Does anybody know this piece?

[Wolph]

I’m a high schooler getting ready for college auditions. To find a piece, I went on the OMEA website and looked through the list of saxophone pieces that qualify for their solo and ensemble. In it there is a piece titled “Through the Looking Glass” by Vitale. I’ve tried searching for the piece and can’t seem to find a trace of its existence anywhere minus that list. There’s no recordings of it and no websites seem to be printing it either. I’ve asked around and nobody has heard of it. I’m just curious if anyone else knows any info about where to find it. The only other information the list gives me is that it has three movements.

 

[jbtsax]

All I could find is that David Vitale is a band director in your state at North Royalton City Schools, has been a past president of OMEA region 4 and has "publications on the solo & ensemble list". The publisher listed is Ludwig Masters Publications, but there is no trace of that work in their catalog of publications.

The Ohio Music Education Association doesn't seem to be well organized to say the least. Your time would be better spent selecting a different solo from the list in your classification. The "Tableaux de Provence" is a wonderful piece that there are several great recordings of. This is a video of a recording by Ray Smith a saxophone professor at Brigham Young University and a student of Eugene Rousseau playing the beautiful 2nd movement. You can find a recording of the other movements on You Tube by searching Tableaux de Provence - Ray Smith.

 

[Wolph]

I actually did consider that piece! I love it but I ended up going with Glazounov’s Concerto. Thanks for the info! I’ve seen the Looking Glass piece while browsing the list a few times now and it always made me curious.

 

[jbtsax]

The Glazounov is an excellent choice. Be aware that the piano accompaniment is a "reduction" of the orchestral score and as such requires a very skilled pianist.

As you study the piece, you may be interested in this: Glazunov Concerto Music Minus One performed by Lawrence Gwozdz including orchestral accompaniment.

 

[ProSaxTips]

If you need any help preparing the piece, I'm happy to give you any that you are needing. Good luck!

 

[spike]

I do not wish to disturb anyone's sensibilities in any way whatsoever. !!!!
I really would like to know.
Is this the tone (re: jbt's example above) that is acceptable for the saxophone in classical music ?
And furthermore does that criteria apply to all orchestral instruments: woodwinds, double and single reeds, brass, strings, keyboards, percussion et al . . ?
I'm aware that an orchestra needs to be, albeit to a certain extent and where called for, a harmonious whole (but how many does it take to fill the Albert Hall).
The reason I ask is that to my ears the example above doesn't really sound like a saxophone, it sounds like nothing more than a synthetic sine wave with all those wonderful overtones being repressed, depressed, subdued, filtered, put on sleepers or perhaps having been fed with vast quantities of opiatic substances.
Was not the Devil's horn constructed to put the fear of "what's 'is name ?" into the souls of mere mortals?

 

[jbtsax]

To those who have not been exposed to "classical" saxophone playing, it can have a strange sound at first compared to the styles that followed. It is what it is, and it is how the saxophone was played by the first saxophone virtuoso Marcel Mule who influenced generations of classical saxophonists who followed. There are classical players who play with more vibrato and less vibrato, with a brighter or darker tone, but they all play the instrument more like an "orchestral woodwind" than one found in a jazz or rock band.

One of the most widely recorded classical saxophonists is Eugene Rousseau who studied with Marcel Mule. For those who would like to become more familiar with this sound and style of playing I recommend any one of his numerous albums.

 

[Colin the Bear]

There's a clip on here somewhere of a guy playing tenor and sounding like a cello.

 

[jbtsax]

There's a clip on here somewhere of a guy playing tenor and sounding like a cello.