece of music or any one experience is -
I may be wrong - but will take one past the fear of dying, but it is an emerging thought
out of this piece. I don’t know. When I think about the piece as a whole, let me get at it
this way: if I think about the piece as a whole, it has about it a particular buoyant life.
Even the slow music and the reflective music has about it an energized, almost an elated
quality, even though it may get soft and at the end it does have all this serious chorale.
But even when it talks about the idea of “All Men Must Die,” it is not - it is in no way
defeated, it is not a somber music.
NK: And the chorale itself is not a particularly somber or sad sounding chorale.
DM: No, it isn’t, it isn’t. It is not, it’s a most curious thing. I think the best I can say for
it is that this piece, as with other pieces, points back to the relationship of the composer to
a living force that wants to be expressed. That the composer’s job is to release ego
enough so that whatever wants to happen can happen, and it’s going to be a surprise to
the composer as well. Now, my idea is that the mind, as you grow up, is prepared by
education, it’s also made what it is by the facts of your birth and the facts of your family
life, and whatever the difficulties or troubles, and the good things, that go into that. So
your personal psychology is set in place, and you grow up believing that that is who you
are. As you get older you realize that that’s only half the issue. That the personal
psychology is the thing which allows you to express the bigger force that all people are
connected to. I began to realize it, fairly on in my composing, that a bigger force was
trying to come through me, and I also began to realize over time that it didn’t have much
to do with my personal psychology. That my personal psychology and training could
facilitate it, but it could also just as easily get in the way of it. So, personal psychology
always colors whatever the music is going to be that comes out. This is just inevitable,
it’s the way it is. But the clearer you are in who you are, and who you know yourself to
be, the more you are able simply to release the need to express yourself. How about that?
Releasing the need to express yourself.
NK: That’s a hard thing to do.
DM: Yeah [laughter]. Does it make sense as a thought, though? You’re going to have to
contemplate this, because I haven’t said it this way before, and I’m very interested in it.
The growth process is releasing the need to express yourself. And then what happens is
that the thing which needs to come forward, through whatever you’re doing, has that
opportunity to come through more forcefully.
NK: But it’s not about you anymore.
239
DM: It’s less about me than it is about that thing which wants to happen. And music
performances are that way. When you talk about a group of people playing music, what
does any one person’s individual capacity for quote-unquote “expression” mean in a
symphonic performance? I mean, you might have a solo part, but finally there’s - the
whole ensemble is putting forward a quality which doesn’t have to do with the personal
issues of any one person. The person playing the french horn solo may be totally
screwed up [laughter], and on his own the personal expression or her own personal
expression might be very difficult, and that person may have a lot of trouble getting along
with people [laughter], but you put a french horn in their hand, and suddenly another
thing happens which has nothing to do with that person. I mean, you know all kinds of
stories of performers who are not nice people, but they play remarkable music. I was just
seeing on TV the other night the Charlie Parker story - do you know anything about that?
NK: Yeah.
DM: And how completely messed up this man was. The life dominated by alcohol and
drugs.
NK: Yeah, until it killed him.
DM: Until it killed him. But through that mess - and it wasn’t because of the mess, it
was in spite of the mess - this powerful thing happened. Now, the mess may have
broken him in such a way that he did not live a quote-unquote “normal” life, you know,
and that he was able to let this spill out, but there are so many composers whose personal
issues have been the real struggle. In Classical music one of my emotional favorites is
Mussorgsky because it was the same deal, he killed himself with alcohol by the time he
was forty-five. And he was in many respects a failed composer, but he was a genius. A
failed person. But that doesn’t matter anymore, you know, what matters is what was in
that came through, that had nothing to do with his personal stuff. So, think about that,
and I’m going to think about it, too. Releasing the idea of having to express something.
NK: What you’re saying makes me wonder. If you look at the life of someone like
Mussorgsky, or Franz Schubert, or Mozart - composers who died relatively very young,
but yet composed wonderful music in their youth - if there was something at work
making them do that earlier because they were going to stop existing. I mean, say you
look at Beethoven’s career by the time he was thirty, if he had died then, would we
remember him as a great composer?
DM: He would be on the edges of it, you know, there would be enough music to say that
he was a potential, but he wouldn’t be in the same category of those other people. I do
believe that there is - and this is personal - that people choose their lives, that everyone
has a whole series of lives, and that you are responsible for choosing the context of the
life, and the potential for the nature of that life, but not the specifics. But the idea of the
early death may be there as you enter the life, and so the real need to do what you’re
going to do in that space of time, yes. But you look at a life like Mozart’s: now he was
240
another man involved with alcohol, and the speculation is that he may have died from
brain trauma from having fallen when drunk. And as amazing a talent as ever existed in
music, but the early music is - has no particular personal stamp, it is just very gifted stuff
which doesn’t much appeal to me. But when he gets on, when he gets into, you know,
his early thirties, he begins to open a different door, he begins to hear and feel music in a
different way, and an emotional depth that is - a connection which he was searching for
at the time of his death is strongly apparent. If he had lived, and if he had gone forward,
it would have been an amazing other thing.
NK: Yeah. But we can’t know what it would have been.
DM: No, that’s speculation, and there’s no point.
NK: Well, thank you so much for giving me this time today. I appreciate it greatly, and
it’s been wonderful for me just to get the opportunity to talk with you and get your ideas,
not only on this particular music, but on music in general.
DM: Well, when you get something down, before you get to the finished version, if you
want me to comment on anything I’d be happy to.
NK: I would love that. And if it’s not too much trouble, could I call you again if I come
up with a few more questions?
DM: Yeah, please do.
APPENDIX B
Catalog of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works
242
Catalog of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works

(Listed Alphabetically by Title)
A Litany fo r Courage and the Seasons, (1988), for chorus, clarinet, and vibraphone
on poems of Richard Beale. Duration: 25 minutes. Premiered April 1988 hy
the University of Connecticut Choir, Peter Bagley, conductor.
Anne Sexton Songs, (1977), three songs on poems of Aime Sexton for mezzo
soprano and piano. Duration: 15 minutes. Premiered July 1977 by Sheila Allen,
soprano.
Arcadia, (1982), for cello quartet. Duration: 12 minutes.
Arise!, (1986), for brass quintet. Duration: 4 minutes. Premiered April 1987 by the
Aries Brass Quintet.
Black Dog Songs, (1996), six songs on poems of Richard Beale for tenor and piano.
Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered March 1997 hy Jeff Tahor, tenor and Alan
Case, piano.
Cello Songs, (1978), for cello and piano. Duration: 22 minutes. Premiered October
1978 by James Kirkwood, cello and James Willey, piano.
Duo, (1972), for flute and piano. Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered December 1972
By Leone Buyse, flute and Joseph Dechario, piano.
Five Songs, (1977), for soprano, baritone, and chamber orchestra. Duration: 30
minutes. Premiered April 1977 hy the Sarah Lawrence College Orchestra,
Katharine Rowe, soprano.
Fourth Piece, (1979), for clarinet and piano. Duration: 7 minutes. Premiered April
1980 hy Meyer Kupferman, clarinet.
Fragments (1971), for chamber orchestra. Duration: 30 minutes. Premiered May

1971.
243
Heaven to Clear When Day Did Close, (1981), for tenor saxophone and string quartet.
Duration: 22 minutes. Premiered February 1982 by Ramon Ricker,
saxophone, and the Bel Canto String Quartet, Sydney Hodkinson, conductor.
Hills o f May, (1978), for soprano and string quartet on a poem of Robert Graves.
Duration: 7 minutes. Premiered May 1978 by the Laurentian String Quartet,
Katharine Rowe, soprano.
Images from ‘The Old Gringo ’ (Carlos Fuentes), (1987), for violin, clarinet, and piano.
Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered October 1987 by Richard Balkin,
Violin, Ernest Lascell, clarinet, and James Willey, piano.
Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg, (1984), for tenor, alto flute and contrabass. Duration:
30 minutes. Premiered November 1984 by Ralph Williams, tenor, Nancy
Turetsky, flute, and Bertram Turetsky, bass.
Little Concerto fo r Six Players, (1990). Duration: 7 minutes. Premiered August 1990
at the Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East,
Bennington College, Vermont, by a participant group conducted by David
Maslanka.
Little Symphony on the Name o f Barney Childs, (1989), for clarinet. Duration: 6
minutes. Published in Etudes for the Twenty-first Century Clarinetist, Philip
Rehfeldt, ed.
Meditation on ‘Dr. Affectionate’ (Gunther Grass), (1981), for guitar. Duration: 5

minutes. Premiered October 1985 by Jorge Morel, guitar.
Montana Music: Fantasy on a Chorale Tune, (1993), for violin and viola. Duration:
11 minutes. Premiered June 1993 by Johann Johnson, violin and Russell
Guyver, viola.
Montana Music: Trio, (1993), for violin, cello, and piano. Duration: 7 minutes.
Premiered May 1995 by Margaret Baldridge, violin. Fern Glass Boyd, cello,
and Stephen Hesla, piano.
Mountain Roads, (1997), for saxophone quartet. Duration: 30 minutes. Premiered

November 1998 by the Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet.
Music fo r Dr. Who, (1979), for bassoon and piano. Duration: 4 minutes. Premiered
February 1979 by John Steinmetz, bassoon and Barney Childs, piano.
My Lady White, (1980), for marimba. Duration: 10 minutes. Premiered May 1980 by
Lauren Vogel, marimba.
244
Nocturne, (1990), for violin and piano. Duration: 4 minutes. Premiered May 1990 by
Richard Balkin, violin.
Or/j/zews', (1977), for two bassoons and piano. Duration: 15 minutes. Premiered
November 1977 at Sarah Lawrence College.
Piano Song, (1978), for piano. Duration: 8 minutes. Premiered by James Willey,
piano.
Pray fo r Tender Voices in the Darkness, (1974), for harp and piano. Duration: 8
minutes. Premiered March 1974 by Barbara Dechario, harp and Joseph
Dechario, piano.
Quintet fo r Winds No. 7,(1984). Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered November 1984

by the Aspen Wind Quintet.
Quintet fo r Winds No. 2, (1986). Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered January 1986 by

the Manhattan Wind Quintet.
Quintet fo r Winds No. 2, (1999). Duration: 27 minutes. Premiered March 2000 by

the Missouri Quintet.
Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, (19SS). Duration: 32 minutes. Premiered

January 1989 by Susan Jennings, saxophone and Bruce Patterson, piano.
Sonata fo r Horn and Piano, (1996). Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered April 1997 by
William Schamberg, horn.
Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, {1992, row. 1999). Duration: 27 minutes. Revised version
premiered March 2000 by Dan Willett, oboe. Also transcribed for soprano
saxophone and piano.
Song Book, (1998), for alto saxophone and marimba. Duration: 30 minutes.
Premiered November 1998 by Steve Jordheim, saxophone and Dane
Richeson, marimba.
String Quartet, (1968). Duration: 30 minutes. Premiered July 1978 by the Tremont
String Quartet.
Tears, (1994), for viola, cello, bassoon, and piano. Duration: 12 minutes.
The Nameless Fear; or: The Unanswered Question Put Yet Another Way, (1973), for
SATB chorus, speakers, harpsichord, guitars, flute, bassoon, percussion.
Duration: 20 minutes. Premiered March 1973 by the Geneseo Chamber
Singers, James Walker, conductor.
245
Three Pieces, (1975), for clarinet and piano. Duration: 17 minutes. Premiered
February 1976 by Philip Rehfeldt, clarinet and Barney Childs, piano.
Trio fo r Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, (1971). Duration: 15 minutes. Premiered

March 1972.
Trio No. 2 fo r Viola, Clarinet, and Piano, (1973). Duration: 15 minutes. Premiered
December 1973.
Variations on Xoi'tZove’, (1977), for marimba. Duration: 15 minutes. Premiered

October 1977 by Leigh Howard Stevens, marimba.
APPENDIX C
Discography of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works
247
Discography of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works

(Listed Alphabetically by Album Title)
American Breath. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. Russell Peterson,

saxophone. CD, Barking Dog Records BDR2181, 2001.
Aries/Arise. Arise. Aries Brass Quintet. DDDDB7701-2.
Blue Dawn into White Heat. Quintet fo r Winds No. 2. Bergen Woodwind
Quintet. CD, Innova Records 517, 1999.
David Maslanka: Quintets Nos. 1-3. Quintet fo r Winds No. 1, Quintet fo r Winds
No. 2, and Quintet fo r Winds No. 3. Bergen Woodwind Quintet, CD,
Bis Records 1228, 2002.
David Maslanka Wind Quintets. Quintet fo r Winds No. 1 and Quintet fo r Winds
No. 2. The Missouri Quintet. CD, Cambria Records CD1079, 1996.
Eastman American Music Series, Vol. 11. Heaven to clear when day did close.
Ramon Ricker, tenor saxophone, Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble. CD, Albany
Records Troy 236, 1997.
Juggernaut. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. Jeremy Justeson, saxophone.

CD, Equilibrium Records 49, 2002.
Marimba Spiritual. My Lady White. Katarzyna Mycza, marimba. CD, Audite

Records 97450, 2000.
Mountain Roads. Mountain Roads. The Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet. CD,

Music for Winds. Quintet fo r Winds No. 3, Music fo r Dr. Who, Little Symphony, and
Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano. The Missouri Quintet, Janice Wenger, piano. CD,
248
Purcell: Trio Sonatas. Quintet fo r Winds No. 2. Les Nieces de Rameau. CD, Pierre
Verany 795093, 1995.
Relentless. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. Jamal Rossi, saxophone. CD,
Mark Custom Recording Service, Inc. 2553-MCD, 1999.
Something O ld .. .Something New. My Lady White. James Moyer, marimba. CD,

Motera Nebula Records NCC 1703.
Sonate. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano. Kenneth Tse, saxophone. CD, Riax
Records RICA-2002, 1998.
The Geneseo Chamber Singers, Vol. IX. A Litany fo r Courage and the Seasons.
The Geneseo Chamber Singers, Robert M. Isgro, Director. CD, Mark Custom
Recording Service, Inc. 21000-MCD.
The Music of David Maslanka. Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano and Song
Book fo r alto saxophone and marimba. Steven Jordheim, saxophone. CD,
When Angels Speak. Quintet fo r Winds No. 2. Manhattan Wind Quintet. CD,
APPENDIX D
Letters of Permission for Use of Copyrighted Materials
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Dear Mr. Keedy:
You are granted permission to reproduce the musical examples from David
Maslanka’s Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano as necessary for your dissertation An
Analysis o f D avid M aslanka’s Chamber Music fo r Saxophone. No fee is required for
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W e request a copy o f your dissertation upon its completion and we encourage you
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252
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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

The Graduate School

AN ANALYSIS OF DAVID MASLANKA’S

A Dissertation Suhmitted in Partial Fulfillment

Nathan Andrew Keedy

College of Performing and Visual Arts

All rights reserved.

ProQuest Information and Learning Company

NATHAN ANDREW KEEDY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Kenneth iSTngleton, D.M. A.

Nathan Andrew Keedy

DEAN OF THE GRADUATE Si

Examination Date 01 Dissertation

Keedy, Nathan Andrew. An Analysis o f David Maslanka’s Chamber Music fo r

development of his compositional style, is provided as well. Corrections to the pieces

composer, are also included.

A transcript of an interview with David Maslanka conducted by the author, a

recordings are also presented as appendices to the study.

The author wishes to express his appreciation to his committee members,

also Professor Roger McDonald for his continuing mentorship.

Saxophone and Piano, Song Book, and Mountain Roads.

insight, encouragement, and complete willingness to be involved in all aspects of this

Biographical Sketch of David Maslanka........................................................1

II. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE...................................... 12

III. SONATA FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND PIANO.....................................19

IV. SONG BOOK FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE AND MARIMBA............... 104

VI. CONCLUSION............................................................................................ 216

Significance of the Study............................................................................ 216

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................... 219

APPENDIX A: Interview with David Maslanka................................................................223

APPENDIX B: Catalog of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works........................241

APPENDIX C: Discography of David Maslanka’s Solo and Chamber Works...............246

APPENDIX D: Letters o f Permission for Use of Copyrighted Materials........................249

Table 3.1: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1®*movement....... 25

Table 3.2: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 2"‘*movement...... 48

Table 3.3: Form of Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 3'^‘*movement....... 71

Table 4.1: Form of Song Book, “Chorale Trio” ........................ 108

Table 4.2: Form of Song Book, Serious Music......................... 109

Table 4.3: Form of Song Book, “Peaceful Duet”..................... 110

Table 4.4: Form of Song Book, Evening S o n g ......................... 111

Table 5.1: Form o f Mountain Roads, Overture........................ . 164

Table 5.2: Form o f Mountain Roads, Movements 2-5............. 165

Table 5.3: Form o f Mountain Roads, Finale............................ ......166

Example 3.1: Franz Liszt, Sonata fo r Piano in B minor, mm. 1-15................................. 24

Example 3.2: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 3-23..................................27

Example 3.3: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 26-36............................... 31

Example 3.5: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 56-59............................... 33

Example 3.6: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 60-64.............................. 34

Example 3.7: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 71-79................................37

Example 3.8: Franz Liszt, Sonata fo r Piano in B minor, mm. 105-119..........................38

Example 3.9: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 90-102............................ 39

Example 3.\0\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 110-112........................... 40

Example 3.W\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 128-132.......................... 42

Example 3.12: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 150-170........................... 44

Example 3.\3\ Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1, mm. 184-186.......................... 45

Example 3.16: Francis Poulenc, Sonata fo r Oboe and Piano, 1, 93-96............................ 52

Example 3.23: Sonata fo r Alto Saxophone and Piano,...II, mm. 71-74..............................65

Example4.3: SongB ook,l,m m .25-ZA.......................................................................... 115

Example 4.4: Song Book, I, mm. 52-61............................................................................ 117

Example 4.6: Song Book, II, mm. 1-15..............................................................................120

Example 4.7: Song Book, II, mm. 28-31............................................................................120

Example 4.8: Bach Chorale, number 233, Be glad, my soul............................................ 123

Example 4.9: Song Book, III, mm. 1-4...............................................................................124