Media:

Saxophone Quartet #1 - Miguel A. Bolivar

Written for the AM/PM Quartet

live performance by the AM/PM Quartet - Jeremiah Baker (soprano sax), Zach Herchen (alto sax), Miguel Bolivar (tenor sax), Cara Salveson (baritone sax)

Mvmt I and Mvmt II (attacca)

Download MP3
Mvmt III

Download MP3
Mvmt IV

Download MP3

Program Notes:
This quartet was written in 2007 and is a piece that spawns all of its main ideas from the slow, chorale like, initial movement. The use of harmonic sound, rhythmic interaction, and resolution all become the main ingredients for each of movements that follow.

Number Stations - Paul Leary

Commissioned and premiered by Zach Herchen in 2010

recorded by Zach Herchen and Paul Leary

Download MP3

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Kevin Clark

Written for and premiered by Zach Herchen in 2006, revised 2009

live performance by Zach Herchen

1. Groove

Download MP3

2. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Download MP3

Program Notes:
This piece was originally written for saxophonist Zachary Robert Herchen, hence the title. He asked me for a piece that would make him want to die, and I gave him this. The piece has a consummate technical challenge, and then what he was not expecting - acting. The T.S. Eliot poem is about the breakdown of language, about anxiety, and about the impossibility of meaningful action, but others have written better about the poem. I just set it to music for saxophone. Whenever a solfege syllable, such as ‘do re mi’, or a chromatic syllable, such as ‘di’, ‘ra’, and ‘ri’, that syllable is set on that note in the saxophone, with some modifications, and some exceptions. The text that appears without notes should in fact be read, this is a performance of poetry. The epigraph, which is in Italian and comes from Dante, should be read. The performer would be well advised to look at some criticism about the poem, some information on T.S. Eliot. The ‘harsh’ and ‘smooth’ notations denote two different attitudes one finds in the poem, though the attitudes in the music and the attitudes in the text do not always line up. The ‘harsh’ attitude is angry at the human condition, frustrated with existence, and is expressed through a more assaulting timbre. The ‘smooth’ attitude is passive, functioning in the world, verging on resigned, and should be played with a cleaner, more relaxed timbre. The low A-naturals and A-flats are played by covering the bell of the instrument with the knee, usually the left, to varying extents.

White Fog, a dreamscape - Adam Knauss

Written for No Signal

live premiere by No Signal - Rachel Gawell (cello), Zach Herchen (tenor saxophone), and Greg Jukes (vibraphone)

Download MP3

Program Notes:
White Fog was written in 2008 for No Signal. When asked about the piece, Adam Knauss recalled the view from his window at night, through dense fog and city lights, with only the tips of several buildings visible. The composition captures a spacious feeling with a sense of safety mirrored by the anxiety of a daunting future. Mr. Knauss recognizes Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (1978) as an influence, particularly its slow spacious style, although White Fog is not directly modeled on a particular piece.

I Am Dancing Blue Flame - Ying-Chen Kao

Text by H. A. Kares and electronics by Jenny Beck

live performance by Bonnie Lander (soprano), Zach Herchen (tenor saxophone), and David Witmer (piano)

Download MP3

Program Notes:
I am Dancing Blue flame is a musical work that portrays the female perspective of the soul reaching and extending into a dualistic vision of oneself. We are often over stimulated in society and forget to identify with who we really are from an organic perspective. Therefore I tried to create a world of stasis and meditation to counter the hectic and confused state that we often live in. I did this by using a mixture of dark and bright colors with intertwining melodic lines. The idea behind the prerecorded voice and sound samples is to interlace the metaphoric inner voice of the protagonist.

This piece is written for my dearest friend Bonnie Lander whom I have known for a long period of time. I as well would like to thank Jenny Beck who helped me with the computer aspects. Most of all I would like to thank Heather Kares for writing this dramatic and meaningful poem that inspired me to write this piece.

Far North - music composed by Mattias Sköld,
projected video created by Raketa

Written for and premiered by Zach Herchen in 2009

excerpt from a live performance by Zach Herchen at the L'Atelier Collaborative in Venice, Italy

Eye See Ewe - animation by Anna Meadors

Commissioned by No Signal

live premiere by No Signal, improvised music - Rachel Gawell (cello), Zach Herchen (tenor saxophone), and Greg Jukes (vibraphone)