Saxophone booklets under the magnifying glass

This year we are celebrating the 200th birthday of Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), the brilliant inventor of the saxophone. Since the first few original compositions in the middle of the 19th century (Singelée, Kastner, Savari, Génin, Demersseman etc.), numerous works have been written for this instrument. In recent decades in particular, a large number of compositions have been written in a wide variety of styles, as well as numerous teaching works and schools. In view of this pleasing wealth, it is often difficult for amateurs, students and music teachers to make a selection. The appearance of publications is usually the first thing that catches the eye and determines whether they are merely leafed through or examined in more detail. It would be desirable if publishers and authors attached more importance to visualization and layout, as this is helpful, inspiring and meaningful for the reception of literature at all levels.

Contemporary
In the new edition of the Sakura variations by Helmut Lachenmann for alto saxophone, percussion and piano is a good example of how a simple, beautifully printed and embossed score with plenty of space can arouse curiosity about foreign or familiar worlds of sound. The sight-reading introduction to the exotic Japanese folk song Sakura (first sung by the player) is immediately followed by the need to delve deeper into the functional-harmonic sound practice. It quickly becomes apparent that this occasional composition by Helmut Lachenmann is also easy to access due to its moderate level of difficulty. A wonderfully cheerful and serious piece of music that should not be withheld from advanced music students. Far too rarely are such gems of contemporary music performed in recitals!

Three further, recently published, serious compositions - published in a similarly simple appearance - should be mentioned here: Das Marian triptych by Martin Torp - a sonorous work for alto saxophone and organ that refers to New Testament scenes, Günter Raphael's wide-ranging variation, rhythmically approaching jazz Divertimento for alto saxophone and violoncello op.74 and the solo piece Jeux by Gilbert Amy, which he arranged for soprano saxophone at the suggestion of Claude Delangle. (The original version was for one to four oboes.) All three works realize a specific quality of the instrument and enrich every concert program with their own musical language. Especially Jeux places high technical demands.

The subtle pieces by Swiss composer Kevin Juillerat present themselves with a much more colorful cover Et l'horizon frissonne ("Und der Horizont erschauert" for alto or tenor saxophone solo) and Miroitements ("Spiegelungen" for alto or soprano saxophone and piano). These short pieces, which are committed to the titles, demand modern playing techniques such as multiphonics, subtones, quarter tones etc. They are well suited for first encounters with contemporary music, especially as the composer places particular emphasis on teaching the performance indications with introductory exercises and recommends suitable listening examples from other works. A somewhat more generous notation would have been useful here.

Jazz Club - Learn to play jazz - by Andy Mayer and Christian Wegschneider is aimed at classical saxophonists who want to get to know jazz music through playing and not through the sometimes daunting theory, scales and knowledge of harmony. The solos, chords and rhythms are written out in the first part, and it is only in the second part that you are given the opportunity to play independently and creatively with play-alongs. The criticism voiced at the beginning about the graphic design of certain publications could be reiterated here, as the restlessness of the title page continues throughout the chapters in the density of the writing and music text, which sometimes makes getting started, which should be made easier, rather more difficult. However, the groovy CD tracks with various instrumental groups make up for this introduction to the world of jazz.