Pagine Bros Saxophone Quartet

• 1Itene, o miei sospiri03:26
• 2Tu m'uccidi, o crudele03:05
• 3Fughetta super Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot, BWV 679 (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)01:25
• 4Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit, BWV 669 (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)02:11
• 5I. Allegro (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)03:01
• 6I. Andante (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)10:14
• 7Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361, Gran Partita (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)04:54
• 8Vous faites partie de moi (I've Got You Under My Skin) (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)05:30
• 9O Virgo splendens [Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain, Late 14th Century]02:58
• 10Tres dous compains [14th Century] (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)03:44
• 11Who cares? (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)02:34
• 12I. Allegrissimo (arr. S. Sciarrino for 4 saxophones)03:42
• Total Runtime46:44

Info for Pagine

The saxophone quartet is an incredibly homogeneous and flexible grouping, which was conceived more than 100 years ago, but little used outside jazz and is thus still to be explored.

The Italian saxophone school has recently blossomed from the French school, and the technical quality of instrumentalists has much grown. In the meantime, in all of Europe an original chamber repertoire has begun to form around the various formations possible with this instrument. It was precisely the difficulty of combining something else with this composition that alerted me to a certain lack of identity in the saxophone quartet, since it cannot draw, as all other instruments can, on its own Pre-Romantic repertory.

Therefore I have tried to make a real contribution to resolving the problem of repertory, in my view central, and I have thought not so much of the individual compositions as of cycles. In fact, I have conceived two programme halves, in which I have included some encore pieces. These half concertos to me seem ideal to approach as one wishes a contemporary goal, both mixed and unitary.

The first proposal is called Pagine, an open anthology on different centuries and genres. In combining the pieces I have avoided stereotypes; in fact, I have aimed at the inexhaustible modernity of the masters of the past, which today it is fashionable shamelessly to ignore.

I have never claimed to have said everything and I leave space for my friends, to whose wedding with the saxophone my efforts are dedicated. (Salvatore Sciarrino)

“…Of the many hot tickets of the congress, the much-anticipated performance of Bros Quartet had the audience queuing in the corridors. The charismatic foursome of Gerard McChrystal, Antonio Felipe Belijar, Mario Marzi and João Pedro Silva presented a diverse, energetic and hugely entertaining programme, reflecting the musical background of the four players.” (In CASS - Clarinet & Sax Society)

Bros Saxophone Quartet:
Gerard McChrystal, soprano saxophone
Antonio Felipe Belijar, alto saxophone
João Pedro Silva, tenor saxophone
Mario Marzi, baritone saxophone

Bros Saxophone Quartet
Coming from Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal, the Bros Saxophone Quartet sprang from the desire of four friends to fuse their different experiences as soloists in the service of chamber music.

As refined interpreters perfectly identified with their saxophones, they set out on a musical journey whose search issues in multifarious musical places and languages.

It is sensitive virtuosismo, and meaning and emotion, which make the B.S.Q one of the most interesting and innovative ensembles on the international scene. The fusion of their various musical experiences seemed to them to be the ideal mirror in which to seek a meeting point between emotion, instinct and personal search.

Music has helped to strengthen the friendship between these four friends, confirming once more that it is a very special art without borders and walls, because it lives through its own incredible strength and freedom.

After their premiere, at the XVII World Saxophone Congress, Strasbourg, the B.S.Q. recorded a CD for the Italian Label Stradivarius with the Salvatore Sciarrino's Pagine.

This album contains no booklet.