Flux – Ferio Saxophone Quartet

   in Classical Music (Sep, 2017)
An 80-minute programme of original works for saxophone quartet? The seven works here are roughly chronological: Jean-Baptiste Singelée (1812-1875) must have been one of the first composers to write for the instrument, let alone for four, while short pieces by Pierné and Bozza from the 1930s are charming and approachable. More substantial are recent works by Guillermo Lago (aka the Dutch saxophonist Willem van Merwijk) and Hugo Reinhard: Lago’s Ciudades (‘Cities’) takes us on a whistlestop tour from Sarajevo to Addis Ababa via cities including Tokyo and Montevideo, and his three Wordsworth Poems, finished this year and dedicated to the quartet, are concise and touching. Playing is of the highest …