Blossoming

Saxophone Quartet

Daniel Temkin

About

Blossoming (2012) is a short work written for PRISM saxophone quartet, which seeks to explore the saxophone’s softer side. At the outset of my composing, I imagined a piece that would start from pure sounds of blowing air, and then gradually add pitch and rhythm, as if in a journey from something amorphous towards something concrete and defined. As the piece developed, the title ‘Blossoming’ seemed to reflect the swells of sounds and colors coming to life in the piece, as well as the larger musical form – an evolution of connected ideas, moving from soft, to loud, back to soft.

Performance

Daniel Temkin Blossoming

  Duration
07:00
  Commissioning Year
2012
  Premiere
May 9, 2012
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA
  Recording
May 9, 2012
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA

Artists

  • Daniel Temkin Composition

    Composer Daniel Temkin is known for works filled with rich detail and visceral beauty. He has been Composer-in-Residence with Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Intimacy of Creativity Festival in Hong Kong, receiving support from ACF, New Music USA, Amphion, the Aaron Copland Fund, Earshot, the Presser Foundation, and many others. Daniel’s awards include the Indianapolis Symphony’s Glick Prize, two BMI Composer Awards, and Honorable Mention as MTNA’s Distinguished Composer of the Year.

    Daniel’s orchestra music has been heard worldwide, with performances by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Russia’s St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, and the USC, Curtis, Aspen, and Brevard orchestras. Daniel has also worked with leading chamber groups, including PRISM Quartet, Mirror Visions Ensemble, and members of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, CMS II, Ensemble Connect, Astral Artists, and Young Concert Artists.

    Daniel directs the series DTM Concerts, presenting recent music of living composers, and he has previously worked in artistic positions with Thornton EDGE and the Melos Music collective. Daniel’s work has been heard on APM’s “”Performance Today,”” PBS Philadelphia’s “”WHYY,”” and recordings of the Naxos, Albany, and Navona labels.

    Earning degrees from Rutgers (BM), NEC (MM), Curtis (AD), and USC (DMA), Daniel was a composition fellow at Aspen, Fontainebleau, and Brevard, as well as a percussionist at Aspen. He currently teaches as Assistant Professor of Music at Bucknell University.

  • Prism Saxophone Quartet
  • Timothy McAllister Soprano Saxophone
  • Zachary Shemon Alto Saxophone
  • Robert Young Tenor Saxophone
  • Taimur Sullivan Baritone Saxophone

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