Contrappunti
Sidera Saxophone Quartet

Sidera Saxophone Quartet

Gianpaolo Antongirolami, soprano saxophone
Michele Selva, alto saxophone
Michele Bianchini, tenor saxophone
Daniele Berdini, baritone saxophone

J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080

S. Reich (1936)

New York Counterpoint

30’ | Admission with museum ticket

The Sidera Saxophone Quartet invites us on a fascinating journey through the architecture of sound, bringing together two giants who, centuries apart, played with notes as if they were perfect interlocking pieces: Johann Sebastian Bach and Steve Reich.

The programme opens with The Art of Fugue, the masterpiece in which Bach explores all the possibilities of weaving melodies together. Heard through four saxophones, it becomes a surprising experience: the instruments chase and merge, creating a sound reminiscent of a modern organ, making music written three hundred years ago feel strikingly contemporary. From the rigor of the past, we then leap into the pulsating heart of the metropolis with Reich’s New York Counterpoint. Here rhythm becomes the true protagonist: this is music that vibrates, built from hypnotic repetitions and rapid interlocking patterns that evoke the relentless pulse of urban life.

The musicians of Sidera build a bridge between Bach’s mathematical genius and Reich’s electrifying modernity, showing that the beauty of a perfect musical “mechanism” is timeless.

Text curated by Antonio Pio Caliendo