Jean-Marie LONDEIX – Saxophone

The campus of the College of Music, Mahidol University has been packed by many saxophonists during the pass few months. Most of them, both from Thailand and oversea was here, just because of this one man, Jean-Marie LONDEIX. Many different kind of appraise has been used to describe this man, but personally I find this the best – “As a bird is to flight, Jean-Marie LONDEIX is to the saxophone”, by W.Humbert.

What’s the saxophone? Quote from Mr. Londeix’s words during his lecture in the summer camp – ‘The saxophone is the invention of a single man, Adolphe Sax, with the suggested year of invention varying from 1840 to 1846. The saxophone is not a single instrument, but a whole family of instruments, which covers approximately the range of the piano. The saxophone has so many characteristics which are not classical in the Apollinarian or traditional sense of the word, that it is in fact one of the most original instruments, and it is capable of satisfying even the most extensive musical and technical demands made of it’

When Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the mid-nineteenth century, it was basically the same instrument we know today. In 1851, the French Minister of Agriculture and Commerce appointed Hector Berlioz as a member of the examination jury, to evaluate the musical instruments presented at the Universal Exposition in London. In Berlioz’s report, the Imprimerie Nationale 1854, he declared the importance of the saxophone. He noted “Monsieur Sax has given us the entire family of saxophones, BUT if composers do not yet appreciate its value, it is the inexperience of its performers that is the cause. The saxophone is an instrument that is difficult to play and one where technical ability comes after a long period of committed study.”

Although the piano was invented in about 1710, Chopin discovered what many consider to be the distinct voice of the piano. Saxophone has had to wait until the mid-twentieth century for performers capable of playing. Nowadays the performers are drawn to music that is of a unique nature, exclusively for the saxophone – music that can be played on no other instrument.

At the end of Adolphe Sax’s life in 1894, there were less than 300 solo works for saxophone. By 1970, over 6,000 works for saxophone were notated in the 125 And de Musique pour Saxophone, the repertoire book by Jean-Marie LONDEIX, and 12,000 works listed in the 150 Ans de Musique pour Saxophone. The most current volume, A Comprehensive Guide to the Saxophone Repertoire: 1844-2003 documents over 18,000 published works for saxophone.

What is the significance part to determine that the music is written for the saxophone? Suggested by Jean-Marie LONDEIX, the three distinguishable parts of the sound are the attack, the duration and the ending. There are many ways of beginning a sound. Some instruments lend themselves easily to these different attacks, whereas other does not. Some instruments only produce attacks which are simple and precise, or percussive or hard.

From the different type of attacks, by its natural each instrument imposes a certain style of writing upon the composers, such as: Carl-Maria von Weber with the clarinet; Chopin, Liszt with the piano; Wagner with the brass; Rossini and Verdi with the voice.

As an example, during 16^th century, violin was spread through Europe due to the printing of music, and all of the instruments and composers-performers were more or less to be adapted to the requirements of the bow, and the types of attack it produced, which usually alternate between strong and less strong, as refer as ‘up-bow’ and ‘down-bow’ by the string players. To play music that is characteristic of one instrument or one era attacks can create a conflict of style.

The saxophone has its most unique expression in the variety and flexibility of dynamic possibilities, the variety of its tone quality, and the diversity of its type of attack. Furthermore are the possibilities of playing extremely wide intervals, playing outside the tempered scale, playing in multiphonics, and also playing sounds and noises unique and irregular to the saxophone, such as key-clicks, pad sounds, breath effects and more.

The first music that being considered as the ‘Music of saxophone’ seems to be the Sonate pour Saxophone-alto et Piano (1970) by the Russian composer, Edison DENISOV. The composer used complex meters and quarter-tones and it is also the first musical work that used multiphonics (double and triple). This works has led to many more ‘original music’ for the saxophone.

Jean-Marie LONDEIX has worked extensively with composers, notably with the younger generation such as Lauba, Rossé and Havel. The saxophonists today are interested in the creative process, although obviously each one has their own stylistic preferences. But often the works are the results of artist-composer relationships and can reflect the personality of the dedicatee. As strongly emphasized by Jean-Marie LONDEIX during his speech for the 2^nd International Jean-Marie Londeix Saxophone Competition, the young and talented musicians that are devoting themselves to the saxophone are extremely important, because ‘The future of the instrument is YOU’.

Excerpt from the lectures of Jean-Marie LONDEIX, 2^nd Thailand International Soloist Saxophone Summer Camp 2008