Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Still Time was composed in 1997/98 for Jade Grice and first performed in December 1998 by Jade, conducted by the composer.

The title is drawn from Philip Larkin's poem "The Mower", which concludes:
".... we should be careful
Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time"

The second movement is subtitled 'Symphony' and the third movement 'Concerto no. 2', although both titles could apply to the whole work. The work contains as the third movement a re-orchestrated version of my (very short) Concerto no. 1 for tenor saxophone, winds and percussion, and as a whole the work is structured with the large scale intentions of a symphony (if an unusual one).

Work Details

Year: 1998

Instrumentation: Tenor saxophone, piano.

Duration: 17 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Contents note: 1. I -- 2. II (Elegy) -- 3. III.  

Dedication note: Dedicated to the memory of Bruce and Barbara Webb.

Written for: Jade Grice

Commission note: Composed for Jade Grice, revised for Thomas McKay.

First performance: by Jade Grice, Simon Reade — 3 Dec 98. Tasmanian Conservatorium Recital Hall, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS

The piano reduction was done in 1999 and revised in 2013 for Thomas McKay, with newly composed cadenzas for movements 1 and 3. 
It is known simply as Still Time (Elegy) when performed with solo tenor saxophone and piano.