Steven Banks
World Premiere: The Current/Saxophone Quartet
Premiere Date: April 27, 2025
Commissioned by: Chamber Music Tulsa
- Prayer
- Meditation
- Ritual
- Solitude
- Prayer II
- Offering
As a performer and composer, saxophonist Steven Banks is striving to bring his instrument to the heart of the classical music world. He is driven to program and write music that directly addresses aspects of the human experience and is an active and intentional supporter of diverse voices in the future of concert music.
CMT Commissioned Banks to compose a new work for the saxophone quartet repertoire.
Banks titled the work “The Current,” a title that was inspired by the following quote from Mantra: Sacred Words of Prayer:
"Imagine a room in a large house. And in one room, some people reverently get together. They have a blue light bulb. They pray, they meditate, they chant. They screw the bulb in, it lights up, and they know beyond doubt that God is absolutely blue.
Of course, in another room there is a group of people who have a green light bulb. They also pray, meditate, and chant. And with great sincerity, they also screw the lightbulb in by their practices, and it lights up. And they know beyond doubt that God is green.
In yet another room, there is a group with a red bulb. In another room, there are people with a yellow bulb. And so forth.
Eventually, they are going to meet in the hall. And when they do, there’s going to be a terrible ruckus because each of them has an absolute corner on the truth of things. They know that God is red, blue, yellow, green, or whatever it is. They may be ready to create religious warfare, not unlike the great religious wars we’ve seen throughout history.
And according to the Vedic teachings, they have committed the error of confusing the current with the bulb."
