A Tribute to Sax

Finished in December 1993, A Tribute to Sax was written to commemorate the centenary of Adolphe Sax's death. It is a sort of musical homage offered by a saxophonist from Dinant to Dinant's greatest son. From the beginning, the solo saxophone imposes its virtuosity, rousing the orchestra into a crushing aggressiveness. Surprised by the display of so much energy, the soloist manages to relax the atmosphere a little. However, the orchestra doesn't listen and once again lets loose its anger. This is too much, so the sax replies in a flash and in a few bars shows all its facets: expressive, low, high, sarcasm and virtuosity. The orchestra in its turn, now somewhat appeased, shows its sonic plans. All this amuses the sax, who authoritatively stops this little game with a cadenza that closes the first part. In it are evoked all the vital elements heard up until now. In the second part peace is installed and a new color appears. Calm and serene, the soloist is superposed over the sound of the vibraphone before leading along the orchestra in the depths of his momentum. Majesfically, the orchestra affirms its fullness. In a mature manner, it understands its duty to be reserved and steps aside again. Over a rhythmic ostinato of muted brass, the soloist brings natural lines full of arabesques. The introduction to the third part lets the orchestra express itself in a rhythmically complex sequence. Iust like in the first movement the sax displays its amazing virtuosity. intimidated, the orchestra reduces its accompaniment to a strict minimum. After a short cadenza, the orchestra launches a final attempt in the form of an energetic march. In a sneaky way the sax dominates then abandons the orchestra before using all its charm to tag it along into a redoubtable accelerando treated as a fugue. To prepare the end the soloist nevertheless choses gentleness. The orchestra, for its part, insistently repeats the two chords that opened the work. A tribute to Sax is dedicated to Francois Danneels, founder of the Belgian sax school, professor and predecessor of Alain Crepin at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

Extract from CD Booklet The saxophone Music of Alain Crepin