A Performer's Guide to the Saxophone Music of Bernhard Heiden

Abstract

Bernhard Heiden (1910-2000) composed ten works involving the saxophone in a variety of genres. Most significantly, his Sonata for E-flat Saxophone and Piano(1937) was the first sonata to become part of the standard repertoire for saxophone. This document provides a biographical sketch of Heiden and historical background on each of the ten pieces by Heiden that include saxophone. Heiden's four pieces for alto saxophone soloist-Sonata (1937), Diversion for Alto Saxophone and Band (1943), Solo for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1969), and Fantasia Concertante for Alto Saxophone and Winds (1987)-are treated more thoroughly, with analyses and notes on performance. The analysis of each piece consists of a form diagram and discussion of Heiden's use of form, themes, rhythm, meter, harmony, and counterpoint. Sections titled "Performance Considerations" document the published errors in each work and provide suggestions for performance culled from interviews with Bernhard Heiden and Eugene Rousseau, and from personal observations. The other works by Heiden that include saxohone are Duo for English Horn and Alto Saxophone (1938), Intrada for Woodwind Quintet and Alto Saxophone (1970), Partita for Orchestra (1970), Four Movementsfor Saxophone Quartet and Timpani (1976), Voyage for Symphonic Wind Ensemble (1991), and Four Fancies for Alto Saxophone, Marimba, and Tuba (1991). The document concludes with a summary of the compositional style characteristics found in Heiden's works for saxophone. A discography is included.