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Saxophone with orchestra or concert band CDs

2K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  ratracer 
#1 ·
Hello,

I'm in the market for some good classical saxophone CDs with an orchestra or concert band accompaniment.

Have any recommendations?
 
#4 ·
OP, do you mean "CD" literally? There are lots of options out there, but sometimes recordings go out of print, so it's hard to say whether a particular CD is available or not. Also, if I've purchased a recording as a digital download, I may not be aware of whether it exists in CD format or not.

That said, here are a few recommendations:

The Upward Stream, a tenor sax concerto (with orchestra) composed by Russell Peck and performed by James Houlik. Originally on the Houlik CD, American Saxophone (1996) with two other works. Also on the CD, Russell Peck, Composer (2000) and maybe others too.

Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra composed by Philip Glass and performed by the Rascher Quartet. Originally on the Glass CD, Symphony No. 2 (1998). Now also on the CD, Philip Glass: The Concerto Project Vol. III (2008).

Glass, Tavener & Nyman (2009) by Amy Dickson. The soprano saxophonist plays three works for sax and orchestra, including her own transcription of the Glass Violin Concerto No. 1.

Adams: City Noir (2014), a CD that includes both the title composition, an orchestral tone poem with a prominent saxophone part, and the Adams Saxophone Concerto. Both alto saxophone parts are played by Timothy McAllister.

Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble composed by John Mackey and performed by Timothy McAllister. I don't know if this is available as a CD; I bought it on iTunes. You also can find live performances on the Web.

Song (2011) by Otis Murphy, a CD that includes the Creston and Maslanka concertos for alto sax and wind band.

Sax Drive (2004) by John Harle, a CD that includes several saxophone concertos. My favorite is the soprano sax concerto by Michael Torke.

Double Concerto for Saxophone and Cello, composed by Michael Nyman and performed by John Harle and Julian Lloyd Webber. This work is included on a 1997 Nyman CD that also features excellent concertos for harpsichord and trombone.

In addition to the Branford Marsalis CD already mentioned (it's called Romances for Saxophone (1986)), he released another disc with more standard rep sax (mostly alto) & orchestra works: Creation (2001).

How much do you want? There are many, many recordings in existence. I haven't even touched on canonical works such as the Glazunov or Debussy. I'm sure you can find good lists in other threads in this subforum.
 
#8 ·
For the sake of brevity, I won't include anything that's already been listed.

Classic Saxophone Concertos (Gary Louie, St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Vladimir Lande)

You haven't heard classical saxophone until you've heard this album. Absolutely stunning musicianship and well-rounded repertoire. Includes the best recordings of the Glazunov Concerto and Frank Martin Ballade out there, along with transcriptions of Bizet's Carmen Fantasy, Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, and Schumann's Träumerei.

The World Famous Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (James Forger, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Robert Black)

James Forger, former Professor of Saxophone and current Dean of the College of Music at Michigan State University, performs John Anthony Lennon's stunning Symphonic Rhapsody. This recording cemented Forger as one of my favorite classical saxophonists when I first heard it, and it showcases a level of musicianship few other classical saxophone recordings have matched.

Available on Amazon.

James Aikman: Venice Of The North Concerti (Taimur Sullivan, St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Vladimir Lande)

PRISM Quartet baritone saxophonist Taimur Sullivan performs American composer James Aikman's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. Taimur Sullivan is another player that deserves more recognition, and this recording makes that case extremely clear. At the most recent North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, he performed this piece as one of five concerto soloists on the concert that closed out the first day, and his performance was the highlight of the concert in my opinion.

The piece itself is very reminiscent of Philip Glass (especially in the second movement), along with hints of Alban Berg.

Under The Sign Of The Sun (Claude Delangle, Singapore Symphony Orchestra & Lan Shui)

French standards recorded by the Patron of the Modern French School. I generally don't look to Delangle when it comes to the standard repertoire (I prefer Jean-Yves Fourmeau or Daniel Gauthier), but he really shines here. His recording of the Ibert is one of only three which contains all of the altissimo that Ibert wrote, and this album also contains the rarely heard orchestrated versions of Paul Maurice's Tableaux de Provence, Florent Schmitt's Légende, and Milhaud's Scaramouche.

Saxophone Concertos (Nobuya Sugawa, Philharmonia Orchestra & David Parry)

Japanese superstar saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa's not-easily-accessible solo release on the EMI label contains some of his best playing. In addition to recordings of Debussy, Glazunov, and Ibert, this album also contains the premiere recording of Takashi Yoshimatsu's Cyber-Bird Concerto. Available on Amazon.
 
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