This saxophone quartet was inspired by a story by my brother, so you should ask him about it. The story has bits of an old song scattered throughout, and thus, so does the saxophone quartet. It’s rollicking and adventuresome, much like Mr. Phineas J. Pfogg his own self. So that’s all right then.
Once I knew a little frog
Who wore a vest of red,
He leaned upon a silver cane,
A top hat on his head.He’d speak of far off places,
Of things to see and do,
And all the kings and queens he’d met
While sailing in a shoe.
“My dear old fellow,” said the frog. “it gives me inestimable pleasure to wish you very fine health on a very fine morning.” He put his flipper on his chest and bowed, all proper like. “I am, as doubtless you can see, a gentleman. More particular, a travelling gentleman. More particular still, a travelling gentleman what sails in shoe. It is my fortune in life to skim over the rivers and waterways in search of—if not adventure, then oddity, and excitement, in short, many strange and interesting things. Can you imagine that I have seen fireflies above the water at evening, and grey mists above the water at night? That I have done battle with herons and owls and once out-countenanced a peacock? Would you believe I have vanquished kings using only my wits, and taken tea with wizards and lived to tell to tale? Is it possible—indeed, it must be possible—that you can accept that the life of a travelling gentleman creates an enormous appetite?”
For more information about the score, contact the composer. For more information about the story, contact his brother.
