‘Hexagonal’ was written for saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone). The piece
takes a playful approach to working with various patterns of six, inspired by some of the most
common and beautiful patterns found in nature. The beehive, and the snowflake, for example,
and of course many flowers and leaves are all based on the hexagon shape. Transposing some of these visual ideas into musical phrases, and exploring some of the colour and textural variations in musical language, this piece is very much about enjoying the simplest pleasures that the natural world has to offer.

'Hexagonal' received its premiere (as an acoustic work) with the Cobalt Saxophone Quartet, at
the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York, NY, USA, on November 16th, 2024.  The electroacoustic backing track was created in spring 2025.  The track takes its material from only two sound sources: a commuter train, along with some springtime birdsong— an interesting blend of the urban and natural elements of the soundscape in Vancouver, Canada.

Sheet music for this piece is available through the Canadian Music Centre:

cmccanada.org/shop/80689/

Hexagonal-Electroacoustic

Premiere performance: March 6, 2008, Maryem Hassan-Tollar, alto. Rufus Mueller, tenor. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Ivars Taurins. Trinity United Church. Toronto, Canada.

The Texts:

1. Shalom-Salaam
 
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

As a lily among thorns, so is my love among young women.

As an apricot  tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among young men.
 
My beloved spake, and said unto me,

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
 
My beloved spake, and said unto me,
 
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, 
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land again (repeat). 

Salaam - Shalom: Give us peace (repeat).

From The Song Of Songs — 1. Salaam - Shalom

You can learn to play this piece. FREE scores and parts, among other materials, are available online: kronosquartet.org/fifty-for-the-future

Composed by Kala Ramnath on violin, arranged for string quartet by Reena Esmail 
© 2016 Inner Sunset Publishing
℗ 2016 Kronos Performing Arts Association
Commissioned for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire

Produced by Kronos Quartet
Recorded July 2016 at Studio Trilogy, San Francisco, CA
Engineered and mixed by Laura Dean
Assistant Engineer: Alex Spencer
Production Assistant: Minna Choi
Mixed at Women's Audio Mission, San Francisco, CA
Assistant Mixing Engineers: Monica Bonilla, Ripley Young, Becca High, Victoria Fajardo, Hannah Valente and Victoria Fajardo

Amrit

Kala Ramnath - Amrit

This track was recorded from a youth penitentiary in the Greater Vancouver Regional District and shared with consent and permission.

Librarium's Album

Music For the People ft. BYCS Youth (Version 1.0)

Salvatore Sciarrino's first work for solo flute, All'aure in una lontananza (1977), performed on alto flute by Mark Takeshi McGregor. Performed live on 14 September 2016 at the International Symposium of New Music 2016 in Curitiba, Brazil. Presented by the Grupo de Pesquisa Núcleo Música Nova.

Salvatore Sciarrino: All'aure in una lontananza

First piece from a set of short piano pieces for intermediate players.  Explores syncopation and rhythms found in reggae music.

A little Reggae Music

Re-imagining of Narvaez' "Cancion del Emperador."

AYRE II - Remixes

Elizabeth Knudson: You Dream In Beauty

Elizabeth Knudson is an internationally award-winning composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal & electroacoustic music, and an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre.  

For a more detailed bio: http://www.elizabethknudson.ca/bio/
To request purchase/rental/loan of sheet music, please visit the Canadian Music Centre website: https://cmccanada.org/composer/elizabeth-knudson/

Hexagonal-Electroacoustic

Elizabeth Knudson

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