Fiveplay (saxes & piano version)

Year: 2019
Duration: 15:00
Personnel: Oboe, Alto Sax, Horn, Bassoon, Piano

Dedicated to the Atlantic Chamber Players

Saxes & Piano version commissioned by Dr. Paul Cohen

Premiere: 14 January 2023
Paul Cohen Quartet, Anna Keiserman (piano)
Navy Band Saxophone Symposium
Washington DC

Review:

New York-based Steve Cohen has produced a large body of symphonic, chamber, liturgical, and musical-theatre pieces plus many for saxophone. His Fiveplay was composed in 2019 as a single-movement work for oboe, alto sax, horn, bassoon, and piano, but at Paul's request a three-part version for saxophone quartet and piano was created. Fiveplay impresses as a particularly sophisticated illustration of chamber music writing, from its dignified “Andante moderato” and serenading “Lento” (note the lovely saxophone chorale that introduces it) to its infectiously rousing “Allegro agitato,” and the partnering of piano and saxophone quartet reaps tremendous rewards.

— Textura.org