Metallic Midnight in Morocco Paul Dolden

Metallic Midnight in Morocco was the first of two commissions I did for David Brutti. David wanted a work for his new Contra Bass Saxophone. An instrument that goes lower than the Bass Sax, all the way down to the lowest notes of the piano. The work is primarily motivated by the melodic materials of the soloist, which are accompanied by the different virtual orchestras of the pre-recorded tape. About half the work is microtonal, which makes it extremely difficult to play on such a low-pitched instrument. David pulled it off with aplomb with incredible musicality and accuracy. In order for other people to play the work, there is a Baritone Sax version. The microtonal aspect is an adjusted historical tuning system of North African music, hence the title. We recorded the live sax part at a studio in Italy with about 5 microphones strategically placed around the Contra Bass Sax to fully capture the instrument in all its sonic complexity.

Commissioned by David Brutti (Italy).

  • Year of composition: 2013
  • Format: Mixed work
  • Instrumentation: Baritone or Contra Bass Sax and tape
  • Duration of the submitted work: 16:50

Documents

More works by Paul Dolden