Frustration Factory
- Duration 9'35"
- Instrumentation Saxophone Quartet
- Year Composed 2009
- Commissioned AM/PM saxophone quartet
- Publisher Warwick Music/Hal Leonard Europe [SKU: WD166]
00:00 - I. time is ticking… | 01:27 - II. frustration | 03:20 - III. worn to a frazzle
04:42 - IV. lullaby | 07:32 - V. startled | 08:18 - VI. call it a day
Jeremiah Baker, soprano sax; Zach Herchen, alto sax;
Miguel Bolivar, tenor sax; Cara Salveson, baritone sax
Performed live at the 33rd International Saxophone Symposium hosted by the US Navy Band
Program Notes
Frustration Factory is a character piece written in six movements.
Each movement captures a moment in time, describing the final creative push before the dreaded deadline. The title of each movements paints a distinct character:
I. time is ticking…
II. frustration
III. worn to a frazzle
IV. lullaby
V. startled
VI. call it a day
Tic-toc, tic-toc, time is ticking, and the deadline is approaching. Every nerve-wracking second becomes more pronounced, and ill-tempered. Frustration intensifies and overwhelms the senses, causing ideas to jumble and fragment haphazardly. Emotions are overwrought, and momentum deflates gradually. A dreamlike mental state engulfs consciousness. A brief sense of calm is achieved but through the tranquility the tic-toc returns. Louder and louder, it grows snapping consciousness back into reality. One final push to persevere. One final push to “call it a day.”
Ying-Chen Kao
