Category Archives: Saxophone

Melbourne Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra

RM1100e Melbourne Concerto
RM1100e Melbourne Concerto
Digital Download eScore
Composer: Barry Cockcroft
Composed: 2017 Duration: 16 mins.
Instrumentation: Sax Concerto
ISMN: 979-0-720137-24-7 Catalogue: RM1100
Level: E Country: Australia

Contains 210 pages - full score, orchestral parts and saxophone solo part.

Instrumentation:

Solo Soprano Saxophone

2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets
2 Bassoons

Trumpet
Horn 1
Horn 2

Marimba
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Contrabass

 

 

Quintet for Alto Saxophone and Strings – SAX PART ONLY

RM577e Sax Part Only for Quintet for Alto Saxophone & Strings Goldstein ALTO SAX/STRING QUARTET
RM577e Sax Part Only for Quintet for Alto Saxophone & Strings Goldstein ALTO SAX/STRING QUARTET
Digital Download eScore Part Only
Composer: Perry Goldstein
Composed: Duration: 18 mins.
Instrumentation: Sax & Other Instruments
ISMN: 979-0-720083-83-4 Catalogue: RM577
Level: E Country: United States

This is for the saxophone part only. The full piece is available with parts and score here:

Quintet for Alto Saxophone and Strings

Program note:

Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet (2006) features three movements of wildly different character, all influenced by quite different kinds of music.  The first movement, “Bright and exuberant,” is simultaneously heroic and breezy.  Undulating near-minimalist figures in the strings accompany overarching melodies played by the saxophone.  The B section within this A-B-A’ form is more languid, while the outer A sections contain music that is buoyant and striving.

I think of the tune at the center of movement 2 (“Heartfelt and singing”) as an urban spiritual.  Though simple, it first finds itself in a bluesy if somewhat chromatically tortured chorale-like setting.  Four variations follow.  The first preserves the pace of the saxophone melody in a setting of pizzicato strings and short lamenting outbursts. The second variation poses quintuplet perpetual-motion arabesques against the melody while the cello plays with and against the quintuplets in rhythmic syncopation.  The third variation spins an uptempo jazz waltz out of the material while the fourth sets the tune lamentingly in surprising harmonies in the strings’ upper registers.  A cadenza for the saxophone brings the movement to a somber close.

The third movement is something of a middle-eastern dance, made rhythmically jagged by the everchanging meters.  Marked “Dancing, yet driving,” this movement emulates the A-B-A’ shape of the first.  However, the B section and the coda recapitulate the tune of the first movement, first in a melancholy mood and then in exuberant conclusion.

Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet is dedicated to saxophonist Kenneth Tse and the Escher String Quartet.

 

Mischief

RM1080e Mischief Goldstein SAX QUARTET SATB
RM1080e Mischief Goldstein SAX QUARTET SATB
Digital Download eScore
Composer: Perry Goldstein
Composed: 2011 Duration: 7 mins.
Instrumentation: Sax Quartet SATB Level E
ISMN: 979-0-720137-21-6 Catalogue: RM1080
Level: E Country: United States

Mischief

RM1060e Mischief Goldstein ALTO SAX/BASS CLA
RM1060e Mischief Goldstein ALTO SAX/BASS CLA
Digital Download eScore
Composer: Perry Goldstein
Composed: 2011 Duration: 7 mins.
Instrumentation: Bass Clarinet Chamber Music, Sax Alto & Bass Clarinet
ISMN: 979-0-720137-02-5 Catalogue: RM1060
Level: E Country: United States

Melbourne Sonata

RM888 Melbourne Sonata Cockcroft SOPRANO SAX/PNO
RM888 Melbourne Sonata Cockcroft SOPRANO SAX/PNO
Printed Book
RM888e Melbourne Sonata Cockcroft SOPRANO SAX/PNO
RM888e Melbourne Sonata Cockcroft SOPRANO SAX/PNO
Digital Download eScore
Composer: Barry Cockcroft
Composed: 2012 Duration: 12 mins.
Instrumentation: Sax Soprano & Piano
ISMN: 979-0-720114-85-9 Catalogue: RM888
Level: E Country: Australia


The Melbourne Sonata is a major work for soprano saxophone & piano. It is dedicated to Irish saxophonist Gerard McChrystal and is a 12 minute composition in three movements, Go, Slow and Blow.

The effective performance of this piece lies in the ability of the duo to maintian considerable intensity throughout. The two parts are tightly integrated and at times the two instruments should be indistinguiable from one another. With few gaps in the saxophone part, circular breathing essential. The lines weave in and out of each other leaving neither instrument prominent. With the pedal depressed throughout the 2nd movement, some of the saxophone notes should cause the piano to resonate. It was not my intention to have the saxophone playing into the piano but rather a resonant 3rd voice in the distance. The final movement requires clarity of articulation and a hint of a Celtic feel.