Sigurd Raschèr
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sigurd Manfred Raschèr (15 May 190725 February 2001) was an American
saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
born in Germany. He became an important figure in the development of the 20th century repertoire for the classical saxophone.


Early life

Sigurd Raschèr was born in
Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...
, Germany (now part of
Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...
), where his father, Hans August Raschèr (1880–1952), was temporarily stationed as a military physician. His schooling began in
Arlesheim Arlesheim is a town and a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Its cathedral chapter seat, bishop's residence and cathedral (1681 / 1761) are listed as a heritage site of national significance ...
, Switzerland and continued in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, Germany, where he graduated from the first Waldorfschule. After learning piano for some time, he decided to study clarinet with Philipp Dreisbach at the Stuttgart ''Hochschule für Musik'' (1928/1929). In an interview, Raschèr said, "Obeying necessity, not following my inclination, I started to play saxophone in order to be in a dance band. As I did this for a couple of years, I became more and more unsatisfied. I started to practice furiously and slowly found out that it had more possibilities than was usually thought of."


Career in Europe

In 1930 Raschèr moved to Berlin. He was called upon when the
Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922â ...
needed a saxophonist for a performance. This is where he met the composer and conductor Edmund von Borck (1906–1944), who composed a concerto for him in 1932.''The Raschèr Reader'', Sigurd Raschèr, edited by Lee Patrick, Daniel A. Reed Library., 2014, 231–233. Borck's Concerto Op. 6 for Saxophone and Orchestra was performed at the General German Composers Festival in
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
, Germany on 3 October 1932. It was such a success that the
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has a ...
, under the baton of
Eugen Jochum Eugen Jochum (; 1 November 1902 – 26 March 1987) was a German conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others. Biography Jochum was born to a Roman Catholic ...
, gave a performance with Raschèr in Berlin on 6 January 1933. In the summer of the same year, Raschèr performed the Borck concerto again in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
at Hermann Scherchen's International Musician's Working Conference, and in 1935 he performed it with the
Amsterdam Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the ...
under the baton of Eduard van Beinum. As
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
rose to power in 1933, Raschèr's friend Johan Bentzon, whom he had met in Strasbourg, invited him to
Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...
, where Raschèr then taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. In 1934 he was in
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, Sweden. Over the next four years he performed concerts in Norway, Italy, Spain, Poland, England and Hungary. In April 1936 he participated in the XIV Festival of the
International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...
(ISCM), premiering the work
Concertino da camera The Concertino da camera for alto saxophone and eleven instruments was written by Jacques Ibert in 1935. Ibert dedicated the work to saxophone pioneer Sigurd Raschèr,Raschèr, S. Top Tones for the Saxophone, (1941) Carl Fischer, NY page 19 who ...
by
Jacques Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of 20th-century classical music, classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoir ...
. In 1938 he visited Australia, and in 1939 moved to the United States. ''Top-Tones for the Saxophone (Revised Edition)'', Sigurd M. Raschèr, Carl Fischer, Inc., 1961.


Career in the United States

Raschèr arrived in the United States in 1939 and made his American debut on 20 October 1939 with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
conducted by
Serge Koussevitzky Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky;Koussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his sig ...
. On 11 November 1939 he was a featured soloist at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
with the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
under the baton of Sir
John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...
. He was the first saxophonist to appear as a soloist in a subscription concert with either orchestra. His career continued with solo appearances in Washington, D.C. and at New York City's Town Hall in the spring of 1940, which
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
attended and thereupon embraced Raschèr. Due to the war in Europe, he could not return to Germany. On 4 November 1941, his wife Ann Mari, of Swedish descent, joined him in the United States where they established their home on a small farm in the rural town of Shushan in northern New York State, where they would reside for nearly 60 years. Although he was born in Germany, publicity from the 1940s often refers to Raschèr as having come from Sweden. This reflected both his distaste for the Hitler regime, and reaction to American suspicion during that time of all things German. His international career as a soloist and his ability to gain residence and citizenship in many countries could have been damaged or destroyed if any suspicion arose about his background. After World War II ended in 1945, Raschèr was invited to give concerts in Europe again, where he traveled for months on end, performing as soloist with many orchestras. As Raschèr's reputation grew in the United States, he also performed many orchestra concerts as soloist as well as with various university bands. Raschèr performed as soloist with more than 250 orchestras and wind ensembles worldwide, including concerts in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and the United States. His last saxophone solo performance was playing the Glazunov concerto for saxophone and string orchestra with the Vermont Symphony in 1977, on the eve of his 70th birthday. After suffering a debilitating stroke in 1994, Raschèr died in 2001 at age 93 in Shushan, New York. The Sigurd Raschèr Special Collections Archive is currently held at the
State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (alternatively SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia State, or Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the six ...
.


Relationship with composers and premieres of major works

During Raschèr's life, 208 works for saxophone were dedicated to him, many counted as among the most important 20th century works for the concert saxophone.
Throughout the middle decades of the twentieth century, a preponderance of the significant new saxophone solo and chamber repertoire would appear with the familiar dedication to Sigurd M. Raschèr, the outcome of not just his ongoing commitment to motivate some of the world's finest composers, but also in part the result of genuine close friendships he developed with so many. Among them were Larsson, Glaser, and von Koch in Sweden; Jacobi, Dressel, von Knorr and Hindemith in Germany; Haba, Macha, and Reiner in Czechoslovakia; and Benson, Brant, Cowell, Dahl, Erickson, Husa, Hartley and Wirth in the United States. And it is not without significance that among all the pieces written for and dedicated to him during his life, not one was commissioned. He inspired new music, he never needed to purchase it.
Works dedicated to Raschèr include: * Edmund von Borck: Konzert für Alt-Saxophon und Orchester, Op. 6, 1932 * Warren Benson: Concertino for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (or Orchestra, or Piano), 1955 * Henry Brant: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, 1941 * Eric Coates: Saxo-Rhapsody, 1936 * Henry Cowell: Air and Scherzo for Alto Saxophone and Small Orchestra(or Piano), 1961 * Ingolf Dahl: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, 1949 * Werner Wolf Glaser: Allegro, Cadenza e Adagio for Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1950 * Alexander Glazunov: Concerto pour Saxophone Alto avec l'Orchestre de Cordes in E♭ Major, 1934 * Alois Hába: Suita pro Saxofon-Solo, Op.99, 1968 * Walter Hartley: Octet for Saxophones, 1975 * Paul Hindemith: Konzertstück für Zwei Altsaxophone, 1933 * Alan Hovhaness: World Under the Sea for Alto Saxophone, Harp, Tympani, Vibraphone and Gong, 1954 * Karel Husa: Elegie et Rondeau for Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1960 * Jacques Ibert: Concertino da camera pour saxophone alto et onze instruments, 1935 * Erland von Koch: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, 1959 * Lars Erik Larsson: Konsert för Saxophon och Stråkorkester, 1934 * Frank Martin: Ballade for Alto Saxophone, String Orchestra, Piano and Tympani, 1938 * Slavko Osterc: Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1935 * William Grant Still: Romance for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, 1954 * Viktor Ullmann: Slavische Rhapsodie für Orchester und Saxophon, 1940 * Maurice Whitney: Introduction and Samba for Alto Saxophone and Band (Orchestra or Piano), 1951 * Carl Anton Wirth: Idlewood Concerto, 1954, and Jephthah, 1958.


Raschèr Saxophone Quartet

With his daughter Carina, Linda Bangs and Bruce Weinberger, Raschèr founded the
Raschèr Saxophone Quartet The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs European classical music, classical and Contemporary classical music, modern music. The quartet was founded in the United States in 1969 by prominent cla ...
in 1969, one of the first classical saxophone ensembles to perform worldwide. He remained with the quartet for its first ten years, during which it performed at major concert halls in Europe and the United States. The quartet was acclaimed by the ''
Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...
'' as the "Uncrowned Kings of the Saxophone". The quartet performed in all the countries of Europe, as well as North America, Southeast Asia, and Australia. It is the longest existing saxophone quartet. Raschèr's tireless pursuit of classical composers is continued by the quartet, which has led more than 300 composers in 35 nations to dedicate works to the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet.


Teaching career

Raschèr taught saxophone at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
, the
Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...
and the
Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...
. Many of his students went on to become well known saxophone teachers and performers themselves, including: * Mark Aronson * Sylvia Baker * Linda Bangs * David Bilger * Ronald Caravan *
Paul Cohen Paul Joseph Cohen (April 2, 1934 – March 23, 2007) was an American mathematician, best known for his proofs that the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice are independent from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, for which he was awarded a F ...
* Rebecca Crutchfield * Kenneth Deans *
Lawrence Gwozdz Lawrence S. Gwozdz (; ; born April 1, 1953) is an American classical music, classical saxophonist, composer, and former professor of saxophone at The University of Southern Mississippi. His successor is Dr. Dannel Espinoza. Born to Polish-Ameri ...
* James Houlik * John-Edward Kelly * Patrick Meighan * Michael G Montague * John S. Moore * Lee Patrick * Carina Raschèr * Michael Ried * Richard J. Scruggs * Ray Spires * Styliani Tartsinis * Bruce Weinberger * Harry White * Laurence Wyman * Wildy Zumwalt


Raschèr Saxophone Workshops

After retiring from his performing career in 1977, Raschèr continued to give week-long workshops to groups of saxophonists, both in the United States and his native Germany until well into his 80s. These workshops typically attracted between 40 and 80 players of all ages, and were usually held at universities where his admirers or former students held teaching positions, such as The University of Georgia (1976 & 1977), The University of Southern Mississippi,
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...
,
Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...
, SUNY Fredonia, and
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
. Workshops featured master classes, performances by soloists and
quartets In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...
, and a final concert featuring all attendees playing together as a "saxophone orchestra." The last U.S. workshop was held at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1992 and the last European workshop was held in southern Germany in 1993.


Saxophone tone and the saxophone mouthpiece

One subject that was of great importance to Raschèr was his tonal concept. He believed that when used in
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
, the
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 p ...
should sound as its inventor,
Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 7 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, and redesigne ...
, had intended. Upon inventing the instrument, Sax had specified the shape of the interior of the instrument's
mouthpiece Mouthpiece may refer to: * The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use ** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder ** Mouthpiece (telephone handset) ** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a wood ...
as being large and round. All saxophone mouthpieces were made in this style until the 1940s, when the advent of big-band jazz made saxophonists experiment with different shapes of mouthpieces to get a louder and edgier sound. Between 1940 and 1960, it became common for classical saxophonists to use narrow-chamber mouthpieces, which give the instrument a brighter and edgier sound. Whenever he taught or lectured to saxophone players, Raschèr emphasized that the modern mouthpieces were not what Sax had intended, and the sound they produce, while useful to a jazz player who requires a loud penetrating sound, was not appropriate in classical music. His students and other disciples felt that the desirable tone for a classical saxophone was a softer, rounder sound—a sound that can only be produced by a mouthpiece with a large, rounded interior (often referred to as an "excavated chamber"). His steadfast and irascible insistence in this area, while nearly all the world's classical saxophonists were moving to narrower mouthpieces (along with saxophones with a non-parabolically expanding bore) and a brighter tone, resulted in quarrels with, and alienation from, the majority of the classical saxophone world. There were other ways in which his playing differed from the majority of classical saxophonists; these included his insistence on using the slap tongue as a pizzicato technique, and his use of
flutter-tonguing Flutter-tonguing is a wind instrument tonguing technique in which performers flutter their tongue to make a characteristic "FrrrrrFrrrrr" sound. The effect varies according to the instrument and at what volume it is played, ranging from cooing soun ...
. By 1970, narrow-chambered mouthpieces had become nearly universally popular, and mouthpiece manufacturers ceased production of large-chambered mouthpieces. This meant that Raschèr's students had difficulty finding mouthpieces that would produce the tone they desired. For a period of time the only large-chambered mouthpieces were ones that had been manufactured in the 1920s and 1930s, leading Raschèr students to search pawn shops and other sources of old instruments. Raschèr responded to this lack of supply by engaging a manufacturer to make a "Sigurd Raschèr brand" mouthpiece, which was simply intended to duplicate a type of mouthpiece that had been readily available from American saxophone manufacturers Buescher, Conn and others in the 1920s. The Raschèr mouthpiece is still manufactured today.


Upper register of the saxophone

Raschèr's teaching included an emphasis on the use of the saxophone's upper register. As early as 1930 he demonstrated that an advanced player can achieve a range of four
octaves In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
on the saxophone, despite the fact that few players at that time ever played beyond the conventional range of two and a half octaves. This upper range became known as the " altissimo register", but Raschèr himself refused to use that term, preferring to call the notes in question "top tones". A few players played above high F before 1940, including H. Benne Henton of the Conway Band c. 1911 (to high D), Dick Stabile, an early jazz artist (to high F), and Jascha Gurewitz, an early recitalist (to high F#). Raschèr was vocal in encouraging
composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and defi ...
to make use of this range. He was eager to demonstrate his command of these "top tones", and argued that their use was musically legitimate, not a trick or novelty. His book on the subject, ''Top-Tones for the Saxophone'', was published in 1941 and remains highly regarded. To better demonstrate that the technique of playing tones above high F had its basis in the natural overtone series of the saxophone, he had the Buescher factory create a custom instrument for him: a saxophone body with no tone holes at all. A picture of this instrument is in the ''Top Tones'' book. He demonstrated that it was possible to play at least 16 overtones on this keyless instrument, as well as on a conventional saxophone, and claimed that diligent study of the technique of playing overtones was the best way to gain a command of the upper range and improve overall tone quality. The saxophone's altissimo register was controversial throughout the middle of the 20th century, and Raschèr stirred the controversy among the classical saxophone community by insisting that the instrument's inventor, Adolphe Sax, had intended the instrument to be played in this manner. Raschèr cited evidence that Sax had demonstrated a three-octave range (up to a high C) to composers in the 1840s. Despite the initial resistance on the part of the saxophone community to the altissimo register, it has since come to be an accepted technique, and is utilized by nearly all classical and jazz saxophonists. Despite its difficulty, it is now commonly taught to advanced high school and college students, and has become a required skill for any student who desires a degree in saxophone performance.


Recognition and awards

* He was awarded the Band Masters of America Award for distinguished artists * Honorary Life Member of the
North American Saxophone Alliance The North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) is an organization for saxophone players from around North America. History Following the lead of their colleagues in France, who created the Association of French Saxophonists in 1971, the North Ame ...
*
Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi) is an honorary Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for school band, college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November ...
Distinguished Service to Music Medal * Initiated as honorary brother of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...


References


External links

* Official web sit

of the
Raschèr Saxophone Quartet The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs European classical music, classical and Contemporary classical music, modern music. The quartet was founded in the United States in 1969 by prominent cla ...

Raschèr's New York Times obituary

Raschèr's Los Angeles Times obituary
* by John-Edward Kelly
Several articles by Sigurd Raschèr on saxophone history and usage at ClassicSax.com

Web site of Raschèr Saxophone Mouthpieces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rascher, Sigurd 1907 births 2001 deaths American classical saxophonists American male saxophonists German saxophonists Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Manhattan School of Music faculty People from Elberfeld Musicians from the Rhine Province Distinguished Service to Music Medal recipients People from Salem, New York 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century German musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians