Chasing Baby Bumblebees (1997) for saxophone quartet

When I was a young child, we had tall hillside along the end of the backyard. And this hill was covered in Ice Plant. It was also not uncommon for there to be bumblebees hovering from flower to flower, gathering pollen from the plants.  One day, I went out to see the bees, and put my hand out to get them to land on my hand.  Everything went well until one stung me in the palm.

Originally, this short piece was part of a trio of etudes for solo harp, which was then transcribed for string quartet, and ultimately for saxophone quartet.