PhD Compositions

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Seasons (2023)

Seasons, four works for solo saxophone. Composed for and performed by Maximus Stephens (saxophonist) and recorded by Dawid Ziemba at Happy Howdy Productions.

Forming part of my PhD research, each set of saxophone compositions is intended to be shuffled, creating a brand new order to the piece every time you listen. To achieve this each piece within the playlist or album is no longer an individual ‘piece’, instead they now make up sections. The playlist or album as a whole is the full composition, and the shuffling of the individual sections creates the new order of the piece.

Hit shuffle, experience the piece one way, shuffle again and see if there’s a different outcome for you.

All four saxophone compositions will be combined in a live setting, allowing Maximus to create a sax quartet through the looping of pieces and moving between the works. The shuffled nature of the compositions means no live performance is ever likely to be repeated in exactly the same way.

Full playlists:

Winter - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCE6ThCo6_tKfxdrxuZIY1Fl3YJKrsIp

Spring - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCE6ThCo6_snkFK3kMVtWoxGxcuBNxVs

Summer - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCE6ThCo6_tN3sp6NPLmkCE_kqIIG5ax

Autumn - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCE6ThCo6_t3DCtZuIk6JuvzzcltsjS6

The Symphony of One (to be played in any order) (2023)

The Symphony of One (to be played in any order) is the first release of my PhD works. The aim of my PhD work is providing the listener with the ability to shuffle the sections or movements of the composition, creating their own order and own understanding of the pieces.

This symphony gives the listener the chance to change the order of four movements, either allowing their chosen streaming service to decide the order of movements or choosing the order themselves. The variation of movements will deliver a completely different listening experience, painting a new emotional and musical outcome every shuffle.

Each of the four movements are titled ‘one’ in varying languages, avoiding a direct relation to any themes or ideas that a listener could connect to. Instead, my hope is that the music provides the listener with their own themes and ideas, of which can change every time they create a new order.