Deep State
ensemble: soprano saxophone and percussion
duration: 12 minutes
written: summer 2020
commissioned by: Derek Granger & Dan Ingman
co-commissioned by: Lindsey Welp, Michael Keeler, Taiki Azuma, Jessica Dodge, Jacob Kilford
premiered: April 24th, 2021; North American Saxophone Region-8 Conference
Note:
Deep State was written during the final months of the 2020 presidential election and as such was loosely inspired by the political environment surrounding that contentious time. With the rise of disinformation as a powerful tool in American politics, I have personally become increasingly anxious about the role of the internet and social media in a democracy. If every individual is given a voice and that voice can spread across the globe in seconds, than in a sense, a lie or a conspiracy theory has as much weight as a fact...if not more. In a way, Deep State musically examines lying, manipulation, and polarizing extremes.
After a short cadenza for each member of the duo, the saxophonist seemingly begins to take on the voice of the percussionist (via a percussive technique called slap tonguing), creating one single macro instrument. Over the course of time, the saxophonist and percussionist eventually splinter off from each other as the saxophone finds its own unique identity. The piece meanders into a slow, static space in which the duo conforms yet again, this time the percussionist taking on the voice of the saxophonist by bowing pitched cowbells. As the two begin to drift yet again, the music suddenly bursts out of control. The piece switches back and forth, almost like channel surfing, between wild variations on the opening of the piece and the slow, static harmonies of the middle. Deep State ends with both members of the duo unwilling to compromise, performing at their extremes.
