Vartan Adjemian

Adventure

Alto Saxophone, Piano and String Orchestra or Wind Orchestra or Piano
Exact instrumentation: wind orchestra: 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, alto sax, 2 tenor sax, baritone sax, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel, bongos)

Commissioned by Philippe Pfisterer, Director of the Department Council for Music and Culture of Haute-Alsace (France), 'Adventure' has the same solo alto saxophone part, for three different accompaniments, as per the request of the commissioning body, which sought to maximize the work's prospective performance opportunities: 1) solo , string orchestra with piano, 2) solo and piano (reduction), and 3) solo and wind ensemble (10 woodwinds, 8 brass instruments, percussion). The title of the piece was conceived during the composition process. This is the first work for solo saxophone written by Vartan Adjemian, although he had frequently used the instrument in his jazz pieces. A special consideration was to create a piece that could be played by talented young musicians, ergo, content, melody and virtuosity had to be merged with a sense of proportionality in Adventure, which, in today's parlance, could, perhaps best be described as a 'crossover' type of work in which many different styles and genres are presented in a single entity.