Gray Faces - David Reminick

Gray Faces (2011) by David Reminick Sam Alvarez, alto saxophone Recorded live on May 29th, 2023 in Alice Millar Chapel, as part of my junior recital. Program note by composer: Years ago, I stumbled across a recording of Brahms performing one of his own works at the piano. The recording was from 1889 (during the infancy of recording technology) and the sound quality was abysmal. Listening to this Brahms-flavored white noise, I was at a loss: why would anybody, no matter how much they loved Brahms, invest their time and money in this? Was there really something to be gleaned from it? I listened intently for about two minutes, eventually turning it off in frustration. I’ve always enjoyed Brahms’s music, but I couldn’t help but think that I might feel differently if this were a composer whose music I knew better - that I would gladly suffer through the crackles and hisses to steal an aural glimpse of one of my idols. Come to think of it, I’d probably go further – much further. Even if that recording were crystal clear, even if I witnessed it live, even if it were performed in my own home, it would never be enough; a part of me would always want to get closer. Gray Faces is about that desire: a longing to know something, somebody completely – an urge can, thankfully, never be satisfied. I never did finish listening to that Brahms recording (and I may not ever do so), but my experience trying to listen to it pervades every element of Gray Faces. And although there’s no Brahms in here, the music of one of my longtime musical heroes lingers perpetually below the musical surface, struggling in vain to make itself known. Audio recording by Philip Kleutgens, Tina Uhrenbacher, and Taimur Sullivan Video and audio mixing by Sam Alvarez