Jeff Cattie

Welcome to my website!
I will soon have much of my music and ideas here, as well as other things of interest you may want to see. I'm going to be updating constantly and might even have time to add new odds and ends....Let's start with a little about myself. As you might be able to tell from the site, my interests extend well beyond music - while music is my second language, I constantly step back from it to ask myself "what do I want to write about?" My many interests make it easy for me to decide. The other arts, nature, history, technology, and works of literature are among the many things I enjoy learning about and upon which I draw ideas.

My musical influences reflect my studies in French and Russian composers of saxophone music, my admiration of the life and works of Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as the contemporary jazz that I've heard and played. My appreciation for the wind literature of composers like Holst and Vaughan Williams also plays a large role in my sound. Symphonically, I admire and emulate much more contemporary examples, tonal and atonal, and continue to listen to today's composers for inspiration.

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
email: thecat@temple.edu

Jeff Cattie (ASCAP) is a composer/saxophonist from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Former principal saxophonist and soloist in the PMEA band, he graduated cum laude from the Boyer College of Music with his Bachelor of Music in Music Education. There, he studied saxophone under widely-acclaimed saxophonist Marshall Taylor, and jazz saxophonists Jaleel Shaw and Dick Oatts. While pursuing his passions for performance and teaching, he has nevertheless kept his writing in the foreground of his college career, and has sought every opportunity to further his compositional abilities. Through his unique education and elected course of study in composition, he has written several full-length tonal works, including three piano sonatas, three sets of variations for piano, a flute sonata, a series of duets for saxophone, a suite for Temple's Wind Symphony, and a string symphony. Among his more explorative works include a recent sax sonata; Phasing Light On The Surface Of Dangling Vertical Blinds (2006), an art piece for various orchestral instruments and set drum; Conversation for Five Saxophones (2007); Alma Mater (2006), an atonal arrangement for oboe, band, and piano; and Visum Apocalypticum (2008), a symphonic tone poem based on Revelation.

Jeff also has a passion for the contrapuntal element in his work, and has his own finished version of Bach’s Contrapunctus XIV, which he performed in an arrangement for four saxophones. Well-versed in jazz, he has performed with the Temple University Jazz Ensemble in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and has studied jazz composition with grammy-nominated composer and pianist Bill Cunliffe. This jazz influence finds its way into most of his contemporary work, along with 20th century French and American influences. All of this in addition to his experiences with marching bands and arranging for string band contribute to the diversity in Jeff's style and approach. Before graduating from Temple, he interned at Theodore Presser Company, where he gained insight into the publication and engraving process. He has always had an eye for detail in his work, and this translates into the detail of his scores, both musically and aesthetically. Maintaining a prodigious compositional output and still seeking new and different opportunities, he hopes to continue his education and earn his Masters in Composition.

Pictures

From left to right: Daniel Reitz, Josiah Krawiec, Jeff Cattie, Aaron Stewart.

Page 9 from the condensed score to "Exsequor" from Visum Apocalypticum.

Senior recital flyer.

Music

Chromatic Aberration (2009)

[2+1,2+1,2+1,2+1—4,3,2+1,1—timp,perc,xyl,str]. Duration: 11:30. Full Score. Perc. includes triangle, castanets, tambourine, cabasa, maracas, tam-tam, cymbals.

A 'chromatic aberration' is a term used often in optics to describe a lens that focuses different colors at different points. The result is a 'fringe' effect near boundaries between dark and bright areas of an image. This piece, in the same way, presents three different 'colors' that are all out of focus with one another, yet clearly presenting the same image by the time the piece makes its climactic statement. Chromaticism abounds, and ties together these three colors; lending itself to the name of the driving principle behind the piece.

Mare Tranquillitatis (2009)

"Roman Legion" Fanfare (2008)

Conversation for Five Saxophones - I. (2007)

"Exsequor" from Visum Apocalypticum (2007)

Video

Stop by an awesome new site, That New Music Website, where you can buy and download music from up and coming composers!

The oldest (and best!) continuing music publisher in the United States, and the place where I'm currently contributing my skills, Theodore Presser

You can stream more of my music at Soundclick

I also frequent the forums at Finalemusic, check it out and say hello!

My myspace page, with some online artwork and things about me.

Visitors to this page:

2009

"Forum" Variations - 17'
for Piano

Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor – 20’
i. Grave - Allegro agitato
ii. Molto lento, maestoso
iii. Allegro energico

An Evening – 6’
for Strings

Chromatic Aberration – 12’
for Orchestra

Mare Traquillitatis – 7’
for Orchestra

2008

Sonata for Saxophone and Piano – 15’
i. In Blue
ii. La Trot
iii. Scherzetto
iv. Finale

Organ Fantasy – 8’

Qualia for Piano – 18’
i. The Synesthete
ii. The Epiphany
iii. The Enjoyment of Life
iv. The Experience of Qualia

Bird Song Quartet – 41’
i. Preaves
ii. Migration
iii. Evolution I
iv. The Phorusrhacus.
v. Evolution II
vi. The Thrush.
vii. Extinction

13 Duets for Two Equal Saxophones – 27’

Piano Sonata No. 3 in C – 19’
i. Allegro con brio
ii. Lento, esspresione
iii. Andante con calore – Vivace

Piano Sonata No. 2 in Bb – 22’
i. Allegro maestoso
ii. Adagio malinconico
iii. Presto
iv. Andante risoluto

Piano Sonata No. 1 in D – 23’
i. Allegro ma non troppo
ii. Allegretto – Adagio
iii. Rondo e Allegretto
iv. Allegro molto

Ghanan Ostinato – 15’
i. Duet for Two Marimbas
ii. Marimba Quartet for Twelve Hands
iii. (unfinished)

Waltz in D – 5’

March – 5’
for Piano

’Roman Legion’ Fanfare – 5’

2007

Conversation for Five Saxophones - 14'
i. Introduction
ii. Blues
iii. Lullaby

Visum Apocalypticum - c. 50'
i. Luna Rutilus
ii. Tripudus Animosus
iii. (unfinished)
iv. Bellicum (unfinished)
v. Dies Irae (unfinished)
vi. Exsequor

Blue Nocturne - 4' for Rhythm Section

Nine Virtuosic Variations – 6’
for Piano

Ten Variations on a Folk Tune - 8'
i. Counter-melody
ii. Maestoso
iii. Perpetual Motion
iv. Fugue
v. Toccata
vi. Dirge
vii. Polonaise
viii. Jig
ix. Combined Variations
x. Finale

2006

Temple Scenes for Band - 11'
i. Bell Tower In Rain
ii. Founder's Garden, Dusk
iii. Inside the Baptist Temple

Alma Mater - 2'
for Oboe, Piano, and Band

Phasing Light on the Surface of Dangling Vertical Blinds - 6'

Flute Sonata No. 1 in c minor - 11'
i. Aggregioso
ii. Appassionata
iii. Andante assai

Coming soon!

TEMPLE UNIVERSITYemail: thecat@temple.edu

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
email: thecat@temple.edu