Apollo Saxophone Quartet
From engaging modern works from some of the most exciting new generation UK composers, to Looney Tunes!
Join us for a concert of two contrasting halves from the always-innovative Apollo Saxophone Quartet.
The first half features a specially selected mix of new compositions. They are cherry-picked from the Quartet’s library of over 120 premieres and commissions dedicated to the group over its history. Each of the five pieces showcases different aspects of the quartet’s highly distinctive sound world. They create moods, colours and textures, ranging from sublime and ethereal to driving, energetic and rhythmically compelling.
The second set showcases a handpicked selection of vintage cartoons, with live music brilliantly re-orchestrated from the original scores by the quartet. They will be played on the big screen alongside the Apollo’s live performance of the scores. These incredible animations are brought back to life just as they were perceived, with live music, live sound effects and with the original voices recorded in the studio in the first half of the twentieth century.
The dazzling imagination, skill, time and sheer effort involved in producing these seven minute cinematic wonders, well before the digital age, is astounding to see. Whether you are a child or an adult. expect a spellbinding and unforgettable performance.
About Apollo Saxophone Quartet
The Apollo Saxophone Quartet has been at the forefront of the UK contemporary music scene for forty years now, and has without doubt made the largest single contribution to the repertoire for Saxophone Quartet in the UK, commissioning and premiering well over one hundred works, many of which are now considered core repertoire and are performed by Saxophone Quartets worldwide.
The group has devised several highly successful collaborative projects, including a hugely popular and successful series of original scores to black and white film, and performance projects with poet, dancers, multi-media and strings. The quartet has recorded nine CDs of commissioned repertoire to date, including a DECCA (Argo) CD that topped at No. 3 in the UK classical charts, and their latest release ‘CONTINUUM’, released in May 2024 in the lead up to the groups’ 40th anniversary in 2025.
The ASQ has always thrived by creating the sound world in which it operates, always innovating, always leading, always moving on to the next project without looking back, and the future is set to continue in the same vein.
Watch the Looney Tunes trailer with Apollo Saxophone Quartet
Amplified performance
Tickets*
- Band A £25 Friends £22.50
- Band B £20 Friends £18
- Band C £14 Friends £12.60
- Students £10
- Schools £10
*Ticket prices vary by seating location
For full offer details see Booking tickets >
Venue facilities and information >
Rob Buckland soprano saxophone
Carl Raven alto saxophone
Andy Scott tenor saxophone
Jim Fieldhouse baritone saxophone
Trad. Bulgarian arr Rob Buckland ‘Kaval Sviri’
Claire Cope ‘Trapped’
Eddie Parker ‘Cartoons’
Grace Evangeline Mason ‘In the Fragrant Air’
Django Bates ‘Travel Cartoons for the Blind’
Interval
Merry Melodies, Silly Symphonies & Looney Tunes – live music with black and white cartoons from the 30’s & 40’s
Paul J Smith (arr Rob Buckland) ‘Fox hunt’
Frank Marsales (arr Carl Raven) ‘Lady, play your mandolin’
Carl W Stalling (arr Jim Fieldhouse) ‘Haunted Mouse’
Carl W Stalling (arr Carl Raven) ‘Impatient Patient’
Adam Caird ‘Move with the Times’
