There was a wide range of performers, on the night of October 1, 2003, each of which played a different instrument, with the exception of David Heinick, the composer and pianist in every movement. Accompanying the program was a sheet titled "Program Notes," which gave members of the audience a lot of information concerning the performers and the composer. One impressive fact mentioned was Heinick composed every piece in this recital specifically for the people who were to play it. .
The first set, "Three Virtues," composed in 2003, had three movements, Simplicity, Enthusiasm, and Serenity; played in that order. This set was composed for Charles Guy who was playing the tuba, a bass range brass instrument that changes pitch by means of valves. Heinick, as mentioned before, accompanied Guy on the piano. Both performers dressed formally in all black attire and played on center stage blissfully. Having the tuba accompanied by the piano was something I have never heard before, so I found this set to be very interesting. Both instruments switched back and forth with the varying tempo, so while one would play adagio, the other would play allegro, producing a very harmonic sound with a polyphonic texture. I enjoyed this set a great deal. .
The second set, Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano," composed in 2002, had six movements, titled Poco Allegro, Cadenza, Adagio: molto rubato, Immobile, Tarantella, and Andante: poco adagio. The alto saxophone, a single-reed woodwind instrument, was played by Timothy McAllister. McAllister, also dressed in all black attire, was a young man whose affiliation to the college was not mentioned in the program notes, yet I assume that he is a member of the faculty here at the State University of New York at Potsdam. .
Dynamically this set started out mezzo forte, with a repetitious pattern of notes. As the music developed and notes became more disjunct the tempo ranged from moderato to vivace, meaning the title, Poco allegro, was very fitting.
