Non Nova Sed Nove

Non nova sed nove is a reworking of a primary version of 2006. The quartet is written without soprano because I wanted the most homogeneous colour for both upper parts. The original idea was to write a set of five variations persistently based on the same twelve chords, while developing them step by step until a breakpoint where the last variation would invert the process. "Nothing new, but in another way {or "differently"}. Unfortunately, the result never fully satisfied me. A few years later, while I was working on another piece for horn and string trio, I came up with the idea that the material I was dealing with at that time could actually suit quite well to the saxophone quartet, and possibly solve its structural problems. Then I tried to mix them both into a coherent work, and then, became quite satisfied with the final result. Therefore, the final version of this saxophone quartet is now based on this coexistence of two  different materials, the first dominated by a constant stream of melodic movements, the second focusing on harmony and the above-mentionned twelve chords played staccato. At the end, after a flimsy section made of a thin texture played by both alto saxophones, the music seems to shift toward another direction, quieter, before finally reaching its most emotional point at the very end. This last section is nothing more than the « negative » version of the initial material – Non nova sed nove.