I was listening to the radio and there was a concerto for saxophone playing, well the piece was rubbish but I remembered how much I love the sound of the instrument.
So what are your favorite chamber and orchestral works that feature the saxophone prominently? :)
None. Can't stand the sound of the saxomophone.
Quote from: DavidW on April 09, 2010, 09:37:58 AM
I was listening to the radio and there was a concerto for saxophone playing, well the piece was rubbish but I remembered how much I love the sound of the instrument.
So what are your favorite chamber and orchestral works that feature the saxophone prominently? :)
The Saxophone is possibly my favored Jazz instrument, but i'm not particularly keen to it when it comes to classical music. You can try Kapustin's concerto for Alto-Saxophone if you want, which can be found here, along with most of his recordings:
http://pinkysmusic.toypark.in/cdartist/kapustin.php
Other then that, i'm essentially at a loss.
Quote from: Brahmsian on April 09, 2010, 09:41:30 AM
None. Can't stand the sound of the saxomophone.
Heresy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j_TDoOPnIA
Where to start??
The saxophone has been as ubiquitous in the new music I favor as the electric guitar and turntable.
Easier to name soloists and ensembles.
Kelvin Pittman
Urs Leimgruber
Ulrich Krieger
Daniel Kientzy
Peter Brötzmann
Ornette Coleman
Rova Quartet
Raschèr Quartet
Should be enough to get you started!
Quote from: Brahmsian on April 09, 2010, 09:41:30 AM
None. Can't stand the sound of the saxomophone.
(* Jeevesian cough *) Have you given ear to . . . Out in the Sun?
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 09, 2010, 10:55:50 AM
(* Jeevesian cough *) Have you given ear to . . . Out in the Sun?
Ha! I was going to mention it but can't rememeber the title！ （I was thinking...the Sun... or the Rat Trap... )
Quote from: springrite on April 09, 2010, 10:58:37 AM
... or the Rat Trap...
Hah! (I am a Rat, you know.) : )
I dig Erwin Schulhoff's Hot Sonata.
Quote from: Brahmsian on April 09, 2010, 09:41:30 AM
None. Can't stand the sound of the saxomophone.
You mean sucksophone?
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 09, 2010, 10:55:50 AM
(* Jeevesian cough *) Have you given ear to . . . Out in the Sun?
You know I thought you had written a piece with a saxophone but then I thought it probably was just in my head! :D
My favorite saxophone works CD:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H14DZN8EL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
The French seem to love this instrument with several French composers writing for it, Debussy, Milhaud, and many others - but the preferred sound of the French players is very different from that of Americans and I am not thrilled with it.
Glazunov's concerto is widely available, but I have not heard it. I thought Creston had written one, but could not find any, although, I didn't search very hard. Hindemith must have written one.
Pettersson's 16th Symphony could just as well been called a Saxophone Concerto. The work is one of his most upbeat too. The saxophone is used in Vaughan Williams 9th Symphony, providing an atmosphere no other instrument could have given. A brilliant bit of orchestration.
Sarge
Well, Harpo & I love the saxophone in jazz, and I do have a 'small' collection of the sax used in more classical compositions - just a handful below; the Koechlin disc is just wonderful:
Koechlin, Charles - Saxophone Works et al
Marsalis, Branford - Romances for Saxophone
Music for Sax & Orchestral - Many works
Saxology - Many composers (mainly French)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4127tSgFi%2BL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CFCEAC6EL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z6YyMlc2L._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://www.classical-artists.com/saxquar/images/Saxology_CentenCD.jpg)
Quote from: DavidW on April 09, 2010, 09:37:58 AM
I remembered how much I love the sound of the instrument.
Me too. It was my main instrument (I could also play clarinet). Here's me and my tenor sax in 1967:
(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/feb2010/img460.jpg)
Sarge
Debussy Romance for saxophone.
And naturally "The Old Castle" from the Ravel orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition.
Isn't there also a sax solo in the third mvmt of RVW's 6th symphony?
Jazz saxophone is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Some of Duke Ellington's later works (Far East Suite, and AfroEurasian Eclipse) work saxophone playing into an ensemble sound. (Chinoiserrie from the latter is great). For a cool tone, Lester Young is hard to beat. On the far other end of the spectrum would be something like Pharaoh Sanders, who played in really weird resisters that can be pretty abrasive, but the settings are something that a fan of 20th century orchestral works may really appreciate. (Karma is probably the definitive one..)
Ah lucky Sarge, I wanted to play sax when I was in band but ended up with the flute. :'(
Quote from: DavidW on April 09, 2010, 12:46:08 PM
Ah lucky Sarge, I wanted to play sax when I was in band but ended up with the flute. :'(
But, dude! That means you can play Heedless Watermelon! ; )
Thread duty:
I love the sax bits in Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 09, 2010, 12:47:52 PM
But, dude! That means you can play Heedless Watermelon! ; )
I think I would have an asthma attack if I tried to play Heedless Watermelon! :D
Quote from: SonicMan link=topic=16132.msg405421#msg405421 date=1270842607
i]Koechlin, Charles[/i] - Saxophone Works et al
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4127tSgFi%2BL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Please let me re-emphasize - my post seems to have been ignored; but for those who like the saxophone by a 20th century classical music composer, I cannot offer further recommendation to the one shown above - this is some beautiful music by a composer who understood this music in this genre - YES, it is that good! Dave :D
Dave, no worries I haven't ignored any of the posts! :)
Quote from: SonicMan on April 09, 2010, 04:38:57 PM
Please let me re-emphasize - my post seems to have been ignored; but for those who like the saxophone by a 20th century classical music composer, I cannot offer further recommendation to the one shown above - this is some beautiful music by a composer who understood this music in this genre - YES, it is that good! Dave :D
To be honest-- the Koechlin album you cited didn't thrill me as much as some of the other Koechlin albums I've picked up of late. I'm a huge fan of Koechlin's solo piano and orchestral works. I'll need to dip back into this album.
Bizet - L'arlesienne Suites
Bach - There are some quartets that do some great great things with these works
Quote from: James on April 17, 2010, 07:05:49 AM
Karlheinz Stockhausen
- In Freundschaft (http://www.amazon.com/Solitary-Saxophone-Claude-DeLangle/dp/B0000016KE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271510263&sr=1-1)
- Edentia (http://www.marcusweiss.com/CdFrameset.html)
- Lucifer's Dance (http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=149414)
Luciano Berio
- Sequenza VIIb; Sequenza IXb (http://www.amazon.com/Solitary-Saxophone-Claude-DeLangle/dp/B0000016KE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271509054&sr=1-1)
- Chemins IV; Chemins VII; Duos (http://www.amazon.com/Dialogue-Chemins-R%C3%A9cit-Vincent-David/dp/B00103E3TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271509497&sr=1-1)
Philip Glass
- Concerto for Sax Quartet & Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-No-Interlude-Saxophone-Orchestra/dp/B00122RQG6/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk_alt?ie=UTF8&qid=1271508271&sr=1-5)
- Concerto for Saxophone (Quartet Version) (http://www.amazon.com/Philip-Glass-Saxophone/dp/B000075A3R/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271508271&sr=1-1)
Iannis Xenakis
- Xas (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010WQ4HA/ref=sr_1_1_rd?ie=UTF8&child=B0010WNZF4&qid=1271510438&sr=8-1)
Anders Koppel
- Works for Saxophone & Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/Anders-Koppel-Works-Saxophone-Orchestra/dp/B000GB6PBG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271510743&sr=8-2)
Anton Webern
- Quartet, op. 22 (http://www.amazon.com/Dialogue-Chemins-R%C3%A9cit-Vincent-David/dp/B00103E3TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271509497&sr=1-1)
Harrison Birtwistle
- Panic (http://www.amazon.com/British-Music-Collection-Harrison-Birtwistle/dp/B00005IA6D/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271516563&sr=1-2)
Also suggest Penderecki's Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra-- it's one of his loosest compositions, and a personal fave as far in the area where free jazz and the avante-garde ran into each other.
Wolfgang Mitterer
- Obsoderso (http://www.discogs.com/Wolfgang-Puschnig-Wolfgang-Mitterer-Obsoderso/release/2177008) (with Wolfgang Puschnig)
Gérard Grisey
- Anubis (http://www.musiquefrancaise.net/fiche.php?id=232)
- Nout (http://www.musiquefrancaise.net/fiche.php?id=232)
Love the haunting use of the saxophone in Rachmaninovs Symphonic Dances - his last work but imo probably his most heartfelt :)
Quote from: offbeat on April 18, 2010, 08:38:28 AM
Love the haunting use of the saxophone in Rachmaninovs Symphonic Dances - his last work but imo probably his most heartfelt :)
Seconded.
A great number of the pieces mentioned are alternate transcriptions made of pieces originally composed for clarinet. Evidently among modernist composers, the sax was an afterthought.
Quote from: James on April 18, 2010, 01:37:24 PM
That's not true, what the hell are you talking about ...
The Debussy, Grisey and Berio pieces were all composed for clarinet first. The Ligeti was originally composed for a wind quintet and the transcription for sax ensemble I doubt was the composer's. Some Stockhausen pieces for saxophone were originally composed for clarinet, as his partner Suzanne Stephens is a clarinet virtuoso, with sax transcriptions only coming later.
Quote from: CRCulver on April 18, 2010, 01:26:42 PM
A great number of the pieces mentioned are alternate transcriptions made of pieces originally composed for clarinet. Evidently among modernist composers, the sax was an afterthought.
As James said, quite a few were composed for sax, rather than transcribed later. In any case, does it make a difference? Are the pieces less worthy or less interesting after transcription?
Giacinto Scelsi
another collection, very much like the Naxos one mentioned earlier:
Debussy, Ibert, Villa-Lobos, Glazunov, Richard Rodney Bennett, Dave Heath
John Harle, sax, ASMF, Marriner 1991 recording on EMI
The Debussy was originally written with short phrases for the saxophone as an exercise for Elise Hall who suffered from the side-effects of an illness that affected her breathing. Harle has re-orchestrated the piece.
There might be a recording of the 1951 concerto by Henk Badings available from Donemus who published the score.
Terrific sax-solos in Frank Martin's celloconcerto and second pianoconcerto.
And, alas, plenty of Belgian concertos (Poot, Meulemans, Chevreuille, pieces for sax quartet & orchestra etc, sonatas, ballades, concerto for sax,piano & orchestra etc etc) that are not available! It is a shame...
great work : symphony for sax quartet and orchestra by dutch composer Otto Ketting.
FWIW, I always look forward to the saxophone bit in Ravel's Bolero. ;D Some play it straight, some jazz it up a bit...and some jazz it up a lot!
If nothing else, a sax practically screams 20th century. ;)