Zusammenfluss (excerpt)

First movement of Jeremy Wagner's epic new work Zusammenfluss for alto saxophone + piano. This performance is from the world premiere on 6 March 2015 at Studio Z in St. Paul. Neil Nanyi Qiang, piano.

Zusammenfluss—a German word for “confluence” from the roots “Zussammen” (together) and “Fluss” (river, flow)—is a work conceived as a dialog between differing modes of temporal perception. Its central object is glimpsed on a multiplicity of time scales to form distinct streams of activity, combined and re-combined in turbulent flow, to explore notions of consonant and dissonant time. It is the fourth installment in a cycle of German-titled duos and trios that form the basis of a large-scale chamber cycle to be completed in 2015. Zusammenfluss was supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Anonymous.