Clair-Obscur Saxophonquartett

Why bow when you can blow? Of all the families of instruments, only the saxophone has the requisite homogeneity and rich world of sound to compete with the string quartet. The storming march of the saxophone quartet during the past hundred years should therefore surprise nobody. The German Clair-Obscur ensemble demonstrates the staggering possibilities of this grouping in works from the most divergent periods of style. The range here extends from the dizzying counterpoint of Bach's 'The Art of Fugue' through the neo-classical subtlety of Ravel to the grotesque modernism of Ligeti, whose 'Six Bagatelles' - rich in contrast - are an arrangement of six pieces from 'Musica Ricercata' for piano, written during the reign of terror in Hungary and at the time intended by the composer as a "knife in Stalin's heart". In an entirely different strain is Philip Glass's poignant film score for 'Mishima'. On to the powerfully evocative music of Saint-Saëns' colourful animal suite, which offers the four musicians plenty of scope to create an abundance of sound colours and to revel in turns as soloist.