The saxophone has proven to be quite the versatile instrument, freely finding its place in any number of musical genres from jazz to pop to classical. As such, it's often a favorite choice of contemporary composers, both for its relatively young age and unique sound. Composer Stephen Lias has a number of works for saxophone among his repertoire, from solo works like Five Characters from David Copperfield to multiple pieces for saxophone quartet as well as saxophone and piano, like his Imaginary Folksongs. As the title implies, these are not actual folk tunes from an existing culture, but rather conceptions of tunes that very well could be songs from somewhere else in the world.
Saxophone professor Dan Gelok and DMA student Laura Bleakley from the University of Houston's Moores School of Music perform the third movement of Imaginary Folksongs, "Magic Island," which enthusiastically shows off the interesting sounds the saxophone is capable of.
