Transcriptions occupy a fundamental place in Western musical development, having
been created used since the Middle Ages Composers, performers, and arrangers are still
constantly adapting music in order to learn various musical styles and to bring variety
to their programs. Besides the advantages to composers, musicians, and students of
music, transcriptions allow audiences to hear repertoire that would be unavailable to
them in its original format. Transcriptions may also permit listeners to hear familiar
works through fresh interpretations that can illuminate aspects of the music not heard
in the original instrumentation. Classical saxophonists, in particular, use
transcriptions for various purposes, including those previously mentioned. This study of
saxophone transcriptions raises three overarching points: • Transcriptions have been and
remain an important component of classical saxophone performance and recording. •
Recorded saxophone transcriptions range from high art to popular music, their material
borrowed from the last nine centuries or more of Western music history—and these works
are reviewed differently in different journals. • The key to a successful programming of
transcriptions lies in historical and performance practice research, and in awareness of
one's audience. A study of transcriptions within the context of the saxophone's history,
how these pieces are interpreted by the performers and organized on recordings next
to—or instead of—original works for the saxophone, and reviews of these recordings were
all employed in the present study in order to determine how transcriptions represent the
instrument. Analysis of saxophone recordings and reviews, including four case studies
that take a closer look at individual saxophone CDs, demonstrates how saxophone
transcriptions portray the classical saxophone to various audiences. The study of this
repertoire, and of saxophonists performing it, must go hand in hand with a study of the
saxophonists themselves and the ways in which they view these works. Most saxophonists
are arrangers; many of the pieces they perform and record were created by them, as well.
The choice to perform these transcriptions should prompt more decision-making on the
part of the saxophonist than does that of completely original works, especially if the
performer is also the arranger. This study shows that, whether practiced by a
saxophonist or any other performing musician, creation and performance of transcriptions
are multi-faceted activities. Transcriptions remain an important and valuable component
of the recorded saxophone repertoire. They offer to audiences the opportunity to hear a
stylistically appropriate rendition of music that adds variety and broader appeal to the
mostly twentieth-century classical saxophone repertoire, thus opening the way for more
listeners to discover and enjoy this sound resource. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Music. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: July 29, 2008. / Arrangement / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglass Seaton, Professor Directing Thesis; Denise Von Glahn, Committee Member; Patrick Meighan, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_168633 |
| Contributors | Etheridge, Kathryn Diane (authoraut), Seaton, Douglass (professor directing thesis), Glahn, Denise Von (committee member), Meighan, Patrick (committee member), College of Music (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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