Parabeat (Sax Quartet)

• Movement 1 – Machine
• Movement 2 – Aperture
• Movement 3 – Push

Instrumentation:

• Soprano Sax
• Alto Sax
• Tenor Sax
• Baritone Sax

Parabeat is a sax quartet composed by Christopher Mesa. The instrumentation is for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone. This piece adapts percussion techniques for non-percussive instruments. Steve Reich’s Different Trains, for string quartet and tape, was a major influence–specifically his use of paradiddle rhythms (RLRR and LRLL) between pitches as a substitute for drum stickings. The incorporation of this technique is found in the first and third movements, though not to the same extent as Reich. The name of this piece, Parabeat, is reflective of the paradiddle term.

© 2024 by Christopher Mesa. All Rights Reserved.