Steven L. Rosenhaus

Undercurrents

This one-movement work was commissioned and premiered by the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet. The word "undercurrents" implies pushes and pulls in different directions, often extreme activity, and even turmoil beneath the surface - even when that surface seems calm; for the composer this translates into the possibility of motives developing in unexpected ways, at diffrerent rates and in different combinations. Long lines, often above the fray, act not only as musical but emotional counterpoint. The work is in one movement; there are essentially three sections, the outer ones mostly active and the middle one offering a moment of repose.