[Roundmidnite]

For those of you who study classical- what pieces do you really like? - any time period, accompanied or unaccompanied, moderate to difficult- but not too difficult!. I'm focusing on tenor this semester at school and would like to work on a classical piece. My teacher is giving me some ideas but wondered if SOTW people have additional ideas. I'm looking at Steve Stusek's recommendations now.

 

[awholley]

Concertos :

Peck -The Upward Stream (more on the "difficult" part of the spectrum, though)
Ewazen -Classical Concerto
Gould -Diversions

Sonatas and Other:

Scott -And Everything Is Still (I have a recording on my Soundcloud link below, if you don't know it)
Schmitt -Sonatina
Frackenpohl -Sonata
Bedard - Fantasie (usually for sop but works quite well)

I'd recommend checking YouTube for recordings of James Houlik for more ideas.

 

[LostConn]

1. You can't go wrong with the Bach Cello Suites. A lot of pros seem to regard baritone as the ideal choice for this music, but I think tenor sax works at least as well. I use the Trent Kynaston arrangement.

2. Vivaldi Sonata in G Minor (sometimes called Sonata No. 6 in G Minor), arr. for tenor sax and piano by Sigurd Rascher. One of my favorite pieces; it really builds momentum.

3. Soliloquy and Celebration for soprano/tenor sax and piano, by Ronald Caravan. Although there is a piano part here, I think the first part of this piece ("Soliloquy") also sounds great unaccompanied. Moody and modern. The second part is lively and energetic, in an odd meter. The composition is dedicated to Paul Desmond, so I'm not sure why it was written for sop/tenor, but it's still fun.

Disclaimer: I "study" classical saxophone music only on my own. I am not an enrolled music student.

 

[saxyjare01]

I enjoyed playing Tenor Excursions. It has multiphonics written in!

 

[Saxydude]

"Beau Soir" c. Debussy; arr. Rousseau

"Sonata" James DiPasquale

 

[Roundmidnite]

Concertos :

Peck -The Upward Stream (more on the "difficult" part of the spectrum, though)
Ewazen -Classical Concerto
Gould -Diversions

Sonatas and Other:

Scott -And Everything Is Still (I have a recording on my Soundcloud link below, if you don't know it)
Schmitt -Sonatina
Frackenpohl -Sonata
Bedard - Fantasie (usually for sop but works quite well)

I'd recommend checking YouTube for recordings of James Houlik for more ideas.

Beautiful playing- and thanks everyone for the great suggestions.

 

[saxoclese]

This piece is beautiful for its simplicity and fits the tenor saxophone quite well. It is an excellent study in control, phrasing, tone quality, intonation, and vibrato.

 

[Paul Cohen]

I recommend a newer work by Jeff Scott, the French horn player and composer from the Imani Winds.
His Elegy for Innocence for tenor sax and piano is an emotional and exciting one movement work suitable for excellent high school students and all college students.
There also may be a lost Lawson Lunde tenor sonata becoming available soon.
Paul Cohen

 

[Taragot]

I heared Branford Marsalis play the a-minor solo sonata (org. flute) from C.PH.E.Bach on tenor, and it fitted well for the instrument.

 

[Lambros]

I always found this to be beautiful; each movement starts out with the tenor and the fugue builds around it.

 

[Eulipion2]

I second the DiPasquale Sonata. The second movement really tests your ability to play very softly in the lower register. Ends with low Eb-D-Bb starting at ppp and fading.

Also, I like to play three short Hartley pieces as a suite: Scherzino (dynamics, brief altissimo), Poem, and Sonorities VII (multiphonics, altissimo).

If you really want an altissimo workout, Diane Hunger recently released an arrangement of Schumann's "Adagio and Allegro" for tenor.

William Duckworth's "Pitt County Excursions" is a short piece that features rapidly changing meters in the 1st and 4th movements, and softly played multiphonics in the 2nd. Neat piece.

 

[Eulipion2]

I recommend a newer work by Jeff Scott, the French horn player and composer from the Imani Winds.
His Elegy for Innocence for tenor sax and piano is an emotional and exciting one movement work suitable for excellent high school students and all college students.
There also may be a lost Lawson Lunde tenor sonata becoming available soon.
Paul Cohen

I can only find the bassoon version of this. Does Mr. Scott offer a tenor version, or is it something one needs to pop into Sibelius and hit the "Transpose" button?

EDIT: Never mind. Found it!

 

[lesacks]

Thanks for finding that, Eulipion2; and for the recommendation Paul. Bookmarked

 

[Paul Cohen]

Yes, I publish it with To the Fore Publishers Www.Totheforepublishers.Com
I'm happy to send an mp3 of a live performance.
It is not a transcription of the bassoon version, but a complete reimaging for tenor sax. Works beautifully.
Paul Cohen

 

[Lambros]

The tenor excerpt is beautiful, Dr Cohen! I would imagine this would sound amazing on basset horn or bass clarinet as well.

Yes, I publish it with To the Fore Publishers Www.Totheforepublishers.Com
I'm happy to send an mp3 of a live performance.
It is not a transcription of the bassoon version, but a complete reimaging for tenor sax. Works beautifully.
Paul Cohen

 

[Paul Cohen]

Elegy for Innocence is a beautiful and searingly moving work. Jeff Scott adapted it so that it is effective and idiomatic for the tenor saxophone. The work has such dynamic contrast and emotional intensity that I am not sure how well it would work for the basset horn or bass clarinet.
Paul Cohen

 

[Lambros]

For the reason you cited, this piece is ideal for tenor saxophone because of the naturally larger and focused sound of the instrument along with its dynamic range and sensitivity. The clarion range of the bass clarinet, with its unique timbre/tonal quality taken into consideration, can be quite broad and large if it is well developed by the individual player that willingly pursues it.

Elegy for Innocence is a beautiful and searingly moving work. Jeff Scott adapted it so that it is effective and idiomatic for the tenor saxophone. The work has such dynamic contrast and emotional intensity that I am not sure how well it would work for the basset horn or bass clarinet.
Paul Cohen

 

[Saxydude]

I second the DiPasquale Sonata. The second movement really tests your ability to play very softly in the lower register. Ends with low Eb-D-Bb starting at ppp and fading.

It's funny you mention that. When I was studying that piece early in undergrad, I was told a story about those final bars of the 2nd movement. Caveat: I'm not positive this is true, but it was told to me by a professor who is well-positioned to know....

Di Pasquale was studying sax performance at Northwestern under the great Dr. Fred Hemke when he wrote the Sonata as a composition assignment. (sidebar: there are legit Coltrane phrases in the 1st and 3rd movements.) Anyway, allegedly the final measures of the 2nd movement (that low Eb - D - Bb phrase) were first marked "subtone" in addition to "ppp". When Di Pasquale played the piece for Dr. Hemke, Hemke allegedly scoffed at the "subtone" of those final measures and insisted those notes be "full tone" at the "ppp" dynamic marking. Di Pasquale protested, insisting it was impossible to "full tone" those notes at the "ppp" dynamic. Hemke, in typical Hemke fashion, took out his own tenor and proceeded to demonstrate the final measures "full tone" at the "ppp" dynamic. Of course, those final measures are not marked "subtone" and, as someone who has played that piece in competitions, I can attest that you will be called-out if you do indeed "subtone" those final measures (accidentally or purposefully).

 

[Eulipion2]

Di Pasquale was studying sax performance at Northwestern under the great Dr. Fred Hemke when he wrote the Sonata as a composition assignment. (sidebar: there are legit Coltrane phrases in the 1st and 3rd movements.) Anyway, allegedly the final measures of the 2nd movement (that low Eb - D - Bb phrase) were first marked "subtone" in addition to "ppp". When Di Pasquale played the piece for Dr. Hemke, Hemke allegedly scoffed at the "subtone" of those final measures and insisted those notes be "full tone" at the "ppp" dynamic marking. Di Pasquale protested, insisting it was impossible to "full tone" those notes at the "ppp" dynamic. Hemke, in typical Hemke fashion, took out his own tenor and proceeded to demonstrate the final measures "full tone" at the "ppp" dynamic. Of course, those final measures are not marked "subtone" and, as someone who has played that piece in competitions, I can attest that you will be called-out if you do indeed "subtone" those final measures (accidentally or purposefully).

This takes me back to when I was studying the piece, and every time I'd play the second movement at my lesson my professor would yell "Don't subtone!" Ah, memories. At least now I can tell myself I was playing it as the composer originally intended.

 

[dbabich]

Song of My Sons by David Babich
Concerto by Tuthill
Concerto by Robert Ward
Uberfunk by Tony Davis - unaccompanied