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Saxophone quartet new idea

A New Quartet

By Special Correspondent

The Northwestern University saxophone quartet originated in 1962 under the direction of Fred L. Hemke, assistant professor of music. Its purpose is to provide an intimate musical outlet for the talented and serious saxophonist.

The quartet is a student organisation modelled after its renowned predecessor, the Quatuor de Saxophones Marcel Mule in Paris. All of the quartet members are Students who participate in regular university life. The ensemble combines the colour and technique of a string quartet with the power and brilliance of a brass quartet; it is a new genre of chamber music both contemporary and distinctive.

Director Hemke believes that members of the quartet have arrived at professional maturity, although they are all students. The group holds three-hour rehearsals at least twice a week concentrating upon new and original music for the saxophone. They enjoy creative performance and are interested primarily in providing their audiences with a unique musical experience.

Since it is one of the last major instruments to he invented, all of the original literature for the saxophone has been composed within a relatively short span of musical history.

Because the saxophone has been a particularly effective instrument for playing jazz music, much of the other music literature for this instrument unfortunately has been bypassed.

However, the advent of a new type of saxophone student, one interested in exploring the entire repertory, has stimulated a whole new school of saxophone performance.

In the United States, the saxophone has been delegated primarily to the concert band and has never been wholeheartedly accepted as a legitimate member of the symphony orchestra.

To the young saxophonist, therefore, quartet performance offers attractive opportunities.

Saxophone quartet literature contains music by several well-known and outstanding composers. These are mature works demanding optimum technical and musical achievement. The saxophonist has thus found an excellent means of self-expression, as well as a musical ensemble which attracts the listener's ear.