Iguaçu, Come Down and Dance

Iguaçu, Come Down and Dance was written for the 2003 World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, USA, where it received its world premier. This celebratory chamberdance piece seeks to capture the beauty and power of Rio de Janeiro’s Iguaçu falls, from the up-stream stillness and distant rumblings, through the power and excitement of the fall, to the down-stream tranquillity. The piece features the use of mulitphonics (saxophone chords), which are delicately woven into the fabric of the opening melodies and also used to heighten the passions of a phrase. The use of digital delay on the live saxophone line gives a sense of the cascading water of the falls. The audio accompaniment features contemporary dance rhythms and sounds, and found sounds from the saxophone. It is unpitched, making Iguaçu playable on any solo instrument.