'love songs for the broken' with Rob Burton & Mark Rogers

These 'songs' for soprano saxophone and piano gives voice to the queer love story - be it one of passion, absurdity, repentance, or sorrow. Each short movement takes its name from a poem written by a queer poet from history, illustrating the often hidden and secret love of queer people. From seeing a sunlit lover in bed in Kari Edwards’ [the day shifts…], to young love and the despair of rejection in Frank O’Hara’s ‘Mayakovsky’. The one exception being that of 7th-century, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, where we have no idea whether he was queer but the fluidity and universality in his haiku has always spoken to me. Although initially set out as being a ‘concerto’ for saxophone, this work has developed into a series of snapshots into the intimacy and crystalline effervescence of the soprano saxophone.

This is a version of a work originally for soprano saxophone and string ensemble, written for the Britten Sinfonia in 2022.

Find out when you can hear this new work

Click here to visit the ‘live’ page and to find out when this new work will be premiered as part of the 2025-26 International Concert Series at Royal Holloway University of London in October 2025.

More information about love songs for the broken

Click here to find the dedicated webpage with more information about this new work.