An independent study by David Oschefski
For most of the 19th and 20th century the saxophone never really had much of a proper place in the classical world a lot of its repertoire was transcriptions of other woodwind instruments and even in the orchestra world there are only a small amount of notable works featurin! the saxophone" #t would seem the saxophone was tryin! to fit in to be accepted and respected however in the late 20th century many n ew developments were made in classical saxophone repertoire and techni$ues" %sin! these developments and techni$ues in his works one composer stated &the saxophone can stop imitatin! or tryin! to catch up to other instruments" 'he saxophone is a uni$ue instrument with uni$ue potentials and abilities"&()u 2009 *2+
,hristian -auba was born in .fax 'unisia a country in northern Africa on /uly 2 192" -ivin! in such an area !ave him exposure to not only African music but Arabian and estern music styles as well as 'unisia was a French colony with lar!e 3n!lish and #talian populations" (ikipedia http455en"wikipedia"or!5wiki5,hristian6-auba7,ompositions+ 8e would later use all these influences to create &a synthesis between classical contemporary music and popular music& (-ondeix 2012 220+" -auba would later travel to :ordeaux France to study at the %niversity of :ordeaux and at the ,onservatory of :ordeaux for lan!ua!es and music under ;ichel Fuste<-ambe=at respectively" ()u 2009 9+ 'his is where -auba would work alon!side 'hierry Alla ,hristophe 8avel >hillipe -aval Francois ?osse and /ean<;arie -ondeix" ()u 2009 @2+
After finishin! his studyin! at the ,onservatory -auba was awarded First >ri=e for composition in the ;ichel Fuste<-ambe=ats class recieved the .A,3; pri=e in 19* the ;edal of 8onour of the ,ity of :ordeaux in 19*B and won first pri=ein the :erlin #nternational
,omposition ,ompetition in 199B (-auba Neuf Etudes 199 back cover+" 8e went on to become the appointed professor of musical analysis at the ,onservatoire ?e!ional de :ordeaux ()u 2009 @2+ has written more than B0 pieces involvin! saxophone (-ondeix 2012 220<1+ not includin! his compositions under his alias /ean ;atitia" ;any of -aubas pieces are inspired by Corthern African /apanese Arabic and 3uropean cultures" ()u 2009 9+ 'his is apparent in pieces like his Neuf Etudes not only in the titles of the pieces but also in the music"
orkin! alon!side /ean<;arie -ondeix -auba and attendin! many of his master classes he had explored the extended techni$ues of the saxophone and learned the small nuances of the instrument and successfully implemented them into his works" 3ven -aubas early works such as Adria used extended techni$ues like slap ton!uin! subtone multiphonics and extreme dynamics"
-auba has written more than few saxophone works that have received praise and acclamation for developin! modern saxophone repertoire and usin! extended techni$ues in a melodic expressive and artistic manner" .ome of -aubas most well known pieces are his Neuf Etudes" ,omposed of four volumes each volume written for different instrumentation Alto soprano and tenor a duet for two soprano saxophon es and one for baritone saxophone" ()u 2009 @+ 'he Neuf Etudes was commissioned by the :ordeaux ,onservatory saxophone in 1992 and took -auba approximately 2 years to compose (%mble 2000 2@+" 'hrou!h these etudes he explored many techni$ues such as circular breathin! extreme dynamics subtones multiphonics slap
however since -aubas etudes they have beco me essential for professional saxophonists to be able to perform" ()u 2009 *+ -auba once said &the noises of keys and breath simultaneous sounds and subtones reveal a different aspect of the instrument or rather its true character&" Althou!h it was not only the use of these techni$ues that had captured the admiration of many musician and saxophonists but -aubas ability to express with these techni$ues" &hen # wrote this piece for alto saxophone # wanted to present techni$ues such as circular breathin! and subtone in an expressive context" Althou!h these techni$ues already exist in various p opular !enres # wanted to use them in a work that could serve as an archetype in art music"& 'he composer added &#nstrumental techni$ues are for me Eust tools to be used in a musical lan!ua!e a means to an end" 8owever the resultin! archetype becomes a timeless mode"& ()u 2009 @*+ hile -auba was specifically talkin! about the first etude Balafon he uses this same concept throu!hout his compositions"
Balafon the first etude of -aubas nine was composed &for the mastery of circular breathin! delicate dynamics sound $uality with a full clear tone as well as subtone"& (-auba Balafon, 199 1+ #t has been said to have African inspiration (ersavaud 201+ one could say this is seen in the lack of meter bars lines no re!ular pulse and the title would seem to tie it all to!ether" A balafon or a balo is a est African instrument a precursor to the xylophone" (ikipedia http455en"wikipedia"or!5wiki5:alafon+ hile this may be true -auba never intended to have this connection he was writin! based off of his ideas rather than the instrument" &# ! ave the titles after composin! the studies& said ,hristian -auba" /ust as when he composed the first etude Balafon, he treated it as a total abstraction without !ivin! it a title" &All the titles of my 3tudes were !iven by me only Balafon was su!!ested by ;r" -ondeix which # accepted" 'he
titles correspond to what the music su!!ests"& ()u 2009 @+ After listenin! to some of the music played on a balafon the name is very fittin! as Balafon has many similarities with the music" ;any short recurrin! melodies over a short period irre!ular phrase len!ths and no consistent meter or pulse except for constant runnin! ei!hths" 'he circular breathin! is very reminiscent of balafon music but the delicate dynamics and subtone techni$ue is somethin! that is not as common"
'he dynamics in Balafon ran!e from pppp to fortissimo much of the work bein! under the dynamic of piano" 'his can make the techni$ue of circular breathin! very difficult as one must keep the air smooth and consistent between breaths and in the $uieter dynamics a little inconsistency is much more noticeable"
hile the perform plays in softer dynamics such as the be!innin! of the piece they must pay attention to the timbre as they will have to switch between subtone and a full tone throu!hout" .ubtone has two distinct methods of bein! played the American and the French way" &'he American subtone has a very breathy $uality whereas the French subtone is a pure sound lackin! of upper harmonic partials"& ()u 2009 @@+ 'he French method is more effective and preferred for this piece"
-auba stated that he desires precision and clarity in all of the etudes and Balafon re$uires perfect &tempered& intonation" (%mble 2000 2*+ &hat # am talkin! about is clarity of lan!ua!e and not necessarily clarity of timbre" Clear for me in this sense means that the performer is to meticulously and clearly represent everythin! that is notated in the score" 'he
performance of these Etudes must be technically clean leavin! no place for indecision" 3verythin! in the notation must be clearly heard by the listener"& (%mble 2000 2@+ 'he use of multiphonics throu!hout Balafon or the other etudes means the performer must be careful that all the tones specified are sounded and in tune as they are used for melodic structure" %nfortunately some of the written in fin!erin! su!!estions for the multiphonics were improperly published or were difficult to make all voices sound" An errata of the Neuf Etudes was written up by /oel ersavaud and ;arc
hile still bein! an etude which do not usually have any specific form Balafon seems to have a slow
'he next etude Savane follows a similar form with the lento section and the en pressant sections clearly marked" Savane is the second alto etude with a focus on consecutive multiphonics" -auba uses multiphonics for a more melodic sense rather than a chord clusters" 'he melodic line of the piece is contained within the multiphonics he has chosen for the piece which a!ain means the performer must be co!ni=ant of the balance between each note an intonation" (%mble 2000 2*+
Sanza is another etude that has a focus on multiphonics but it re$uires an ability to maintain multiphonic tones subtone and articulations mainly staccato" 'he .an=a is another
African instrument that cannot play sustained notes so the pla yer must be expressive without havin! a easily reco!ni=able melodic line" (ersavaud 201+
'he final alto etude is Junlge which incorporates &slap
olume two starts with a soprano etude Tadj however its techni$ue of focus is not clearly stated but it does still include many of them" 'his etude uses modes styli=ed to three different cultures Oriental estern and Arabic" -auba once said &#n the near Orient certain popular musics use three different modes yet without disturbin! the musics unity4 the verse is tempered and pentatonic then a mode of a more Arabic nature with $uarter tones and third tones is heard at the chorus" 'he improvisations are arrived at in !eneratin! a synthesis of the two modes or by introducin! another mode for example one estern in nature"& (%mble 2000 2*+ hile no techni$ue is stated each mode that is introduced has different articulations and three different styles and they even outline a fast
'he first tenor saxophone etude Gyn is also focused on attacks as well as resonances multiphonics and bisbli!ando" ;any other techni$ues are also used such as wide interval leaps contrastin! articulations and extreme dynamics" 'hese effects should be used to create two different sounds so it seems as if there are two saxophones one for the melodic line and one for
the accompany bisbli!ando line" (Guan<)u *+ 3ven thou!h this may be one of the more difficult and complex etudes it is said to also be the most &sensual and abstract"& (ersavaud 201+
'he second 'enor saxophone etude is Vir this etude summari=es the past etudes elements different timbres mulitphonics slap ton!ue flutter ton!ue bi!bi!lando articulations $uarter tones etc" 'his piece is one of the shorter etudes but moves throu!h modes at a $uick pace a techni$ue -auba said he this etude was aimed at4 &"""etude aimed at furtherin! the performers ability to !o from one mode of playin! to the other in a very short period of time"& (%mble 2000 29+
Ars is the only etude composed for two sopranos which means special attention must be !iven to intonation which is an aim for this etude" 'his etude is based on the specific intervals of fourths and fifths as -auba described &#n basin! the work on these particular intervals # wanted to recreate an ima!inary &;iddle A!e& which suited the use of fourths and the fifths" 'he chalumeau timbre is perfectly well suited for these intervals" 'he saxophone must play in a &Catural& manner" 'he past can be re!arded as yet another kind of &exotic"& & ()u 2009 **+ 'his is another example of -aubas many uni$ue influences and how he used these influences in harmony with each other the extended techni$ues to create such ori!inal admired and modern pieces for the saxophone"
'he final etude is not only the lon!est etude it is also the only one for baritone saxophone and is called Bat " 'his etude is a study on tremelos trills melodic !lissandi and
$uarter tones" #t is one of the few soloistic and virtuosic pieces for baritone saxophones and takes &it to a new level of expression"& (%mble 2000 29+
ith these Neuf Eudes -auba would make a si!nificant contribution to not only saxophone repertoire but to the way saxophone repertoire was composed performed and even thou!ht of by other instrumentalists" 8e had accomplished usin! extended techni$ues for the saxophone in an &artistic subtle intimate and u ni$ue& (%mble 2000 2@+ manner that was very rare and had ended up exposin! the saxophone as a &deep ama=in!ly flexible and incomparably beautiful&(2@+ instrument"
8e had created a new lan!ua!e to &achieve the most expression of his creative thou!ht& while &intimately min!lin! learned and popular music"& (-ondeix 2012 220+ As previously stated by -auba &instrumental techni$ues are for me Eust tools to be used in a musical lan!ua!e a means to an end& an ability -auba seems to have a masterful ability for" 8e has taken elements of the saxophone many have seen as faults such as key noise and out
hile -auba has had fellow composers doubt his work with the saxophone &many of my composer collea!ues reproach me for bein! so involved with the saxophone but i say to them that 8aydn ;o=art and :eethoven wrote much for strin!s # dont see why one should reproach
me for writin! for the saxophone"""# can ask thin!s of saxophonists # cant ask of clarinettists or oboists& (%mble 2000 10B+ his work and persistence to develop the saxophone repertoire in a modern direction a!ainst an popular opinion has made an everlastin! impact" ;arcel ;ule once told -ondeix &'he saxophone"""is made to sin!" Gou are wron! to distance yourself from the traditional classical repertoire to this de!ree& alon!side a seemin!ly a!reeable 3u!ene ?ousseau &#f the saxophone has a future as a classical instrument it will be because of its melodic use and not because of avantgarde pieces !reat thou!h they may be"& ()u 2009 99+ After hearin! and workin! with -auba /ean<;arie -ondeix wrote &'he saxophones only hope for a place in serious music is throu!h modern music where it is often irreplaceable& (%mble 2000 10*+ and &one mi!ht say there was a saxophone before and after -auba Eust as there was a piano before and after ,hopin"& (%mble 2@+
Bibliography
#n!ham ?" (3d"+ (199*+" T!e Cam"ridge Companion to t!e Sa#op!one" ,ambrid!e %nited )in!dom4 'he >ress .yndicate of 'he %niversity of ,ambrid!e" )u >oaris4 Alphonse -educ 199" -ondeix /" (2012+ $ondei# Guide to t!e Sa#op!one epertoire :" ?onkin (3d"+" ,herry 8ill C/4 ?oncorp #nc" Distributed by Cortheastern ;usic >ublication #nc Hlenmoore >A ;artin ?" (200*<201+ C!ristian $au"a" ?etrieved from https455www"edrmartin"com5en5bio< christian
