While we’ve been in lockdown and unable to meet and rehearse, members of the Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra have been busy recording individual parts for Giovanni Gabrieli’s 1597 piece ‘Sacrae Symphoniae’ (Canzon per Sonar Septimi Toni à 8, Ch.172), in kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and garages across the region!
It’s been quite a challenge playing without a musical director and when you can’t hear each other, but we’ve given it a go. The individual parts were then spliced together by our regular bass sax player, Jonathan Shaw, using the Audacity programme. And, though we say so ourselves, it doesn’t sound half bad!
Jonathan’s arrangement of the piece features eight saxophone parts divided into two choirs of four, with a soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax in each choir. You can hear the two choirs in the recording. It’s especially clear if you listen on your headphones, with choir 1 on the right and choir 2 on the left.
Visit our new YouTube Channel or click on the embedded video below. We hope you like it.
Choir 1
Soprano – Ann Churcher
Alto – Jane Smith
Tenor – David Fiander
Baritone – Liz Pearce
Choir 2
Soprano – Ann Churcher
Altos – Anne Hanson, Jonathan Shaw, Kathy Davison, Stephen Bashforth,
Tenors – David Fiander, Kathryn Leeming
Baritone – Liz Pearce
Giovanni Gabrieli (c1554-1612) was a Venetian composer and organist who wrote mainly sacred choral and instrumental works. He held various important positions at St Mark’s, Venice. This piece was originally written for eight brass instruments and was intended for performance in a religious context, forming part of a 1597 collection of ‘Sacred Symphonies’.
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Harborough Mail (online), 10 July 2020
Harborough Mail, 16 July 2020
