Early "Saxaphone Quartette" in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

It has been quite interesting doing my research on early saxophone playing in British Columbia. The earliest record about early local saxophone quartet efforts (that I was able to track down) is from March 8th, 1885, found in the Victoria Colonist under the heading "What Some People Say":

I'm quite curious why this sort of an announcement would have been printed; perhaps there was an anticipation that an ensemble of saxophones had the potential to be long-lasting? Or was it the novelty aspect, the mere fact that this was going to be the "very first" saxophone quartet ever in this city to be formed, that sparked the paper's interest?

The next time the ensemble is mentioned in Victoria newspapers is almost 9 months later.  A benefit concert was going to be held on December 26th at the then brand new Victoria Theatre, in support of a "breadwinner" who, while at work at the building, "broke his leg".

The event was also formally announced in the Victoria Colonist (25 November 1885):

Several (paid?) advertisements announce (amongst others) the upcoming first appearance of the "Saxaphone Quartette". Note the date change to the week before Christmas, December 16, 1885:

Reviews appeared in both of Victoria's newspapers:

Here is the Victoria Colonist concert review, December 17, 1885:

Victoria Times review, December 17, 1885:

[...] The Saxaphone Quartette by Messrs. Herbert Kent, A. Weiss, E. [Teall], and Prof. Pferdner received a merited enchore. [...] Another saxaphone quartette was given acceptably [...]

There is quite some information available about the performers. These were Emile Pferdner (well known vocal conductor), Herbert Kent (well known local singer and vocal conductor, also played flute in many of the earliest bands in Victoria), Mr. Teall (clarinet and saxophone player, in Victoria between 1885-87), and E. Weiss (no more details).

It's great to get so much detail about the event, although one is left with many questions too, especially:
- how did this group obtain these saxophones, and why?
- what saxophone quartet works were on the program?

Interestingly enough the two reviews were also the last thing we heard about this group. Did they have difficulty playing the (new?) instruments? Perhaps there wasn't the essential chemistry between the four players to make the ensemble "work"?

Who will know?

Understanding the Glazunov Saxophone Quartet

It has taken me quite the time to grasp the essence of the Glazunov Saxophone Quartet, and although each time I get to work on it I feel I'm getting closer to it I also think there's more to be learned.

One of the main hurdles is the sheer length of the piece. For a string quartet a length of 20-30 minutes is perhaps a pretty average length, but for saxophone quartets (or any other small wind ensemble)- who are constantly challenged to synchronize their breathing with the phrasing of their musical lines - this becomes a serious matter of endurance. And the fact that Glazunov uses such a dense way of writing (much like he does in his string quartets) doesn't help much either.

But there are other "problems" too. A major one (although easy to fix) is the poor quality of the individual parts, and I therefore want to warn anyone who is planning to work on this quartet to do "first things first": make sure to add the many missing dynamics, articulations, accidentals etc. from the main score to the individual parts. This will clear up much confusion and speed up your rehearsals substantially.

There are several recordings that have really helped me understand this work better. Here are three that I can recommend:

- Habanera Quartet (France, 2004)
- Aurelia Quartet (Netherlands)
- Rascher Quartet (USA)

That's it for now, but there are likely more discoveries to be made as we get closer to our Vis-a-Vis June 5th performance at Uvic, Victoria.

Paying a visit to Robert Dale McIntosh

While doing my research, one name kept showing up: Robert Dale McIntosh - it was time to pay him a visit. I called him up and made an appointment for last Friday afternoon.

After a warm welcome, introducing ourselves and giving him a broad idea about my topic, I started asking away a ton of questions.

A few things about our conversation stand out:
- what a rich history Victoria has, mostly because of the (well off) people that moved here, who had lots of leisure time to spend
- how important "names" (of people) are in doing this type of research
- the historical part of my research is going to be time consuming (I don't have a team of students helping me) so I better make sure other parts of my thesis are less time consuming (allocate resources efficiently)
- once one finds the "kernel" useful to my topic, then the work will flow forward by itself

The visit was close to an hour long, so a lot more was discussed. The next thing I will do, also a recommendation from Dale, is to visit the BC archives.

Monday will be my first chance to do that: I'm especially looking forward to the H. Kent fonds, perhaps the earliest saxophonist in town?