The Analysis Of Characteristics And Playing Skills In Paul Creston’s Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano

Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, OP.19is considered as “one of the definitiveworks for saxophone and piano”by French saxophone guru Marcel. Mule,which Paul Creston,the American composer, wrote for saxophonist Cecil Leeson in1939. The composition is alsoa core one in the classical Saxophone. Creston was one the most important composer in20century in America. He believed that the nature of music was to express and his compositioncharacteristic is more like Neo-Romanticism. Rhythm is the principal characteristic ofCreston’s compositional style and his music is always full of harmonies. Creston rarely usedfunctional harmony in his music but commonly applied seven chords in it. Although themelody followed a specific tonality, it is not always in line with the voice part of the chord byusing classical form structure.Since the colleague major of classical saxophone was built, the art of playing saxophonegained a great development in china. Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, OP.19byCreston is one of the first classic saxophone compositions introduced to the domestic.However, the research on Creston’s composition is lagging, which is a hinder for theenthusiasts to have a good understanding of his composition. This paper aims to provide aresearch and analysis on the characteristics of this composition and the art of its playing.Combining the creating style of the composer, it comes up with the main characteristics ofSonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, OP.19. Through the analysis on the playingtechniques of this composition, including fingering, top tones, pitch accuracy, accent andvibrato., and the integration of the main characteristics of the composition, it will offer areference of Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, OP.19or other Creston’s works on musictheories and playing arts for the enthusiast.