Tachycardia - Clarinet and Alto Sax

For alto saxophone and clarinet. Includes score and parts.

Tachycardia is scored for two Alto Saxophones, though it may be played on any pair of like or similar instruments.  I have a mild heart condition called Atrial Tachycardia, and for as long as I can remember, I have felt my heart skip beats.  I was writing Tachycardia during a period when I was actively addressing my heart condition, and for the first time, following two procedures, my heart stop skipping.  The sensation of feeling my heartbeat now in a regular, normal rhythm, was both odd and surreal, but it was also inspiring to me to put into sound.  The two instruments represent the two halves of a human heart, each containing one atrium and one ventricle.  In this short piece, they work together, interlocking and producing a life moving force that keeps the sound moving forward.  The music rarely stops or pauses, and keeps beating to the end, always in a regular meter.

Tachycardia is the result of an international consortium of 32 Saxophonists.  It was one of the quickest forming consortiums I have ever been involved in, fully formed in less than 24 hours.

-MM