Obsessio in "La" - Hector Cornilleau

Obsessio in “La” was composed in June 2023 for Luisma González Jiménez, who premiered it the same year at the World Saxophone Congress. In this piece, subtitled “Sonatine for baritone saxophone”, the composer questions our relationship with time, both chronological and historical, through the evolution of an extremely simple obsessive motif: G#-A. Sonatine, or “little sonata”, recalls first and foremost the etymological origin of sonare, i.e. “to make the instrument sound”, in an initially very free, almost improvisatory gesture, but also using numerous sound resources, playing modes, harmonics and a wide instrumental tessitura. The other historical reference in this piece is purely formal. Working around the idea of syncretism, the organization of the piece hinges on a sonata-form plan integrating within a single movement the characteristics of an entire classical sonata. Thus, the exposition presents two contrasting themes, evoking a lively and a slow movement, the development takes the form of a scherzo, and the recapitulation takes up the idea of a rondo, alternating first and second themes in episodes that will gradually see the fusion of these two materials and the inversion of the obsessive, tension-free motif: A-G#.

Duration: 8'