The original arrangement has a sax trio: alto I, tenor II and alto III.
I need to decide which part is most important as I am going to be the only sax player in my local orchestra's performance of RIB.
The alto I part has lead lines, as well as a cute, short slap-tongue section. Some of the lead lines, however, are quite low, ending up in the low B range.
The tenor II part has some of the same lead lines as alto but in a more comfortable part of the horn. It does not have the slap-tongue solo section; it does, however, have an important, short bass clarinet solo that needs to be played on that instrument. I am not sure if the rest of the tenor part is lead or harmony.
I am not going to consider the alto III part as it does not seem as important as the first two.
So I am trying to decide which part to play, the alto I or tenor II. Can anyone help?
Thanks.
I've played this with an orchestra on lead, and I think the low parts shouldn't be a problem, I like the sound of the alto and it sounds good in the lower register also to me. Unless you are more comfortable generally on tenor.
Could you adapt it into a hybrid alto doubling tenor part, choosing the best or most important bits of each?
I've played this with an orchestra on lead, and I think the low parts shouldn't be a problem, I like the sound of the alto and it sounds good in the lower register also to me. Unless you are more comfortable generally on tenor.
Could you adapt it into a hybrid alto doubling tenor part, choosing the best or most important bits of each?
Well, it's good you like the alto in the lower range. I personally would prefer to play the tenor, because it's more comfortable for me, and I personally think the tenor has a more "urban" sound than alto, which I like in this piece. But then again, the tenor isn't necessarily playing the lead parts, including that slap-tongue alto solo. And then there's the matter of the important bass clarinet solo (which is in the tenor part), which the conductor is insisting on.
I think I'll just have to try one rehearsal on alto and then one on tenor and see what feels/sounds best.
I played this piece a year ago as the only sax player on alto and I felt a bit lost soundwise. A section of two saxes would sound better imo. Perhaps there is a second player on alto/tenor? (Of course, I don't know if it's a paid job and money is an issue.) The third sax is unisono with sax 1 most of the time. Quite a good training for the left pinkie and the lowest notes on alto!
FWIW, this "A1/T2/A3" scheme was common in stock orchestrations in the 1920s. It allowed smaller bands to use just alto and tenor, by scoring A1 & T2 along 2-part harmony rules. But that sometimes meant A3 had to take a note below the tenor.
Because I'm lazy and I wanted to see if anyone else had had the same dilemma, and to find out why they made the choice they did. (Isn't that why we ask most of the questions we ask here?)
See above post--mostly amateur community orchestra with limited funding. In the best of all worlds, they'd be able to get all the musicians to play the score as it was written. Right now, they are banking on one sax player. And that sax player has been given the task of figuring out the best way to handle the situation.
(see the Monty Python Song "The Decomposing Composers")
Verse: Beethoven's gone but his music lives on,
And Mozart don't go shoppin' no more,
You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again,
And Elgar doesn't answer the door.
Schübert and Chopin used to chuckle and laugh,
Whilst composing a long symphony,
But one hundred and fifty years later,
There's very little of them left to see.
Chorus: They're decomposing composers,
There's nothing much anyone can do,
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you. (...)
I've seen orchestras of all stripes go to the ends of the earth to find and pay extra players of rare instruments like contrabassoon, bass oboe, Heckelophone and even Ondes Martenot when they called for in a score, but when it comes to saxes they nickel and dime us.
Merlin, I'm with you in many cases. But here, there is no real original instrumentation of this piece by the composer. Gershwin wrote down a score for two pianos, which was arranged by Ferde Grofé (thanks to wikipedia). So it's perhaps a minor sin to reduce instruments here.
A solution with at least two saxes would sound better, though imho.
You might reconsider if you were more familiar with Gofe'. i seriously doubt Ravel would talk that way. When Gershwin asked Ravel for lessons, Ravel suggested that maybe he should take lessons from George. Why are great artists so often humble and the rest of us, not so much?
Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite is spectacular enough to rank him with anybody.
My clarinet teacher exposed me to that solo in high school and I fell in love. On my first day of college(22yrs ago) I belted that out in an empty auditorium. When I opened my eyes the Dean of Music was standing at the top of the steps. He was in the hallway, heard the glissando, and had to see who it was. Boy was he shocked to see me. I was embarrassed because I thought he was going to be critical but he loved it. I still play it with confidence any chance I get. Best Version....Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra.
Well, I wish you luck. It does seem unfair to have to be doing that. I'm assuming that you're not getting any extra pay for the editing time/work. On the bright side, saxophonists don't get these kinds of playing opportunities every day and I'm sure you'll be enjoying it once the downbeat comes around. Cheers!
Why don't you find some talented high school or college classical sax players to play the other two parts? If we lived a bit closer to you, my daughter would jump at the chance to play. There are plenty of very good classical players in Massachussetts.
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