Musical growth of the saxophone -
Contributions, History and Facts
(1990) - Performance of Bach's Second Cello Suite in E flat minor
transcription by Ramon Ricker at his saxophone undergraduate exam.
This was the beginning of a long series of yet-to-come transcriptions.
For years, Sébastien Tremblay had the conviction that the saxophone had its own "repertoire missing link", somewhere between the baroque transcriptions and the French, twentieth-century music.
He thought that the romantic and post-romantic music could bring a complement to that limited repertoire.
(1991) - Brahms' Clarinet Sonatas opus 120 no. 1 and 2 transcribed by Sébastien Tremblay.
In order to achieve this, Tremblay had to develop "altissimo register" so as to be able to reach the high notes of the clarinet register and respect the original version without any modifications. By doing so, he brought new transcendent possibilities for the saxophone, playing harmonics in tonal music and playing the high notes with real notes in one single passage.
He created new fingering to make those very complicated combinations easier and worked on the homogeneousness of the tone.
(1992 - 1995) - Transcription of Bach's 1st Sonata for solo violin BWV 1001 in G minor
at the same pitch as the violin and with the three parts' fugue.
Here again, Tremblay had to find a "new and improved" way of playing... The violin's "polyphonic" chords were never meant to be played on a saxophone.
Being a "monophonic" instrument, it is not conceived neither "supposed" to do so!
The fast "arpeggios" were the key. The human ear has a very good memory, so that for instance, when three rapid and consecutive notes are played (from the lowest to the highest), the mind records the first two notes and remembers them while the last one is played.
If executed fast enough, it creates the illusion of a chord. But there was some problems...
When, for instance, the two first notes were real notes and the third one was an harmonic...
To remedy this problem, Tremblay had to find new fingerings so as to make these combinations possible.
Also, for instances where thematic notes of a passage were in the middle of the chord, Tremblay perfected a "return fast arpeggio" concept.
For example, if he wanted to play C G E chord and the thematic note was G, he would play: C G E G, etc.
(1995 - 1996) - The three complete Bach's sonatas for solo violin BWV 1001, 1003 and 1005
transcribed for alto saxophone by Tremblay, still at the same pitch and with all the fugues.
Live performance of the complete three sonatas at the "Henri-Gagnon" Hall of Laval University music Faculty (Quebec city) in April 1996.
Musical and physical training was necessary to acquire the endurance required to play these sustained pieces (around
1 1/2 hour with no break).
(1997-98) - Brahms' Violin Concerto and three Violin Sonatas with piano transcriptions.
Live recording and broadcast of the Sonata no. 3 in D minor on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio show "Tout pour la musique" hosted by Catherine Perrin.
Here, a "Fast tremolo technique" was invented by Tremblay to create the illusion of holding a chord for a while.
The basic principle is simple: if for instance, one has to play the chords C E, one would play a "tremolo" of these notes very fast so as to create the illusion that both notes can be heard at the same time.
(1999 - 2000) - Composition, interpretation and production of Tremblay's first CD, "The Classical Saxophone" containing one hour of original, romantic-style pieces for saxophone.
Along the way, Tremblay has developed a new classical sound for the saxophone, one tone that is close to that of the other "orchestral instruments".
On a more "pedagogical aspect", he has created a new "basic reading technique" for beginners.
Sébastien Tremblay's Alto Saxophone Specialized Repertoire List*
- Bach three Sonatas for solo violin BWV 1001, 1003 and 1005
- Bach six Suites for solo cello BWV 1007 to 1012
- Brahms violin Concerto
- Brahms three violin Sonatas with piano
- Brahms two clarinet Sonatas
- Brahms Intermezzo op.117 n. 1 arr. for alto saxophone
- Brahms Trio for piano, clarinet and cello
- Franck violin Sonata with piano
- Paganini Caprices
- Saint-Saëns clarinet Sonata
- Scriabin Studies op. 8 n. 4 and 12
- Strauss Oboe Concerto
* All transcriptions have been written at the same pitch as the original version
