New Century Saxophone Quartet - Drastic Measures (1994)

Since completing his studies with Ross Lee Finney and Leslie Bassett at the University of Michigan, Russell Peck lb. 1945), has won the Koussevitsky Prize in Composition and honors from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and several state arts councils in the U.S.A., and has served as composer-in-residence of the Indianapolis Symphony. His music (which includes a concerto for tenor saxophone), has been recorded and performed by fifteen major orchestras in America, as well as the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Great Britain. ‘Drastic Measures’ (1976), contrasts a lyrical opening followed segue by a rhythmic closing ‘Allegro’ movement. The work draws considerably on pop and jazz influences, especially the funky ‘Allegro’, which is built on a twelve-bar blues bass-line. Peck interjects a reminder of the quiet opening before ending the piece with a tutti flourish.