Breath control: Aruna Quartet at Gordon House for ChatterPDX * Oregon ArtsWatch

A concert at the Gordon House in Oregon featured the Aruna Quartet, a Texas-based saxophone quartet. Many attendees had not heard a sax quartet in person before. The saxophone’s wide dynamic range, nimble touch, and flexible tone allow it to sound clear, fluid, or raspy, and extended techniques can produce extreme effects. Original sax quartet repertoire exists, but arrangements are common, including string quartet arrangements. The mapping of string-quartet registers to saxes supports balance and blend, with careful phrasing and rhythmic tightness. The ensemble’s playing resembled string quartet techniques through expressive push and pull.

"The saxophone is a wonderful instrument. It boasts impressive dynamics and a nimble touch, allowing for impressive runs across its whole range. Its tone is very flexible: it can be as clear as an organ, fluid as a clarinet, or raspy as a horn. A sax can also be stretched to extremes via extended techniques to create deep honks, high squeals and other ungodly sounds. It's a shame it never became a mainstay of the orchestra."

"While there is plenty of great original repertoire for the sax quartet, arrangements are still common. Much of the Chatter program contained arrangements of string quartets, which worked quite well. The registers of the string quartet map nicely onto a quartet of saxes (baritone, tenor, alto and soprano), and both ensembles are impeccably balanced. Aruna even performs much like a string quartet does: pushing and pulling with the music, with exceptional timbral control and careful phrasing."

"Most of the audience admitted that they had never heard a sax quartet before - this would be their first opportunity to hear a sax quartet in person. I was first introduced to the configuration by a performance by the Kenari Quartet at the Chamber Music Northwest Summer festival a while back. There was also a saxophone quartet in my undergraduate, run by a few intrepid saxophonist-composers looking for an outlet."

"The group was always well-balanced with their chords and tight with their rhythms. Sax quartets have been around since the late 19th century, but they seem to be more popular than ever. Today, ensembles like the Sinta Quartet, PRISM Quartet,"

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