Water Shadows

Score title

Water Shadows

Composer

Akira Nishimura

More about the composer

Date

Instrumentation

Program note

I feel that the timbre of the saxophone is aqueous and that the melody produced from the timbre flows like water in midair.

When a flow of the watery sound receives the light of the life origin, it gains momentary life and fantastically draws swaying translucent shadows of water. The water shadows seem like human beings who go through time and space carrying souls in their arms.

This piece for solo alto saxophone derives from my saxophone concerto, “Esse in Anima” (1999). Like the concerto, this work is also dedicated to the world-class saxophone player Nobuya Sugawa.

Akira Nishimura

"Water Shadows, for alto saxophone” was composed on commission of the 18th annual concert of “Groupe des Quatre et ses ami(e)” organized by Zen-On Music, and was first performed by Nobuya Sugawa (Alto Saxophone) on 2 December 2011, at Tsuda Hall, Tokyo. Duration : approximately 13 minutes.