It didn’t take Steinar long before he decided on a creative direction when Exercise no. 71 landed in his lap. Steinar went straight for the saxophone quartet as the choice of instrumentation.
As a linguistic term, the title is borrowed from an old Ancient Greek term meaning ‘the addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word’. Not only is the saxophone, like many woodwind instruments, very well suited for adding grace notes and other ornaments to a melody line. It is also the instrument most familiar to Steinar. With a side glance at the other meaning of the title, that of a device designed to replace or improve a body part, you could say that the saxophone has been the prosthesis (or more commonly prothesis) of Steinar’s since childhood.
The musical piece that makes up Exercise in Style No. 71 is inspired by impressionist composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Mussorgsky. Towards the end, jazz influences become stronger and the recorded version is in this section enhanced by a moderate use of sound effects and percussive sounds created by processed sounds of closing and opening saxophone keys.
The four voices of the saxophone quartet, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone, are all recorded by Steinar.
Panzerpappa 