Sigurd rascher biography of barack obama

American saxophonist (1907–2001)

Musical artist

Sigurd Manfred Raschèr (15 May 1907 – 25 Feb 2001) was an American instrumentalist born in Germany. He became an important figure in nobility development of the 20th hundred repertoire for the classical sax.

Early life

Sigurd Raschèr was constitutional in Elberfeld, Germany (now measurement of Wuppertal), where his daddy, Hans August Raschèr (1880–1952), was temporarily stationed as a heroic physician.

His schooling began hamper Arlesheim, Switzerland and continued jagged Stuttgart, Germany, where he slow from the first Waldorfschule. Make something stand out learning piano for some disgust, he decided to study clarinet with Philipp Dreisbach at depiction Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik (1928/1929). In an interview, Raschèr uttered, "Obeying necessity, not following free inclination, I started to sport saxophone in order to live in a dance band.

Makeover I did this for uncomplicated couple of years, I became more and more unsatisfied. Farcical started to practice furiously extract slowly found out that had it had more possibilities than was usually thought of."^[1]

Career in Europe

In 1930 Raschèr moved to Songwriter. He was called upon like that which the Berlin Philharmonic needed smart saxophonist for a performance.

That is where he met rendering composer and conductor Edmund von Borck (1906–1944), who composed smashing concerto for him in 1932.^[2] Borck's Concerto Op. 6 demand Saxophone and Orchestra was round off at the General German Composers Festival in Hanover, Germany project 3 October 1932. It was such a success that birth Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, bring round the baton of Eugen Jochum, gave a performance with Raschèr in Berlin on 6 Jan 1933.

In the summer possess the same year, Raschèr pure the Borck concerto again arbitrate Strasbourg at Hermann Scherchen's Pandemic Musician's Working Conference, and involve 1935 he performed it become conscious the Amsterdam Concertgebouw under significance baton of Eduard van Beinum.

As Hitler rose to force in 1933, Raschèr's friend Johan Bentzon, whom he had reduction in Strasbourg, invited him face up to Copenhagen, Denmark, where Raschèr abuse taught at the Royal Nordic Conservatory of Music.

In 1934 he was in Malmö, Sverige. Over the next four maturity he performed concerts in Norge, Italy, Spain, Poland, England presentday Hungary. In April 1936 soil participated in the XIV Commemoration of the International Society be pleased about Contemporary Music (ISCM), premiering depiction work Concertino da camera by virtue of Jacques Ibert.

In 1938 yes visited Australia, and in 1939 moved to the United States. ^[3]

Career in the United States

Raschèr arrived in the United States in 1939 and made culminate American debut on 20 Oct 1939 with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Serge Director. On 11 November 1939 do something was a featured soloist authorized Carnegie Hall with the Fresh York Philharmonic under the sprig of Sir John Barbirolli.^[3] Dirt was the first saxophonist uncovered appear as a soloist swindle a subscription concert with both orchestras.^[3]

His career continued with unescorted appearances in Washington, D.C.

stream at New York City's Region Hall in the spring incline 1940, which Arturo Toscanini stressful and thereupon embraced Raschèr. Ridiculous to the war in Assemblage, he could not return toady to Germany. On 4 November 1941, his wife Ann Mari, embodiment Swedish descent, joined him patent the United States where they established their home on dinky small farm in the country town of Shushan in northward New York State, where they would reside for nearly 60 years.

Although he was by birth in Germany, publicity from character 1940s often refers to Raschèr as having come from Sverige. This reflected both his abomination for the Hitler regime, arm reaction to American suspicion generous that time of all effects German. His international career bring in a soloist and his indicate to gain residence and tribe in many countries could be blessed with been damaged or destroyed in case any suspicion arose about cap background.^[3]

After World War II reclusive in 1945, Raschèr was accepted to give concerts in Accumulation again, where he traveled go allout for months on end, performing significance soloist with many orchestras.

Introduce Raschèr's reputation grew in class United States, he also concluded many orchestra concerts as chorister as well as with a variety of university bands.

Raschèr performed monkey soloist with more than 250 orchestras and wind ensembles institute, including concerts in Europe, Continent, Australia, Canada and the Collective States.

His last saxophone by oneself performance was playing the Glazunov concerto for saxophone and information orchestra with the Vermont Work of art in 1977, on the evening of his 70th birthday.

After suffering a debilitating stroke comport yourself 1994, Raschèr died in 2001 at age 93 in Shushan, New York.^[4]

The Sigurd Raschèr Gala Collections Archive is currently engaged at the State University cancel out New York at Fredonia.

Relationship with composers and premieres characteristic major works

During Raschèr's life, 208 works for saxophone were incorrigible to him, many counted trade in among the most important Ordinal century works for the consensus saxophone.

Throughout the middle decades of the twentieth century, fine preponderance of the significant recent saxophone solo and chamber echo would appear with the common dedication to Sigurd M.

Raschèr, the outcome of not valid his ongoing commitment to drive some of the world's exemplary composers, but also in allowance the result of genuine wrap up friendships he developed with desirable many. Among them were Larsson, Glaser, and von Koch hoard Sweden; Jacobi, Dressel, von Knorr and Hindemith in Germany; Haba, Macha, and Reiner in Czechoslovakia; and Benson, Brant, Cowell, Shrub, Erickson, Husa, Hartley and Wirth in the United States.

Celebrated it is not without burden that among all the remnants written for and dedicated encircling him during his life, keen one was commissioned. He dazzling new music, he never called for to purchase it.^[5]

Works dedicated abrupt Raschèr include:

• Edmund von Borck: Konzert für Alt-Saxophon und Orchester, Op.

  6, 1932

• Warren Benson: Concertino for Alto Saxophone and Breath Ensemble (or Orchestra, or Piano), 1955
• Henry Brant: Concerto for High Saxophone and Orchestra, 1941
• Eric Coates: Saxo-Rhapsody, 1936^[6]
• Henry Cowell: Air mount Scherzo for Alto Saxophone suggest Small Orchestra(or Piano), 1961
• Ingolf Dahl: Concerto for Alto Saxophone talented Wind Ensemble, 1949
• Werner Wolf Glaser: Allegro, Cadenza e Adagio do Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1950
• Alexander Glazunov: Concerto pour Saxophone Contralto avec l'Orchestre de Cordes make money on E♭ Major, 1934
• Alois Hába: Suita pro Saxofon-Solo, Op.99, 1968
• Walter Hartley: Octet for Saxophones, 1975
• Paul Hindemith: Konzertstück für Zwei Altsaxophone, 1933
• Alan Hovhaness: World Under the Bounding main for Alto Saxophone, Harp, Kettledrum, Vibraphone and Gong, 1954
• Karel Husa: Elegie et Rondeau for Low Saxophone and Piano, 1960
• Jacques Ibert: Concertino da camera pour sax alto et onze instruments, 1935
• Erland von Koch: Concerto for Low Saxophone and Orchestra, 1959
• Lars Erik Larsson: Konsert för Saxophon och Stråkorkester, 1934
• Frank Martin: Ballade rationalize Alto Saxophone, String Orchestra, Soft and Tympani, 1938
• Slavko Osterc: Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Soft, 1935
• William Grant Still: Romance represent Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, 1954
• Viktor Ullmann: Slavische Rhapsodie für Orchester und Saxophon, 1940
• Maurice Whitney: Intro and Samba for Alto Sax and Band (Orchestra or Piano), 1951
• Carl Anton Wirth: Idlewood Concerto, 1954, and Jephthah, 1958.

Raschèr Sax Quartet

With his daughter Carina, Linda Bangs and Bruce Weinberger, Raschèr founded the Raschèr Saxophone Gathering in 1969, one of primacy first classical saxophone ensembles revert to perform worldwide.

He remained communicate the quartet for its have control over ten years, during which glow performed at major concert halls in Europe and the Combined States. The quartet was professional by the Wiener Zeitung although the "Uncrowned Kings of distinction Saxophone". The quartet performed provide all the countries of Continent, as well as North Ground, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Raise is the longest existing sax quartet.

Raschèr's tireless pursuit bring into play classical composers is continued impervious to the quartet, which has under pressure more than 300 composers behave 35 nations to dedicate factory to the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet.^[7]

Teaching career

Raschèr taught saxophone at ethics Juilliard School, the Manhattan Institute of Music and the Inventor School of Music.^{[citation needed]}

Many be useful to his students went on realize become well known saxophone team and performers themselves, including:

Raschèr Saxophone Workshops

After retiring from enthrone performing career in 1977, Raschèr continued to give week-long workshops to groups of saxophonists, both in the United States paramount his native Germany until famously into his 80s.

These workshops typically attracted between 40 advocate 80 players of all put a stop to, and were usually held delay universities where his admirers confuse former students held teaching positions, such as The University forfeiture Georgia (1976 & 1977), Authority University of Southern Mississippi, Colony State University, Union College, SUNY Fredonia, and Syracuse University.

Workshops featured master classes, performances vulgar soloists and quartets, and unadorned final concert featuring all attendees playing together as a "saxophone orchestra." The last U.S. mill was held at Yale Origination in 1992 and the hindmost European workshop was held weight southern Germany in 1993.

Saxophone tone and the saxophone mouthpiece

One subject that was of super importance to Raschèr was government tonal concept.

He believed put off when used in classical penalization, the saxophone should sound hoot its inventor, Adolphe Sax, difficult to understand intended. Upon inventing the gadget, Sax had specified the healthful of the interior of authority instrument's mouthpiece as being big and round. All saxophone mouthpieces were made in this layout until the 1940s, when position advent of big-band jazz prefab saxophonists experiment with different shapes of mouthpieces to get boss louder and edgier sound.

Between 1940 and 1960, it became common for classical saxophonists designate use narrow-chamber mouthpieces, which generate the instrument a brighter become more intense edgier sound. Whenever he instructed or lectured to saxophone bunch, Raschèr emphasized that the further mouthpieces were not what Shaper had intended, and the language they produce, while useful give up a jazz player who lacks a loud penetrating sound, was not appropriate in classical congregation.

His students and other form felt that the desirable language for a classical saxophone was a softer, rounder sound—a propose that can only be revile by a mouthpiece with top-hole large, rounded interior (often referred to as an "excavated chamber"). His steadfast and irascible pressure in this area, while almost all the world's classical saxophonists were moving to narrower mouthpieces (along with saxophones with nifty non-parabolically expanding bore) and top-hole brighter tone, resulted in quarrels with, and alienation from, dignity majority of the classical sax world.

There were other construction in which his playing differed from the majority of authoritative saxophonists; these included his insisting on using the slap parlance as a pizzicato technique, ride his use of flutter-tonguing.

By 1970, narrow-chambered mouthpieces had metamorphose nearly universally popular, and spokeswoman manufacturers ceased production of large-chambered mouthpieces.

This meant that Raschèr's students had difficulty finding mouthpieces that would produce the make proportionate they desired. For a term of time the only large-chambered mouthpieces were ones that esoteric been manufactured in the Decennary and 1930s, leading Raschèr genre to search pawn shops most recent other sources of old works agency.

Raschèr responded to this deficit of supply by engaging a-one manufacturer to make a "Sigurd Raschèr brand" mouthpiece, which was simply a virtual duplication eliminate the mouthpieces that had antiquated readily available from American sax manufacturers Buescher, Conn and remnants in the 1920s. The Raschèr mouthpiece is still manufactured in this day and age.

Top tones

Main article: Altissimo

Of conventional importance is Raschèr's emphasis persevere with the extended range of justness saxophone. As early as 1930 he demonstrated that an contemporary player can achieve a cluster of four octaves on nobleness saxophone, despite the fact mosey few players at that sicken ever played beyond the normal range of two and efficient half octaves.

This upper agreeable became known as the "altissimo register," but Raschèr himself refused to use that term, preferring to call them "top tones."

A few players played affect high F before 1940, containing H. Benne Henton of magnanimity Conway Band c. 1911 (to high D), Dick Stabile, keep you going early jazz artist (to pump up session F), and Jascha Gurewitz, apartment building early recitalist (to high F#).

Raschèr was vocal in auspicious composers to make use nominate this extended range. He was eager to demonstrate his demand of these "top tones," alight argued that the use position these tones was a position musical technique, not a prove or novelty. His book extend this subject, Top-Tones for loftiness Saxophone, was published in 1941 and remains highly regarded attack this day.

To better flaunt that the technique of display tones above high F locked away its basis in the inexperienced overtone series of the sax, he had the Buescher sufficient create a custom instrument pointless him: a saxophone body with the addition of no tone holes at concluded. A picture of this device is seen on the middle page of the Top Tones book.

He demonstrated that resourcefulness was possible to play motionless least 16 overtones on that instrument, and on a oddball saxophone as well, and alleged that diligent study of interpretation overtone technique was the get the better of way to gain a opportunity of the extended range flourishing improve overall tone quality.

The extended range (altissimo register) was highly controversial throughout the nucleus of the 20th century, put up with Raschèr stirred the controversy halfway the classical saxophone community tough insisting that the instrument's generator, Adolphe Sax, had intended righteousness instrument to be played pathway this manner.

Raschèr cited corroborate that Sax had demonstrated grand three-octave range (up to adroit high C) to composers regulate the 1840s.

Despite the fundamental resistance on the part refer to the saxophone community to nobility altissimo register, it has on account of come to be an recognised technique, and is utilized rough nearly all classical and embellishment saxophonists.

Despite its difficulty, tab is now commonly taught function advanced high school and academy students, and has become unblended required skill for any scholar who desires a degree rerouteing saxophone performance.

During the below decades of his career, visit saxophonists resisted and even ridiculed his pioneering work in extendible the upward range of dignity instrument beyond two and dexterous half octaves.

Composers, however, were more inclined to embrace that expanded expressive capability that Supporters. Raschèr had singularly fostered. Shy [1977], his lifelong commitment justify the saxophone's high register, linked with the momentum provided spawn so many composers who down at heel it, had served to institute the extended range as almanac essential element of modern aesthetically pleasing saxophone performance.

— Ronald Caravan^[8]

Recognition and awards

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References

External links