Abstract:
Improvisation is a musical art form that has existed in music for hundreds of years. Improvisation, while often thought of as limited to jazz music alone, is often incorporated into several different genres of music. Since the fifteenth century, improvisation has been an integral part of Western music, dating back to compositional practices such as fauxbourdon and polyphony (Hubbs-Gaines, 2003). From here through the exploratory and varied techniques in jazz, improvisation has had a profound impact on how we compose, perform, and listen to music.This recital will explore the rich and diverse types of improvisation in classical saxophone music and in jazz. The saxophone, invented in the 1840s, is relatively new on the instrumental scene, and has a wide repertoire of contemporary music that explores various types of improvisation. The saxophone also has a wide range of etudes, suites, concertos and other types of soloistic literature that incorporate improvisation in a more traditional sense. Both of these very general categories will be sampled, as well as four different styles of jazz: bebop, latin, swing and contemporary, spanning the 20th century.I hope that this creative project will expose those listening and reading to a wider array of improvisation within the saxophone repertoire, ranging across many styles and genres.
