for nine tenor saxophones (2004)
or for one tenor sax and pre-recorded tenors
duration is c.10′
"Endprint" (2004) for nine acoustic tenor saxophones treats the acoustic instrumental body as an electroacoustic sound synthesis system. Each instrument plays complex sonorities such as trills, multiphonics, and overblown notes. Endprint explores an electro-acoustic approach to acoustic instrumental composition. Burtner began working with new techniques for saxophone performance based in computer music in 1997. He composed two pieces for tenor sax nonet, "Endprint" and "Portals of Distortion". Mark Alburger in 21st Century Music described the nine saxophone pieces as “giant blocks of sound that seem impervious to destruction,” and Philip Blackburn for Gramaphone wrote “The ringing drones of the sax multiphonics suggest a miasmal world of ice, crags, and Northern Lights. "Endprint" was released on the 2004 album, "Metasaxophone Colossus,"
Endprint (2004)
Performance materials include a PDF score