Saxophone quartet
A saxophone quartet is a musical ensemble composed of four saxophones, typically soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Different saxophone family members are employed to provide a larger range and a variety of tone colours. Other arrangements of instruments also exist, but are rarer. A piece of music composed for such an ensemble can also itself be referred to as a saxophone quartet.
History
The saxophone was developed in 1840 by
The main impetus for the recognition of this ensemble was by
- Marcel Mule on soprano
- René Chaligné on alto
- Hippolyte Poimboeuf on tenor
- Georges Chauvet on baritone
Subsequent members included:
- Paul Romby
- Fernande L’homme
- Georges Charron
- Marcel Josse
- André Bauchy
- Georges Gourdet
- Guy Lacour
Many works for saxophone quartet that are now considered part of the standard repertoire were written for this ensemble. Mule himself also arranged works for this group.[1]
Current Forms
Saxophone quartets abound as amateur and professional ensembles as well as university-affiliated groups.[2] The most recent World Saxophone Congress, in 2015, hosted a competition specifically for saxophone quartets with a first prize of 4000 euros and a recital,[3] won by Keuris Saxophone Quartet.[4] Saxophone quartets also compete in, and have won, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which is the world's largest classical chamber music competition.
While SATB remains the most common classical configuration, occasionally the soprano is replaced by another alto leading to an AATB configuration particularly in jazz and contemporary ensembles. Other configurations do exist, notably the Four Baritones Quartet (BBBB)[5] and Deep Schrott (BassBassBassBass)[6] but are much rarer.
Repertoire
Notable quartets
- PRISM Quartet
- 29th Street Saxophone Quartet
- Quatuor Habanera
- Misteria Saxophone Quartet
- Raschèr Saxophone Quartet
- Rova Saxophone Quartet
- World Saxophone Quartet
- Apollo Saxophone Quartet
- Budapest Saxophone Quartet[7]
- Quartetto di Sassofoni Accademia
- Sinta Quartet
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-59666-4.
- ^ https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/bender_rhett_l_200012_dma.pdf (page 2)
- ^ "Saxophone quartet competition | SaxOpen". www.saxopen.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-13.
- ^ "Keuris Quartet". keurisquartet. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ "FOUR BARITONES". Niels Bijl. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ "Deep Schrott, the only bass saxophone quartet in the universe". www.deepschrott.de. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
- ^ "Budapest Saxophone Quartet". www.bsq.hu. Retrieved 25 March 2022.