Sample from the Paragon Saxophone Quartet album, "Tuning In".

Gavotte

Baroque
Baroque for saxes – the original form of the dance involved a lot of kissing!
Composer
Rameau, J.P.
Instrumentation
SATB
Duration
6 minutes
Difficulty
5, 6

£16.99

Description

Arranger’s note: This “Gavotte and 6 doubles” (or variations) was one of my first arrangements for saxophone quartet, written when I was looking for suitable music to arrange and realised that the saxophone lent itself comfortably to the Baroque idiom. It comes from Rameau’s third collection of keyboard pieces, the “Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin”, published in 1728. The Gavotte is the final movement in the first of two sets which combine dance movements with character pieces and has been described as “one of the Baroque’s most brilliant variation sets.” The original Gavotte was in A major and I felt that the saxes would enhance its lyrical and lively character.

Rameau had arranged similar music for harpsichord and flute and was also the first composer to introduce the clarinet to France, so that the use of a wind instrument was not too sacrilegious. The early history of the Gavotte also appealed to me – the original form of the dance involved a lot of kissing!

The E-Edition PDF bundle comes with the following parts:

Soprano Saxophone
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

“Gavotte” is also available in hard-copy from June Emerson Wind Music.

1 review for Gavotte

  1. tom.saxtet

    …presented in an interesting style with plenty of contrasts.
    Clarinet and Saxophone magazine, Spring 1995

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