This study examines the effects of imitating other musicians on one’s instrument as well as how this impacts one’s playing. Furthermore, it seeks to illuminate the question of what the ear notices first when listening non-analytically to music with the goal of copying a certain way of playing. The result of the work would be demonstrated at a concert with mostly original music. A selection of musicians and recordings to imitate was made, and the imitation happened on 8 different occasions with varying constellations and different musicians participating. During the process it was made clear that the musician’s ear mainly picks up on the overall feeling and attitude of soloists, but also some small details such as nuances in timbre and intonation. In the preparation of the concert some songs were more or less tailored to a certain way of playing, inspired by the recordings. The resulting concert clearly shared some characteristics with some of the recordings, as well as having little in common with others.

Despite being one of the instruments outlined in Aldophe Sax's original patent for the saxophone, and commercially available since 1849, the sopranino saxophone was generally unaccepted as a fully-fledged instrument until the late 20th century, existing solely as a novelty or a rare member of the saxophone ensemble. As such, there are few saxophonist who utilize the instrument, and the literature for the sopranino saxophone exists primarily in the contemporary idiom. Of the contemporary works for sopranino saxophone, one of the most well-known pieces is Chaya Czernowin's The Last Leaf (2011/12). While Czernowin initially conceived this work for solo oboe, she subsequently arranged a version for sopranino saxophone. Since then, it has been performed many times and recorded by several saxophonists including Ryan Muncy and Patrick Stadler. Through an examination of the score utilizing a variety of sopranino saxophone-centric contemporary resources alongside an interview with Czernowin herself, this dissertation provides the first extant performance guide to the sopranino saxophone edition of The Last Leaf, with the purpose of providing any saxophonists wishing to attempt this work with the information of Czernowin's intention for the piece and how to implement the techniques necessary for a performance.