Fantaisie sur un thème original (1860)
French composer Jules Demersseman (B.1833) was known as a flute virtuoso, winning multiple awards while at the Paris Conservatory. He went on to have a short yet prominent career as a composer, performer, and teacher until he died in 1866. Demersseman was a good friend of Adolphe Sax, who had invented the saxophone in the early 1840s and was trying to gain legitimacy for his new instrument. Demersseman composed many pieces for the saxophone, which Sax published.
One of those pieces, Fantaisie sur un thème original, for alto saxophone and piano, showcases the saxophone's expressive range, blending melodic and lyrical passages with frenetic technical lines. Demersseman utilized the saxophone as a virtuoso’s instrument, writing fast chromatic passages mixed with extended techniques. An example of this is a high F# altissimo note, which demonstrates that performers could play that high a range before the high F# key was introduced. Demersseman also wrote passages that required double-tonguing, even further highlighting the saxophone's ability to perform virtuosic, articulate sections like the flute.
Divertimento (1964)
“As a musical genre of the 18th century, it is unusual that a divertimento is composed for the Alto Saxophone, an instrument which was not developed until the mid-19th Century. Yet Roger Boutry (b. 1932) proves with his Divertimento for Alto Saxophone that the combination of style and instrument makes for a thrilling performance. French composer Boutry won many prizes during his time at the Paris Conservatoire, as well as for his professional work. He has over 100 published works in which he successfully unites diverse modern and traditional trends. He was named Personality of the Year in 1989 for all of his artistic activities. Divertimento is cast in three movements, beginning in a highly rhythmic and syncopated way before moving on to a moody and balladlike second movement that ends with a cadenza. This leads into the third movement, a light, presto finale. Boutry's Divertimento for Alto Saxophone and Piano accompaniment is an essential and varied addition to the advanced saxophonist's repertoire.” -Program note from score
Vignette N° 12 (2020)
Remy Le Boeuf (b. 1986) is a Grammy-winning composer and saxophonist whose music is rooted in the jazz tradition and overlaps into contemporary classical and indie-rock realms. Le Boeuf is also the founder and director of the jazz orchestra, Assembly of Shadows, as well as the Chief Conductor of the Nordkraft Big Band in Denmark. He has worked with a range of collaborators, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Linda Oh, HAIM, Knower, JACK Quartet, Dayna Stephens, Prefuse 73, and his identical twin brother Pascal, with whom he co-leads the experimental quintet, Le Boeuf Brothers. Le Boeuf is an Assistant Professor and Director of Jazz and Commercial Music Studies at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. -Biography from the composer His Vignettes are a collection of etude-like pieces for saxophone, focusing on challenges and skills such as circular breathing, altissimo, odd time signatures, overtones, and endurance. Vignette No. 12 is one etude that combines many of these challenges, with extended techniques like altissimo, overtones, and multiphonics blending with continuous eighth notes that require high endurance or circular breathing to achieve.
Neon Flicker (2012)
Takuma Itoh’s music has been described as “brashly youthful and fresh” (New York Times) and has been featured among “100 Composers Under 40” on WQXR. Itoh has been the recipient of two Barlow Endowment general commissions, the Music Alive: New Partnerships grant, the Chamber Music America Classical Commission, the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize, six ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and the Leo Kaplan Award. Groups around the world have performed Itoh’s works, and he has been teaching at the University of Hawaii ‘i at Mānoa since 2012, where he is Professor of Music. He holds degrees from Cornell University, University of Michigan, and Rice University. “...The piece is full of short bursts of energy that – much like an old neon-lit sign that keeps stuttering on and off unpredictably – cannot seem to find a way to stay “on” for any extended period. Music tries to find its footing and gain momentum, but is usually thwarted before anything can be developed significantly. The frustration is eventually relieved when the music is allowed to blossom free of interruptions. Still, even that moment turns out to be fleeting, and the music eventually winds down to a stuttering halt.” -Biography and program note from the composer
Fuzzy Bird Sonata (1991)
Takashi Yoshimatsu was born in Tokyo in 1953 and studied at Keio University. Unlike most composers, he taught himself composition. Yoshimatsu is self-described as an "anti-atonal music composer." Most of his compositions feature a free, neo-romantic style with strong influences from jazz, rock, and traditional Japanese music. He made his debut with "Threnody to Toki" in 1981 and has since premiered six symphonies, ten concertos, and numerous orchestral works. Other works include stage works, a series of chamber music related to birds, piano and guitar works, and works for traditional Japanese instruments. The Fuzzy Bird Sonata is part of Yoshimitsu's "Bird Cycle" of compositions, which includes the Cyberbird Concerto, Birds are Still ..., and the Age of Birds. The piece is divided into three movements and blends classical, jazz, and traditional Japanese styles. The first movement thrives on rhythmic precision and clarity and requires immaculate timing from the performers. The saxophone part in this movement, as well as the rest of the piece, features much playing in the altissimo register, or extended range, of the horn. The first movement also features a section where "slap tongue" is utilized. Although it contains small cadenza-like sections, the movement is powered by an ostinato heard in the piano. The second and third contain much more freedom for the soloist to improvise, add ornaments, and suspend time. Since the accompaniment throughout the second movement is a continuous tonic arpeggiation, the soloist heightens the tonic's pull with recurring glissandi back to the tonic. The third movement, although marked presto, is also to be played in a manner with much rubato and freedom. The highlight of this movement is an improvisatory cadenza that can last from 20 seconds up to a minute. In this performance, a method of motivic improvisation will be used, in which motives and themes previously heard in the piece are brought back and integrated with other musical ideas to form a cohesive improvisation.