Tornado Revisited (2008)

Instrumentation: Saxophone quartet (SATB) or reed quintet

Duration: 2'30"

Dedication: Mana Saxophone Quartet

Movements: One movement

Program Note: Tornado Revisited is a ferocious rhythmic etude based upon the first few measures of Frank Zappa’s classic G-Spot Tornado; original motives are extended, distorted, and blended with completely unrelated material to create a virtuosic showpiece in the manner of Ligeti’s piano etudes. I sincerely hope that Frank, sitting in his afterlife Barcalounger, isn’t too irritated with me for eviscerating his composition and spinning it into a completely different direction. I think he’d approve. Zappa once said: “You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.” I just needed four saxophones. 

Score/Parts Purchase: Click here to purchase and download the score/parts of Tornado Revisted for saxophone quartet from the store