Ezra Sims, "Sextet"

Continued Notes From Northeastern Records NR 224:

Sextet is in three movements. It is scored for clarinet in A, alto saxophone in E-flat, French horn, violin, viola, and cello. The work was written at the instigation of the saxophonist Kenneth Radnofsky and performed by Dinosaur Annex in March 1982. It is based on Louis Armstrong's performance of "St. James Infirmary." Sims points out that the intonation of the great trumpeter fits congenially into his eighteen-note scale, as the blue notes that elude standard notation are handily described by his microtonal system. Sims remarks, in his characteristic scholium, that "In Plato's real world, the horn fingerings would be automatically correct; in this sublunary one, they must of course be adjusted by the player."

-Nicholas Slonimsky

The Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble (Scott Wheeler, Artistic Director) began its existence in 1975 as an affiliate of the New England Dinosaur Dance Theater, and has been independent since 1977. In addition to its annual Boston concert series, the group has been active in recordings, residencies, and concerts throughout the New England and New York areas. The members of Dinosaur Annex are professional musicians whose sustained working relationship with composers has made the ensemble uniquely expert in the performance of twentieth-century music.

Executive Producer: L. E. Joiner; Recording: Frank Cunningham; Technical Direction: Scott Kent; Album Production: Rosalyn Reiser; Special Assistance: Eithne Margaret Dundas. Recorded June and July 1982 at the First and Second Church, Boston, Masschusetts. Special thanks to: Samuel Barker, Mrs. Gardner Cox, Mrs. Margaret Lee Crofts, The Foundation for the Humanities, Hugh Hunter, Leah Jones, Kenneth Radnofsky, Jerome Reich, Mrs. E. G. Sims, Mr. and Mrs. Thos Tenney, and Janice Williams. Northeastern Records is a division of Northeastern University Press, William A. Frohlich, Dean. This recording is manufactured and distributed under license from the Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, Inc. Recording copyright (r) Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble 1985. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.