The Spiral Saxophone Quartet in 2013 with SATB saxophones

A saxophone quartet is a musical ensemble composed of four

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

s, typically

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

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

Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the f ...

, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist, and clarinetist based in Brussels. Sax went to considerable effort to popularize the instrument but faced opposition in his efforts from his fellow instrument makers at the time. Despite being initially conceived of as an orchestral instrument, it was through the avenue of

military music A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

that the instrument first gained significant momentum. Composer Jean-Baptiste Singelee had written works for four saxophones in the 19th century. These included ''Allegro de concert'' (AATB), ''Quatuor en 4 Parties'' (SATB), and ''Grand Quatuor Concertant en 3 Parties'' (SATB). In 1878, the Gilmour Band featured a quartet of saxophones which included Edouard Lefèbre, a soloist in the band. Lefèbre went on to form his own saxophone quartet in 1905 with a repertoire of transcriptions. The main impetus for the recognition of this ensemble was by

Marcel Mule Marcel Mule (24 June 1901 – 18 December 2001) was a French classical saxophonist. He was known worldwide as one of the great classical saxophonists, and many pieces were written for him, premiered by him, and arranged by him. Many of these piec ...

, who was the second Professor of saxophone at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

after Adolphe Sax himself. In 1928, he founded Le Quatuor de la Musique de la Garde Républicaine, later known as Le Quatuor de saxophones de Paris, and then the Marcel Mule Quartet. The founding members were: *

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. Daniel Deffayet was a student of Marcel Mule, and later professor of saxophone at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1953 he founded the ‘’Quatuor de Saxophones Daniel Deffayet’’ with other members Jacques Maffei, Jacques Terry and Jean Ledieu.

Sigurd Rascher Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Meroving ...

, his daughter Carina Rascher, Bruce Weinberger and Linda Bangs formed the Rascher Saxophone Quartet in 1969 which continues to this day.

Jean-Yves Fourmeau Jean-Yves Fourmeau is a French classical saxophonist and is the classical music professor at the CRR de Cergy-Pontoise. Biography At age 17, Fourmeau won first prize at the Paris Conservatoire in the 3rd cycle of chamber music, which was unprec ...

formed his own quartet in 1979. These ensembles contributed significantly to expanding the repertoire through their work with composers. Notable composers who have written quartets include

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

Eugene Bozza Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

, and others. Since the 1970s jazz quartets have started to emerge as well, broadening the scope of the ensemble and the idiom of the repertoire.

Current Forms

Saxophone quartets abound as amateur and professional ensembles as well as university-affiliated groups. The most recent

World Saxophone Congress The World Saxophone Congress is a festival gathering approximately 1000 saxophone, saxophonists and other musicians from all over the world. It is held every three years at a different congress centre in a different country and focuses primaril ...

, in 2015, hosted a competition specifically for saxophone quartets with a first prize of 4000 euros and a recital, won by Keuris Saxophone Quartet. Saxophone quartets also compete in, and have won, the

Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition The Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition is the largest and oldest continuous chamber music competition in the United States. In 1973, Joseph E. Fischoff and fellow members of the South Bend Chamber Music Society established a competition to ...

, which is the world's largest classical

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

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) and Deep Schrott (BassBassBassBass) but are much rarer.

Repertoire

Notable quartets

* PRISM Quartet *

29th Street Saxophone Quartet The 29th Street Saxophone Quartet was an American saxophone quartet. Established in 1982, the ensemble's members included alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg (in more recent years, Willie Williams), and ...

* Quatuor Habanera * Donald Sinta Quartet * Misteria Saxophone Quartet * Raschèr Saxophone Quartet *

Rova Saxophone Quartet Rova Saxophone Quartet is an American, San Francisco-based saxophone quartet, formed in October 1977. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. Wh ...

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...

* Mirasol Quartet * Apollo Saxophone Quartet *Budapest Saxophone Quartet * Quartetto di Sassofoni Accademia

History

Current Forms

Repertoire

Notable quartets

References

See also