[Anjello]

Hi, so the main reason I joined this website was to ask this question. I'm hoping to find some good solos from this. So I'm an incoming junior in high school and I like competing in my State's Solo & Ensemble competition. This last year I met the guy who won the State competition. He was a junior who played the song Klonos by Piet Swerts (I would recommend looking this up). It isn't well known, and that's when I realized you have to play something different and stand out. I heard 3 Creston Sonatas in a row in the saxophone room! Boring! I am playing the Creston Concerto for my junior year but that's for a different competition too. So my question is, what do I play my Senior year? This is for winning State! I don't want something like the Glazunov or Concertino Da Camera, or even the Ingolf Dahl Concerto. Those are known and you can't win with those! I want something that will challenge me even more than the usual stuff and no one's ever heard of. Some examples of what I'm looking for would be the Moslanka Sonata or Concerto, or Kotekan by Pier Swerts. I want something like that. Help me out! Thanks!

 

[Anjello]

You all seem as stumped as me

 

[RootyTootoot]

Hi. I would suggest sending a message to one of the moderators to get this moved or possibly just duplicated on the "classical" subforum. There are actually quite a few members who could help you on this but they probably haven't seen your post. drakesaxprof or Angel (?? don't know if he visits here any more) are a couple of members who definitely know about this stuff.

 

[Anjello]

I'm not sure how to do that or who to contact

 

[hakukani]

Voila!

 

[Anjello]

Hi! Can you move this or copy it to get more views?

 

[hakukani]

That's what I did. It's now in classical saxophone...

 

[RootyTootoot]

That's what I did. It's now in classical saxophone...

Well that worked like a charm! :mrgreen:

Seriously, OP: sometimes it takes people a while to notice and respond to questions that require a certain level of expertise. When the topic is "What's Your Favourite Porn Site?" (or similar) everyone has an opinion.

 

[Anjello]

Thank you!
@rooty Very true! I know this might take a while seeing as most classical players stick to the standard repertoire.

 

[ArchSax]

Well, it's still within "standard" repertoire, but you could try Fantasia by Claude Smith. I can count the number of saxophonists who really make this piece sound great on one hand.

 

[Anjello]

Oh whoops! I guess I forgot to mention this, but besides being out of standard repertoire, it needs to be 6 to 9 minutes long. I'd prefer not cutting parts out, like you have to with Concertos. If I love a song I'd still do that. Fantasia's great, but it's not what I'm looking for. Thanks for your thought though!

 

[ArchSax]

Légende by Florent Schmitt? It's another challenger to sound great on, but I haven't played this before or heard it in a WHILE. Just throwing another idea out to you.

 

[JohnM]

Hi, so the main reason I joined this website was to ask this question. I'm hoping to find some good solos from this. So I'm an incoming junior in high school and I like competing in my State's Solo & Ensemble competition. This last year I met the guy who won the State competition. He was a junior who played the song Klonos by Piet Swerts (I would recommend looking this up). It isn't well known, and that's when I realized you have to play something different and stand out. I heard 3 Creston Sonatas in a row in the saxophone room! Boring! I am playing the Creston Concerto for my junior year but that's for a different competition too. So my question is, what do I play my Senior year? This is for winning State! I don't want something like the Glazunov or Concertino Da Camera, or even the Ingolf Dahl Concerto. Those are known and you can't win with those! I want something that will challenge me even more than the usual stuff and no one's ever heard of. Some examples of what I'm looking for would be the Moslanka Sonata or Concerto, or Kotekan by Pier Swerts. I want something like that. Help me out! Thanks!

With Klonos, it's actually not as unknown as you might think. I believe it was one of the pieces for the Dinant Competition and while people not familiar with the saxophone rep may not be aware of it, I have found out many within the community actually do.

As for standing out, I suggest you simply pick a piece that you can play your best and you actually enjoy playing. You say you can't win competitions with the Glazunov Concerto or Concertino Da Camera? Those are standards that have repeatedly won competitions. Take my University, about 3 have won the Concerto Competition with Concertino Da Camera, 2 with Glazunov, and 2 with Villa-Lobos. As long as you can play well and enjoy what you play you will be noticed. May not be the advice you are looking for, but I highly suggest you look into this. Furthermore, what other pieces have you studied and performed before so we can get an idea of your playing level? It's difficult to suggest pieces when we don't know where you are starting from and those pieces you listed are difficult even for advanced saxophonists.

 

[Anjello]

With Klonos, it's actually not as unknown as you might think. I believe it was one of the pieces for the Dinant Competition and while people not familiar with the saxophone rep may not be aware of it, I have found out many within the community actually do.

As for standing out, I suggest you simply pick a piece that you can play your best and you actually enjoy playing. You say you can't win competitions with the Glazunov Concerto or Concertino Da Camera? Those are standards that have repeatedly won competitions. Take my University, about 3 have won the Concerto Competition with Concertino Da Camera, 2 with Glazunov, and 2 with Villa-Lobos. As long as you can play well and enjoy what you play you will be noticed. May not be the advice you are looking for, but I highly suggest you look into this. Furthermore, what other pieces have you studied and performed before so we can get an idea of your playing level? It's difficult to suggest pieces when we don't know where you are starting from and those pieces you listed are difficult even for advanced saxophonists.

Klonos is still not anything normal high schoolers or even some college students know about.

As for all those pieces. It's not fun to me to play a song and then have the next person play the same thing. I want that song that makes people's jaws drop. The standards just don't do that for me anymore. I've played the Glazunov and Fantasia by Villa Lobos, and this year it's the Creston Concerto. I'm not worried about what song it is. I have a lot of time to work stuff up, and my teacher helps me out. I just want something unique and difficult. That's what I think is fun. Once I get to college I'll do all the usual stuff.

 

[hakukani]

Hartley Duo?

 

[tracy285]

Playing something ridiculously hard, ridiculously badly isn’t gonna win you anything. Play something you can play well. A high schooler who can play the Creston concerto, or Glazunov, or Ibert, in tune and with perfect rhythm, and some sense of musicality will will be impressive. Since when are those pieces easy?
Judges are looking for someone who has a good sound, good technique, good rhythm and good pitch. If you can’t do that well it doesn’t matter what you play.

 

[bezozzi]

Just curious, is your teacher a private saxophone instructor? If so, what does he/she think you're capable of doing well?

 

[Anjello]

Playing something ridiculously hard, ridiculously badly isn't gonna win you anything. Play something you can play well. A high schooler who can play the Creston concerto, or Glazunov, or Ibert, in tune and with perfect rhythm, and some sense of musicality will will be impressive. Since when are those pieces easy?
Judges are looking for someone who has a good sound, good technique, good rhythm and good pitch. If you can't do that well it doesn't matter what you play.

I'm not here to get doubted. 9 months to get one song prepared is not that hard.

 

[Anjello]

Just curious, is your teacher a private saxophone instructor? If so, what does he/she think you're capable of doing well?

Yes he is. He can put anything in front of me confidently, because I have a long time to get ready for competition.

 

[Anjello]

Hartley Duo?

Good song, I'll look into it.