Karl Jenkins
was a composer of music for advertising who turned to large classical pieces in later life. One of his most famous works,
Adiemus
, actually had its premiere in a Delta Airlines commercial. Another lasting work,
The Armed Man
, referred to that medieval song as part of an overall antiwar message. Like
Jenkins
or not, the treatment of medieval music in that work was unique, and he has continued to experiment with ways of incorporating genres of early music into broadly popular classical crossover works. Now in his ninth decade,
seems as popular as ever; the works here were performed on an 80th-birthday tour but were recorded anew (and very nicely indeed -- hear the clarity of the soprano saxophone in its higher registers in
Stravaganza
) at Abbey Road Studios. Both works are concertos of a sort. The reference to earlier forms is stronger in
Palladio Reimagined
, a new and expanded version of an earlier work. This is
' take on the Baroque concerto grosso, with dialogue constructions involving various groups of instruments, and it is a fresh conception that owes little to Stravinskian models. The
title work
is a concerto for soprano saxophone. It is not a "Stravaganza" in the Baroque sense, meaning a "flight of fancy" for a solo instrument, but its solo writing is attractive, with the saxophone inserting itself into the concerto dialogue in inventive ways. All four movements refer to motion or travel in some way, with a partly jazzy finale that is titled with the original significance of the term "Stravaganza." The solo work of saxophonist
Jess Gillam
is notable in a technically challenging part that hangs out at the top of the instrument's range.
' more recent work may not have the instantly compelling quality of
, but he continues to craft interesting crossover music that will give future players something to take up. ~ James Manheim