Product Description
Making the Darkness Conscious was
commissioned by my friend, Jonathan Hulting-Cohen. Jonathan is the Professor of
Saxophone at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is an amazing artist
and a technical wizard. The piece was premiered in its original version as a
solo for tenor saxophone and wind ensemble. The present version for piano is
not intended to be a reduction of the wind ensemble accompaniment but is a
reworking of the piece as an addition to the saxophone/piano duo repertoire.
The
anti-heroes in film, TV, and literature who feel themselves pushed to do very
bad things for very noble reasons inspired this sonata in one movement. These
characters often are themselves corrupted by their efforts. One trope of scripted television anti-hero
vehicles like Breaking Bad is the
cold opening presented out of sequence. The main character is shown in the
moment of highest tension or deepest desperation then the story backs up to
explain the events that led to that moment. Making
the Darkness Conscious uses the same device by starting with a mysterious,
disoriented setting full of strange groans and weird echoes. The scene ends in
a terrified scream and cuts directly to a happier, jolly portrayal of the solo
tenor saxophones character. By the end of the piece, the soloists character
is transformed into something more ruthless and tortured.
"One
does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the
darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and
therefore not popular."
C.G. Jung
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.