Song and Dance, for soprano saxophone, vibraphone, violin, viola and cello, Score and parts

Song and Dance was written for the 60th birthday of the composer?s friend and colleague James Wishart, and was first performed by Ensemble 10/10 in a celebratory concert in October 2016. At the outset a relaxed, slow song is intoned by a soprano saxophone (a favourite instrument of James) accompanied by vibraphone and strings. After a couple of stanzas this is interrupted by dance-like material, whose ?Caledonian feel? is intended to reflect James?s ancestry and his keen interest in folk music. In due course the dance slips away and the song makes a brief return. Both of the piece?s sections draw, in different ways, on the numbers in the date of James?s birth - 24(0)756.