Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Ingolf Dahl

Performed live for Master's Recital March 20th 2023

Saxophonist- Taylor Gilman
Pianist- Natalia Ross
Audio Engineer- Margaret (Liz) Rincon

Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Piano ................ Ingolf Dahl (1912-1970)

I. Recitative
II. Passacaglia
III. Rondo alla marcia

Concerto for Alto saxophone and Wind Orchestra was written by German American composer, Ingolf Dahl, in 1949 for saxophone virtuoso Sigurd Rascher. When it was premiered in 1949 by Rascher, the piece was so moving that is brough tears to the eyes of one of Dahl’s closest contemporaries, Igor Stravinsky. This performance is not the original version of the piece; this version is about three quarters of the length of the original version performed by Rascher. This concerto has been revised three times to give alternate altissimo passages and to remove several sections of the piece to shorten the work. The final revision was completed in 1959.

Concerto for Alto saxophone and Wind Orchestra has an atypical form, which is unusual for a concerto in that it forms a binary unit instead of a normal three movement structure. Recitative and Passacaglia form the first half of the binary unit and act as one continuous movement, while Rondo all marcia is separate.

Recitative begins with a very dense and stately piano introduction which leads into the main recitative played by the saxophonist. A recitative is a narrative song that describes some action, thought, or emotion and follows the natural flow of the language. This is reflected by Dahl’s use of flowing lines that are formatted like sentences on the page. Recitative invokes the image of a lone soul asking questions of the world and their reaction to the answers they receive.

Passacaglia starts with a beautiful short piano interlude that connects the two movements. This movement is emotive and more song-like, with its longer and smoother melodic lines. Passacaglia is a continuation of the struggling lone souls’ journey to find answers as they metaphorically “wail” at the world and become overwhelmed with emotion.

Rondo alla marcia is the most technical and articulate of the three movements. It begins with a technical piano introduction and is in stark contrast to the first two movements as it is very light, agile, and brilliant. These themes are common throughout the movement and represent the lone soul becoming manic. This movement features a cadenza which is the last cry for help before the end of the piece and their return to mania.