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The Classical Saxophone - A French Love Story
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About The Classical Saxophone - A French Love Story
My interest with French repertoire began while a student at The University of Texas at Austin. My studies with the renowned saxophonist, Harvey Pittel, introduced me to the then-peculiar sonorities and lush, quite modern harmonies of the composers of France, especially those from the turn of the 20th century. This newly-acquired taste for the French sensibility led me to discover many other facets of art from that culture such as art, literature, language, and, of course, food! One of the works young saxophonists study is the Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone by Claude Debussy. What enticed me about this piece, aside from its incredible beauty, was its unique history involving the composer and saxophonist Elise Hall of Boston. I relayed this tale to Jean-Pierre Schmitt upon which he became very interested in researching other commissioned repertoire for which Madame Hall was responsible. After a trip to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, we discovered that the estate of Elise Hall actually left these works to the archive at the New England Conservatory of Music back in Boston! A much shorter trip from New York to Boston uncovered musical gems of the French repertoire by composers almost forgotten by the public. With the kind assistance of the staff at the Library in Boston, we were able to obtain copies of these scores and introduce them to the public. Throughout the year, Mr. Schmitt and I have had the great pleasure in performing concerts both in the United States and in France, reacquainting audiences with the great spectrum of color and expression of this well-known instrument as well as its rich musical past. Javier Oviedo, March 2008. JAVIER OVIEDO. Acclaimed for his lustrous tone and formidable technique, saxophonist Javier Oviedo has traveled across the country and around the world, bringing the significant but underplayed classical saxophone repertoire to new and appreciative audiences. His recent engagements with orchestras such as the New Jersey Symp
