La thèse se propose de vérifier la présence du saxophone dans le répertoire français et italien pour orchestre de la première moitié du XXème siècle, avec le but de confirmer la possibilité d’intégrer le saxophone à l’orchestre de façon permanente.Le choix d’étudier le répertoire pour saxophone dans l’orchestre en France et en Italie des premières décennies du XXème siècle a été fait car cet instrument, créé par Adolphe Sax, facteur d’instrument d’origine belge, a sa première diffusion sur le territoire français pendant la seconde moitié du XIXème siècle, avant de « s’expatrier » dans d’autres pays. C’est à la France donc de vanter les premières compositions pour le saxophone, et c’est au XXème siècle que cette production augmente considérablement. La France, avec son goût pour la couleur du timbre des instruments, influence l’Italie d’une façon particulière, pays où cet instrument est déjà présent au milieu du XIXème siècle, aussi grâce aux appréciations de Gioachino Rossini (qui à l’époque est à Paris), qui poussent le Lycée Musical de Bologna à acheter les produits de la maison Sax. La thèse est subdivisée en trois parties : la première, d’empreinte théorique, dédiée à la présence du saxophone dans les traités d’instrumentation et d’orchestration français et italiens, ainsi que d’autres pays des XIXe et XXe siècle ; la seconde, de caractère illustratif, dans laquelle on analyse les partitions de trois compositeurs français (Ravel, Honegger et Ibert) ; la troisième, toujours de nature illustratif, dédiée à l’étude des compositions de deux auteurs italiens (Marinuzzi et Zandonai). / The thesis’ purpose is to examine the presence of the saxophone in the French and Italian repertoire for orchestra in the first half of the 20th century, and aims at confirming its possible, permanent inclusion in the orchestra. The decision of investigating the repertory of the saxophone in the orchestra in France and Italy in the first decades of the 20th century was made because this instrument, created by the inventor of plenty of other musical instruments, Adolphe Sax (born in Belgium), spreads out for the first time in France during the second half of the 19th century and then ‘expatriates’ to other countries. It is France that can boast the first compositions for this instrument and it is in the 20th century that its production grows excessively. France, with its taste for the color of the instruments’ timbre, influences especially Italy, where the instrument is already present in the first half of the 19th century, thanks to Gioachino Rossini’s appreciations (who was in Paris at that time), pushing the Liceo Musicale in Bologna to buy the maison Sax’s products. My thesis is divided into three parts: the first, with a theoretical purpose, is dedicated to the presence of the saxophone in instrumentation and orchestration treatises published in France, Italy and other countries in the 19th and in the 20th century. In the second part, of explicative kind, the scores of three French composers (Ravel, Honegger and Ibert) are analyzed. Finally, the third section, of explicative kind as well, is dedicated to the study of some compositions by two Italian authors (Marinuzzi and Zandonai).

As lirico-spinto soprano commonly indicates a soprano with a heavier voice than lyric soprano and a lighter voice than dramatic soprano, there are many problems in the assessment of the voice type. Lirico-spinto soprano is characterized differently by various scholars and sources offer contrasting and insufficient definitions. It is commonly understood as a pushed voice, as many interpret spingere as ‘to push.' This dissertation shows that the meaning of spingere does not mean pushed in this context, but extended, thus making the voice type a hybrid of lyric soprano voice type that has qualities of extended temperament, timbre, color, and volume. This dissertation indicates that the lack of published anthologies on lirico-spinto soprano arias is a significant reason for the insufficient understanding of the lirico-spinto soprano voice. The post-Verdi Italian group of composers, giovane scuola, composed operas that required lirico-spinto soprano voices. These giovane scuola composers include Alfredo Catalani (1854 –1893), Umberto Giordano (1867 –1948), Pietro Mascagni (1863 –1945), Giacomo Puccini (1858 –1924), and Riccardo Zandonai (1883 –1944). Descriptions of the soprano voices that premiered these roles are included in this document to determine the suitability of the lirico-spinto soprano voice for each role.