Talk about a festive tune or piece that really takes you on a wild ride. It starts off with the alto saxophone taking a few chromatic notes upward as the other woodwinds (flute, oboe, English horn, and bassoon) follow suit in an almost quartal type manner. The piece bounces and glides a long at maybe a slower presto-like tempo with the woodwinds almost struggling to keep up in rhythm. It’s almost like a scherzo of epic proportions how the forces in the piece climax and go back down to mid to muted levels. It sounds as if the instruments are trying to find their voice while shooting blanks and putting out feelers to see where they want to land.
The second movement is perhaps my personal favorite with the G minor chords in the lower woodwinds and brass spotlighting a flute solo that is very lyrical in nature. It’s very quaint in the least and has that err of sadness that depressed listeners would go for. The alto sax joins in with the flute and makes it so much more poignant. The sax and flutes join together again in the third movement. They swirl even more than usual. It’s like there is a focal point of a steady stream of lower woodwind and brass-figured chords and the higher woodwinds swirl around it in a fast tempo. The colors and brilliance are almost disney-esque. The ferociousness of the bouncing and swirling is higher and more intense than in the first movement which gives us a further run for our money. It is a yippie sort of movement that really captures the essence of business and playfulness all around. The whole piece is a great balance of muted and load tones including slow and fast tempos that will make you feel like you’re on a rollercoaster ride.
