Ali Ben Sou Alle : Souvenirs du Cap Bonne Espérence

Today, I published this work by Ali Ben Sou Alle, which will be the last in this series for a while. There are three other works in this series still to come: Souvenirs de la France, Souvenirs de L'Australie et Manille - featuring a set of variations on "The Old Folks at Home" by Foster (not very Australian, but that's what's there!) and one other work which was written for Clarinet : Souvenirs de Buda, plus one other opera fantasy based on Verdi's "Le Corsaire". These will come in a few weeks' time.

The fellow above is Sir George Gray, who was the governor of the British colony of the Cap of Good Hope (now located in South Africa) when Soualle visited around 1858 or so and to whom Soualle dedicated this work. It is in three large sections: beginning with a dramatic Largo in the form of a classical aria, which make evoke the dangerous voyage to the Cap. After a dramatic cadenza, there follows the sentimental Irish folksong The Irish Emigrant, whose lyrics are as follows:

I'm sitting on the stile, Mary, where we once sat side by side
On a bright May morning long ago, when first you were my bride
The corn was springing fresh and green, and the lark sang loud and high
And the red was on your lips, Mary, and the love light in your eyes.
Tis but a step down yonder lane, the village Church stands near
The place where we were wed, Mary, I can see the spire from here
But the graveyard lies between, Mary, and my step might break your rest
Where I laid you darling down to sleep with a baby on your breast.

I'm very lonely now, Mary, for the poor make no new friends
But oh they love the better still the few our Father sends
For you were all I had, Mary, my blessing and my pride
And I've nothing left to care for now since my poor Mary died.

Yours was the good brave heart, Mary, that still kept hoping on
When the trust in God had left my soul and my arms young strength had gone
There was comfort ever on your lip and a kind look on your brow
And I thank you Mary for the same though you cannot hear me now.

I'm bidding you a long farewell, my Mary kind and true
But I'll not forget you, darling, in the land I'm going to
They say there's bread and work for all, and the sun shines always there
But I'll ne'er forget old Ireland, were it fifty times as fair.

And often in those grand old woods I'll sit and shut my eyes
And my heart will wander back again to the place where Mary lies
And I think I'll see that little stile where we sat side by side
In the springing corn and the bright May morn' when first you were my bride.

There are two variations which use stylistic elements of the style of Irish songs. After a brief piano interlude, there is an extended polka which uses a rather Schubertian accompaniment in the piano and quite a bit of counterpoint between the saxophone and the piano. This is as much of a "Duo concertante" as was the Souvenirs de L'Inde, which tend to suggest the Soualle had a good pianist while he was on the Cap. This is a real showpiece and ends quite brilliantly.

Again, I could once again express surprise that nobody's currently playing these works which are really quite good, but hopefully that will change.

Ali Ben Sou Alle - Souvenirs de L'Inde

Today's project was finishing up "Souvenirs de L'Inde" for Soprano Saxophone and Piano by Ali Ben Sou Alle. There keep getting better and better. There is a real formal unity to this one, which seem to unite the three main sections (Andante/Air Malabar varié/Polonaise) in a thematic way, yet with enough variety to keep up the interest. The piano part is quite virtuoso and this could be called a duo concertante, especially in the Polonaise, which is in an ABA form with a very brilliant coda and with some wonderful counterpoint between the saxophone and the piano.

Anyway, another one that's ready!

Ali Ben Sou Alle : Souvenirs de la Chine

Today, I finished up work on this work by Ali Ben Sou Alle, which is my favorite yet in the series. The work is a setting of the Chinese folksong "Loc Tee Kun Tsin" which was one of eight traditional Chinese songs used by Puccini in his opera "Turandot" (it's not the main "Jasmin Flower theme", but is a motif used in the orchestra section and chorus sung to the Emperor at the end of both the First and Second Acts). This harmonization is very different from Puccini's setting, but is (to my ears) probably closer to what one might have heard in China in the 19th century.

The Rondo which follows, in the form of a Waltz, is rather sparsely harmonized at first, but has several dramatic sections which sound remarkably like Schumann. There are then several passages which are rather scherzando. After a dramatic outburst, the Chinese song is briefly quoted again before the abrupt ending using the opening motives of the piece.

I am impressed by the formal unity of the work, the solid piano writing (he must have had a very good pianist with him in China, as opposed to the amateurs which are reported in the Shanghai concert) and the overall effectiveness of the work.

Ali Ben Sou Alle - Souvenirs de Java

Today, I finished editing "Souvenirs de Java" for Soprano Saxophone and Piano by Ali Ben Sou Alle whose work I have discussed in previous blog posts. "Souvenirs de Java" is one of the longest works in this series, with basically four movements and also one of the best constructed of the set. I get the feeling that he really liked Java and that his concerts there were successful.

There is a set of variations on the Indonesian Nursery Tune "Nina Nina Bobo" but the musical theme that Soualle sets is slightly different than the ones that I've found on the web, although I would imagine that these would be normal "variations" in folk music. There is also a rather Irish sounding Andante with several surprise phrase endings. The "Polonaise" which closes the set is very brilliant and ends with a "valse" coda. This one is definitely a keeper! It's in our saxophone catalogue on the site.

Singelée verses Sou Alle

Yesterday, I worked on finishing up my new edition of Jean-Baptiste Singelée's Concertino, opus 78 for Alto Saxophone and Piano. Singelée was a friend of Adolphe Sax and wrote many of the first examination pieces for the Saxophone class at the Paris conservatory. This piece was used for the 1861 examinations. It's not an unpleasant piece, using all of the harmonic conventions of a Sonata-Allegro Classical concerto...but has absolutely no formal structure. The work is essentially a series of pleasant, but unrelated phrases which do not relate to each other in any meaningful way. The title "Concertino" does not really apply to this work, it is more of a lyric fantasy, with certain passages which have a certain virtuosity.

I must say that, although this piece is of historical importance, its musical importance in terms of quality is doubtful. In comparison, Ali Ben Sou Alle is really a much more solid composer, manipulating forms, stylistic vocabulary, and harmonic structures in a much more meaningful, professional manner. Yet, Singelée's works are much more universally known, while the only currently available editions of Sou Alle's work are our own.

It is true that Sou Alle, as an eccentric figure who made his living touring rather than teaching, and whose works were "self-published" (Parent, sometimes named as the editor, was the printer according to the first editions themselves), was not a part of the Paris musical establishment that represented Adolph Sax's publishing concern, his instrument company and his conservatory class. I also think that Sax probably was not terribly inclined to be associated with someone who had not only modified his creation but also was calling it something else. But the bottom line is that Sou Alle's music is much more solid than those of his contemporaries.

Part of this could have to do with the necessity of coming up with works which pleased the public of the times, as Sou Alle made his living by performing. It also might be that his work with popular orchestra conductors such as Jullien lead Sou Alle to compose using more structured forms in his Waltzes, Polka, Boléros, Polonaises and other dance forms which need a structured form to be able to correspond to these dances. The large number of opera fantasies and Sou Alle's passage at the Opéra-Comique and the theatres in London would seem to indicate that his tastes ran to the clear phrase structures and formal conception of the bel canto style.

The bottom line is that the piano parts are more interesting in Sou Alle's work, and the way the phrases are presented and developed is evidence of much more musical sophistication than in Singelée's work. It's simply better music. I'm very happy that it's now going to be available!

Germaine Tailleferre - Catalog questions

One of the really frustrating things about working on Tailleferre is not knowing exactly what's there. Why this is so is a huge problem (for which we don't yet have all of the answers, nor do we know whether this will ever really be "solved" on way or the other), but the fact remains that there are several published catalogues who do not give the number of works, nor do they give the same titles. There are also the unpublished records of deposits made in Tailleferre's name at the SACEM, which sometimes match the published catalogues, and often give other information.

The five catalogues are as follows :

• Janelle Gelfand "Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) Piano and Chamber works", Doctoral Dissertation, 1999 University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music

• Laura Mitgang "Germaine Tailleferre : Before, During and After Les Six" in The Musical Woman, Vol. 11 Judith Lang Zaimont, editor (Greenwood Press 1987)

• Robert Orledge : Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) : A Centenary Appraisal" Muziek & Wetenshap 2 (Summer 1992) pp. 109-130

• Robert Shapiro "Germaine Tailleferre : a bio-Bibliography" (Greenwood Press 1994)

• Georges Hacquard "Germaine Tailleferre: La Dame des Six" (L'Harmatten 1997)

Out of these five catalogs, the most solid in terms of musicological methodology is without question that of Robert Orledge (not surprisingly, given Dr. Orledge's fine reputation as a musicologist), giving sources, complete scientific descriptions of manuscripts examined, location of said manuscripts, and information about the works themselves. The work by Mitgang only lists published works, as Mitgang was intending on doing more extended work at a later date.

The three other catalogs, Shapiro, Gelfand and Hacquard, are in contradiction in terms of number of works, the composition of various works, the titles of works, instrumentation etc and do not provide complete sources for their information. Shapiro and Hacquard give no localization for manuscript sources. Gelfand frequently refers to a mysterious "Paris Archive" but does not give a specific location. And all of these catalogues have information which is contradicted by the SACEM catalogue.

So, what to do? Who is right? There's no denying that the titles given in the SACEM listings are sourced, as the composer has to provide the work's title, instrumentation, and provide a copy of the work itself. A publisher has to provide a contract with the composer or the rightsholder. The SACEM does indeed make mistakes, but they are not usually in terms of titles or instrumentation. So, it seems logical that the base of any established catalog must start with these records.

Once this has been established, then the questions mainly of sources: who gives their sources and how? In this case, Orledge wins hands down here. Everything else, including the physical existence of the works themselves as well as their titles and instrumentations, must be questioned until sources are located. Once sources are located, then one has to establish if the sources are authentic, if the titles are authentic and if the text has been modified or not.

I'll be writing more about this in the upcoming weeks, but this is a means of beginning an explanation of these issues and what we are doing to establish a completely, sourced, catalog of Tailleferre's works.

Ali Ben Sou Alle - Souvenirs de L'Ile Maurice

I worked on this one today and it's quite good: very solid formally and quite pleasant to listen to, being much more romantic in conception than classical. The opening theme is a pastorale in 12/8 which is followed by a Rondo-Valse which alternates between a minor theme (rather reminiscent of some of Chopin's Waltzes) and the Pastorale theme which is the subject of a number of brilliant variations. This one is quite the showpiece and could be a nice closing piece to a recital.

As usual, all of these pieces are available on our saxophone music catalogue.