The project

For decades saxophonists have sought to explore the multitude of Latin American musical traditions, with a particular fondness for the Argentinian Tango. The poetic nature of this music, its rhythmic drive and melancholic melody are a perfect fit for the flexibility and lyricism of the saxophone. The saxophone quartet is a powerhouse of a medium with its ability to bring individual characters into a homogeneous ensemble akin to an orchestra while still reflecting the unique voices within it. This makes it the ideal ensemble for such nostalgic and impassioned music. Revoluçionario (1974) Arr. Jay Byrnes

Perhaps the most universally famous exponent of Argentine tango music, Astor Piazzolla both reinvented and reinvigorated the genre. Combining elements of traditional tango music with the counterpoint of Bach and the harmonies and rhythms of modern jazz Piazzolla forged a new sound and style that became a leading force in a movement known as “Nuevo Tango” or New Tango. Although grounded in classical music having studied with the titans Alberto Ginastera and Nadia Boulenger, Piazzolla also had one foot firmly planted in the nightclubs of Buenos Aires. With many of his some 750 compositions written for his famed quintet, he also wrote concertos, symphonic works, operas and film scores.

Revoluçionario is a rarely heard gem from the man whose treatment of the tango was indeed revolutionary. This work is definitely a tango of the concert hall rather than of the dancefloor. It has a bombastic opening with a powerful and aggressive melody that leads to a middle section with constantly cascading semiquavers that hurtle through the air. An alto saxophone cadenza that exploits the full range of the instrument then returns us to the full bodied and gutsy nature of this exciting work. Milongueando en El 40 (1941) Arr. Gustavo Hunt

Born in Zárate (a province of Buenos Aires) Pontier was truly a complete musician widely celebrated as bandleader, bandoneonist and prolific composer. Milongueando en el 40 (Dancing the Milonga in the 1940’s) is a work which showcases Pontier’s compositional style and natural flair for the world of tango music. As an important part of the “Golden Age of Tango” (running from the late 1930’s through to the early 1950’s), Pontier’s compositions have become a staple of the traditional tango canon. Of this work Pontier relates a story: “One day, a friend came to tell me that Troilo would premiere my first Tango (Milongueando in 1940). I almost got angry. I told him not to make those jokes because I didn’t like them. Troilo, for me, was so great that I didn’t seriously think about that possibility. But it was true. Things like these were one of the most beautiful things that Tango gave me.”

Angel Suite (1962-65) Arr. Jay Byrnes

These works were originally written as incidental music for Alberto Rodiguez Muñoz’s play El tango del Ángel that concerns an angel who, having come down to heal the souls of a Buenos Aires slum neighbourhood, is slain in a knife fight. The fight between the devil and the angel is presented as a tango fugue in three parts: Milonga del Ángel – Dance of the Angel, Muerte del Ángel – Death of the Angel and Resurrección del Ángel – Resurrection of the Angel. The fugue elements hark back to Piazzolla’s love of Bach and are attributed to his study with Boulanger. These works are part of Piazzolla’s Angel Series that can be presented either together in a suite or individually. Around the same period he also wrote works based around the devil known as the “Diablo” series. Piazzolla, a Catholic had this to say about religion: “I believe in a God: we ourselves are both the Devil and the God.”

Los Zapatos de Roberto (2019)

In addition to being the soprano saxophonist in Nexas Quartet, Duke is Associate Professor of saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney. Of this work he writes: “The title “Robert’s Shoes” sounds much more exotic and interesting in Spanish as “Los Zapatos de Roberto”. It is my take on the Tango providing melodic features to each of the saxophones ultimately culminating in one last passionate and virtuosic flourish. Roberto has very strong opinions about his shoes as he proudly struts and dances around the nightclub with much self-impressed bravado.”

De Los Tres Barrios (2018)

Born in Buenos Aires in 1968, Fernando Lerman is a highly active performer (saxophone and flute), composer and educator teaching in the Manuel de Falla Conservatory and in the Department of Musical Arts of the National University of Arts in Argentina. De Los Tres Barrios was commissioned by the Nexas Quartet for this project. Lerman says of his work: “According to the maps, the house where I’ve been living for 25 years, belongs to three different neighbourhoods. This funny situation led me to write three different pieces, one for each neighbourhood. “Caballito” is overcrowded and changing. “La Paternal”, which refers to paternity in spanish, is a “tango canción” dedicated to my father. I picture “Villa Mitre” as the most jolly of them all, that’s why I used the Milonga rhythm.”

Reliquias Porteñas (1938) Arr. Gustavo Hunt

Originally a guitarist and known to friends and fellow musicians as “Liendre” (nit), Graciano De Leone went on to have a highly successful career as bandoneonist, bandleader and composer throughout Argentina. First recorded in 1938 by Francisco Canaro y su Orquesta Típica, the title refers to relics of the port city Buenos Aires.These port areas of Buenos Aires were the birthplace of traditional tangos. A composer of tangos, waltzes, rancheras, and pasodobles, this Milogna of De Leone’s has become a staple of the traditional classical tango repertoire for musicians and dancers.

Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (1965-70)

Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas translates in English as ‘The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires’. Originally scored for the instruments of his signature quintet (bandoneon, piano, electric guitar, violin and double bass), the four movements from this suite were not conceptualised as one work, but rather as separate entities. It was not until other ensembles arranged these works for their own various instrumentations presenting them as a group that the parallels and illusions to Vivaldi’s famous Four Seasons were drawn and that Piazzolla himself played them together as a suite. The work incorporates glimpses of traditional tangos juxtaposed with harsh dissonances, driving syncopations and thrilling virtuosity. In this new adaptation Nexas Quartet is joined by pianist Daniel Rojas and bandoenist Stephen Cuttriss to provide a sonic bridge to the streets of Buenos Aires.

La Cumparsita (1916) Arr. Jay Byrnes

Son of a local cabaret owner, Rodriguez (also known as Becho) was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. La Cumparsita (the Little Parade) is the quintessential tango written over 100 years ago in 1916. Initially composed as a march, it was orchestra leader Roberto Firpo that turned it into a tango adding sections of his own compositions to it as well as a some of the song “Miserere” by Giuseppe Verdi from the opera Il Trovatore. Gerardo Matos Rodriguez spent more than two decades in the courts fighting for the rights of this work and eventually won, receiving 80% of royalties. Since it’s debut performance La Cumparsita has travelled the globe and been arranged into over 2700 versions. So special is its place in the music that there is even a “La Cumparsita” Tango Museum standing on the spot where the work was first performed in Montevideo. There is a common tradition for La Cumparsita to be played as the last dance of the evening, and so will end our Tango des Saxos recording.

“You will hear music created on the brink of cataclysm, proclaiming as it does with such intensity the survival of art and beauty in a hostile world. Any new recording of music from the short-lived Weimar Republic deserves our rapt attention, and now the world-renowned Australian baritone, Peter Coleman-Wright, offers a thrilling selection from this repertoire.” – Barry Humphries, in his introduction to Ballads of the Pleasant Life.

Distinguished baritone Peter Coleman-Wright steps off the world’s opera stages to present a rare recording of music close to his heart: the remarkable songs written as the Weimar Republic descended into Nazism in the 1920 and ‘30s, by composers at home in Germany and Austria who were then forced to flee into exile. These songs capture the spirit of the times: defiant, soulful and searching, but also capable of moments of exuberant joy and hope.

The music of Kurt Weill sits at the heart of the album. We meet Weill’s infamous creation Mack the Knife, who first saw the light of day in 1920s Berlin and soon became a smash hit. A prominent Jew, Weill fled Germany in 1933. In America, he found his new musical home in the theatre, collaborating with lyricists Ira Gershwin and Maxwell Anderson, including his hilarious catalogue of Russian composers “Tschaikowsky” and the timeless ode “There’ll Be Love, Life and Laughter”.

For Weill’s generation, music was the language of protest. Austrians Hanns Eisler and Alexander von Zemlinsky wrote popular songs from the perspective of the downtrodden: the miners, the cotton packers and many more besides.

Amidst all this, there were flashes of humour, and the desire to take the rare joys of life by both hands. The album closes with a series of love songs, often sentimental, always heartfelt: film composer Robert Stolz’ praise for the beauties of life’s autumn years; Arnold Schoenberg’s elegy to the exquisite agony of separation; and Franz Schreker’s melancholy tribute to transient love.

Peter Coleman-Wright is regarded as one of the world’s leading baritones, with a stellar career in the world’s leading concert halls including Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Met in New York and the Sydney Opera House; he finds the perfect foil for this music in the Sydney-based Nexas Quartet. The arrangements of these songs for baritone and saxophone quartet, created especially for this album, reflect a combination that would have been familiar to the clubs and bars where much of this music was first performed.

Peter Coleman-Wright baritone Nexas Quartet Benjamin Burton piano

Featuring five new Australian works for saxophone quartet. This project was commissioned by Kammerklang. Waiting - Marcus Whale, Genie in a Cup - Sarah Myerson, Scorched Earth - Joseph Power, Interweave - Cameron Lam, The Last Flight of Saint-Ex - Katia Beaugeais