Zahara (saxophone concerto)

Zahara is a saxophone concerto  commissioned by saxophonist Federico Mondelci after hearing my other saxophone concerto Omnifenix. The premiere of "Zahara" featured Federico Mondelci as the saxophone soloist, accompanied by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the baton of David Atherton, and took place at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, on September 22, 2006.

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Movements

I. Mirologio

II. Movement II

III. Interlude

IV. Movement III

Duration 23:00 minutes

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Full Instrumentation

Instrumentation 3(pic,afl).3(ca).3.3(cbn) / 4.3.3.1 / timp.3perc / str

3 Flutes (dbl pic & afl)
3 Oboes (dbl ca)
3 Clarinets
3 Bassoons (dbl cbn)

4 Horns
3 Trumpets
3 Trombone
Tuba

Timpani
3 Percussion

Strings

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Inspiration

Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King

Skeletons on the Zahara chronicles the true story of twelve American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the perilous heart of the Sahara.

The western Sahara is a baking hot and desolate place, home only to nomads and their camels, and to locusts, snails and thorny scrub -- and its barren and ever-changing coastline has baffled sailors for centuries. In August 1815, the US brig Commerce was dashed against Cape Bojador and lost, although through bravery and quick thinking the ship's captain, James Riley, managed to lead all of his crew to safety. What followed was an extraordinary and desperate battle for survival in the face of human hostility, starvation, dehydration, death and despair.

Captured, robbed and enslaved, the sailors were dragged and driven through the desert by their new owners, who neither spoke their language nor cared for their plight. Reduced to drinking urine, flayed by the sun, crippled by walking miles across burning stones and sand and losing over half of their body weights, the sailors struggled to hold onto both their humanity and their sanity. To reach safety, they would have to overcome not only the desert but also the greed and anger of those who would keep them in captivity.

From the cold waters of the Atlantic to the searing Saharan sands, from the heart of the desert to the heart of man, Skeletons on the Zahara is a spectacular odyssey through the extremes and a gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.

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Review

‍Rod Biss, The Listener, October 2006: Zahara is a brilliant score exploring exotic new Psathas sounds in the first movement and giving us the big-band build-up in the last movement that we now expect. The finale is a bacchanalian dance scene…an effective, noisy end to a beautiful new score, superbly played and perceptively conducted.

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Resources

RESEARCHERS: EXPLORE ZAHARA CONCERTO FOR SAXOPHONE AND ORCHESTRA AT THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

PERFORMANCE MATERIALS

PREVIEW ZAHARA ON YUMPU

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