Abstract:
As a music performance major, I presented a solo full-length saxophone recital for my honors thesis. This recital, which featured contemporary and arranged saxophone literature, was geared towards the musically educated, but also accessible to the general audience. The program contained five pieces, beginning with Fuzzy Bird Sonata by Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu for alto saxophone and piano. This was followed by Cantilene et Danse, which was written by Marc Eychenne, from Paris. This piece is scored for alto saxophone, violin, and piano. Following the intermission, I performed a piece by another French composer Francis Poulenc called Mouvements Perpetuels, which was originally for solo piano, but arranged for flute and guitar by Arthur Levering, then for soprano saxophone and guitar by George Wolfe. John Anthony Lennon's piece for alto saxophone and piano, Distances Within Me, followed, and the program concluded with an exciting piece by European composer Piet Swerts entitled KAONOI. I have included a compact disk recording of the recital by Central Recording Services, and a videotape of the performance.For the purposes of this thesis, program notes, which I wrote and distributed, are included. These give background to the composers and some insight to their pieces. I also wrote an artist's statement, explaining my interpretations of the pieces, the aspects of them that I found most difficult, and what I learned from this collective experience. Finally, I included copies of the saxophone parts from all the pieces for those who wish to look at the music in conjunction with the recording.
