ensemble: saxophone quartet
duration: 8 minutes
written: winter 2019
written for: Empyrean Quartet
premiered: April 17th, 2019; Bloomington, IN

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I rarely come up with musical materials quickly. Usually, ideas need to ferment, change, and sit on the shelf for awhile before I feel like they are ready for use. In the case of this quartet, the opening minute or so was written in a single night, the night John Bolton was selected as the next National Security Advisor of the United States. Bolton has long been a “bomb first, ask questions later” sort of foreign policy adviser and at the time of his selection, there were several high profile disputes between the United States and other countries which very easily could have resulted in war. 

Ain’t Gonna Study War No More opens with brutally violent music that doesn’t really let up for roughly two minutes. The flow is suddenly interrupted by very brief and  contrasting serene music. As the more calm and serene music gradually becomes more and more clear and takes dominance, the opening material gets shorter and more disoriented and distorted. The work ends with the calm, melodic music in its purest form revealing a folk tune, River of My People, which emerges from the ambience.