Peter Lawson

Sax Quartet of Lady & Man Orchids

The Lady Orchid, 'Orchis purpurea,' grows up to a metre high with broad oblong-to-lanceolate, bright-green, fleshy, shiny leaves up to 15 cms long with up to fifty inflorescences on the flower spike. The sepals and upper petals are violet, with a pale pink or white, three-lobed labellum, which is spotted with purple - the flower resembles a lady in a poke bonnet.
The Man Orchid, 'Orchis anthropophora,' is smaller and harder to spot, as the flowering spike is predominantly yellow-green, which, on closer inspection is usually marked with magenta, but the overall shape of the flowers and petals resembles little greenish-yellow men, with a head formed from the petals and sepals and the labellum forming the arms and the legs.
The 'Saxophone Quartet of the Lady and Man Orchids' is in four movements, the first two being in sonata form and being two musical portraits of the two respective orchids. The first, 'Fanfare and March of the Queen of Orchids,' resembles a Pomp and Circumstance March preceded by a dramatic introduction intoning the colours of the Lady Orchid, using a colour-coded scheme of harmonies used throughout the orchid portraits. It is as if the Queen of Orchids is making a flamboyant 'look-at-me!' entry.
The second movement, 'Song of the Man Orchid,' is more wistful and delicate in nature, with an introduction using the colour coding harmonies and a more classical first subject, as if to point out that this man is well turned-out, almost dapper, but has a stronger, sterner side, exhibited in the second subject, which in recapitulation has an almost triumphant, swashbuckling feel.
The third movement, 'Downland and Woodland,' is pastoral in mood. Imagine walking across downland. Suddenly a man orchid is spotted and the mood becomes more scherzo-like. On reaching the edge of the wood you can hardly fail to see Lady Orchids and go up to each one, noting their beauty and subtlety. The differences between them are fascinating, reflected in the quizzical nature of the music. The fourth movement, 'Double Fugue of the Man and Lady Orchids,' begins with the Man Orchid theme which gradually becomes more adventurous until the Lady Orchid bursts in. A domestic squabble ensues, but everything ends in harmony and jollity! 'Peter Lawson'
'Duration 18 minutes'
Score and parts included.