The Rite of Spring is one of the most influential works of the 20th century, still sounding just as fresh and innovative as it did in 1913 at the infamous premiere in Paris. To try and distill such a massive work down to a few key excerpts for a radically smaller ensemble has been one of the largest undertakings of my career as a composer, and I feel that I have finally come to a sensible conclusion with this version. Instead of transcribing the material from the entire piece, I chose to highlight a number of my favorite moments from both parts. Accordingly, I have made some minor adaptations of the music to help the transitions flow better with the reduced material. This reduction stays true to the original score and will require considerable preparation and an experienced ensemble to make this happen but should prove rewarding. This is a true arrangement rather than a transcription, as I rearranged some themes and put different material together to showcase as much of the source material as sensibly possible while still reducing the overall performance time. This arrangement is about half the length of the original and is aimed to provide as close to the original music as possible with a shorter performance time.

This project is gratefully dedicated to my friends and esteemed colleagues in the OSU saxophone studio, and to our continued collaboration. This project has undergone a number of forms since the very beginning of my career as a composer and has always been met with kind words and generous support.