Short Cuts was commissioned by the Apollo Saxophone Quartet in 2003/4 and was originally scored for two sopranos, one tenor and one baritone.
This new version, however, asks for a different scoring of three Bb clarinets and one bass clarinet.
The work’s main purpose is to play with two possible meanings for "short cuts". That is, both with the idea of sharp and cutting musical gestures and the idea of taking a different, shorter, path to reach a specific destination. But, most of all, it was written thinking of the wonderful sonority and the rare qualities of the ASQ, to whom the work was dedicated.
The work also exists in 5 other versions:
Saxophone quartet, piano and percussion
Wind and percussion chamber ensemble