[saxophonepiano]

Hello,

I am preparing a student for his university audition on the Giovanni Platti Sonata no 5 opus 3 in Eb Major for Alto Saxophone. He will also perform the Rumba (Rhumba) by Maurice C. Whitney for Alto Saxophone. (both pieces have piano accompaniment). Does anyone have any suggestions for what type of stylistic features to focus on for each piece? I have the Music Minus One recordings for each of these (Vincent Abato plays the Platti Sonata and Paul Brodie plays the Rumba).
What types of advanced features would you point out that would help my student do well in his audition? (e.g. dynamics, phrasing, articulation, tone, pitch, intonation) Basically, how do I get my student to make the pieces unique to stand out from the crowd?

Thanks

 

[Angel]

Put rhythm and intonation at the top of that priority list. If those two aspects aren't handled, then there's not much else to talk about. In the meantime, there must be a habit of listening to the height of quality of high woodwind playing (Pahud, Mayer, Carbonare, etc).

The Tuning CD, and a tuner/metronome combination should all be used for 100% of the practice time. Extra time should be invested in working out full-range scales, intervals, and arpeggios in the keys represented in the repertoire being prepared, also in adherence to the Tuning CD, tuner, and metronome.

With this type of practice environment, it will be a painful experience for the student to NOT play with exactitude of rhythm and pitch. This is a beautiful thing.

 

[saxophonepiano]

Hi -thanks for the reply! Yes, I definitely agree that rhyhtm and intonation are critical elements - and of course using a tuner and metronome. I will have to check out your suggestions to listen to Paud, Mayer, Carbonare -I'm not familiar with them - so far I have been advocating listening to players such as Eugene Roussau, John Harle, Marcel Mule, Arno Bornkamp, etc. Also, Paul Desmond has quite a "pure" jazz tone, according to some. He's one of my favourite jazz players. What about a group such as Gerald Danovitch Sax Quartet from Montreal, Canada or the San Francisco Sax Quartet -did a nice version of Bach's Air in G among others. Any saxophone quartets you recommend to listen to? What about saxophone quartet repertoire? Any suggestions? (for classical and jazz)

 

[Angel]

Emmanuel Pahud CDs - "Bach Flute Sonatas", "Brahms Sonatas", "Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev", and "Flute Panorama" (Franck, Faure).

Albrecht Mayer CDs - "In Search of Mozart", "In Venice", "New Seasons", "Voices of Bach".

Alessandro Carbonare CDs - "Brahms/Mozart Quintets", "Schumann", and "La Clarinette a l'Opera".

Calefax Reed Quintet CDs - "Libro de Glosas", "Rameau - Nouvelles Suites", "Debussy/Ravel"

The above serves in my studio as the course on the platinum standard of classic high woodwind playing, and I am very pleased to find that young saxos (even in a severely education-challenged state such as Alabama) respond very positively to these items. I also assign selected recordings of Delangle, McAllister et al, but focus mostly on my favorites of today's many great flute/oboe/clarinet masters.

If you haven't checked out Arcanes or Quatuor Habanera (two astonishing saxophone quartets in France), then you need to.

 

[Ian Stewart]

The U.K.'s Flotilla is an excellent saxophone quartet, with a good tone and interesting repertoire - although I must be open and say that the leader is a friend of mine. Their CD got an excellent review in Saxophone Journal, here is the link:

http://www.flotilla.org.uk/Flotilla/Home.html

As you mention players with a pure tone Kyle Horch (an American player who lives in London and leads Flotilla) has such a tone and you may find his playing will help your students. He is also Professor at the Royal College of Music. if you want a preview of his playing, here is a live recording (playing one of my works):

Islas - video

 

[saxophonepiano]

Hi Angel
Sorry for not replying sooner -I really appreciated the suggestions you sent, as well as your Facebook page, which I recently signed up to join. I love the Quatuor Habanera -I like their YouTube version of their Tango -great playing and choreography too! I can't seem to find an online video or audio clip of the Arcanes quartet. Unfortunately the Montreal based Gerald Danovitch saxophone quartet recordings seem to be out of circulation -were produced in Canada under the CBC label -what a shame, as I really enjoy their rendition of the Barber of Seville!