Music by
DANIEL DORFF





PROGRAM NOTES & REVIEWS
Fast Walk    


PROGRAM NOTES
FAST WALK was composed in 1989 originally for 3 Bb Clarinets and Bass Clarinet, for the quartet Clarinessence in which I played bass clarinet. The music popped out all at once one day while I was composing my Concerto for Contrabassoon.

Soon after, I made versions for SATB Saxophone Quartet, and for Orchestra, and for 3 Bassoons and Contrabassoon. The orchestra version was broadcast on the 1994 MENC World's Largest Concert to an estimated 8 million viewers, and it was also included in the San Antonio Symphony's 2002-03 season of educational concerts for which they received ASCAP's Adventuresome Programming Award.

The saxophone version has been recorded by the Tokyo-based Harmo Saxophone Quartet and has been performed hundreds of times as an encore by the Amherst Saxophone Quartet and by the San Francisco Saxophone Quartet.

CORRECTION IN SAX QUARTET VERSION
Baritone Saxophone part, bars 40-44 remain in a key signature of 2 sharps.

REVIEWS
"This short, upbeat piece makes a terrific opener for a concert, or as the first piece after intermission."
            –Saxophone Journal (Susan Fancher), September/October 2007

"Daniel Dorff's 1991 "Fast Walk," followed the Gershwin Lullaby and made a nice antidote to its dreaminess with an animated, chattery and positive ambience."
            – Buffalo (NY) News (Herman Trotter), January 24, 1994



 

last updated April 20, 2026
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