You’ve probably been to an orchestra concert in the past or at least have seen one on YouTube. You may have noticed…especially if you’re a saxophone player like me…that there is a distinct lack of saxophones sitting among the woodwind players. There may be 60 to 80 people sitting on the stage with all sorts of instruments surrounding them and yet, not a single sax to be found. Will you ever see one in an orchestra?
Yes, saxophones CAN be in an orchestra. While they are not traditionally regular members of an orchestra, they are what is considered an “auxiliary” instrument. This means that at least a few saxes will show up in “pops” concerts and Christmas concerts. Some more recent pieces, say, in the last 150 years or so, will sometimes include saxes (like Ravels “bolero,”) and New Music Orchestras will also utilize them more often than traditional orchestras.
There are more orchestra setups than the traditional symphonic orchestra, some of which do occasionally use saxophones and some that use them almost all of the time….even ones that are made up entirely of saxophones, but that’s a little more “out-of-box” so we’ll come back to that in a bit.
When Will You See Saxophones In An Orchestra?
Pops Concerts
Saxophones will usually show up in orchestras during “pops” concerts. These concerts typically play show tunes from musicals or film music, many of which call for at least an alto sax, and many times call for an entire saxophone section similar to what you’d see in a jazz band, two altos (sometimes one alto and one soprano), one or two tenors and a baritone.
Christmas concerts will also have saxophones, as a lot of modern (especially from the ’50s and ’60s) Christmas music will be set up more like a mix of an orchestra and jazz band…full sax section, trumpets and trombones with mutes, etc.
Traditional Orchestras…Sometimes
Sometimes, a more “classical” centered orchestra will play music written by composers that experimented with composing for saxophone back in the early days of the instrument. One of Maurice Ravel’s more popular pieces is called Bolero, where each unique instrument of the orchestra plays a common theme (with slight variations to each other) over the course of the tune. Two of those instruments happen to be the tenor sax and sopranino sax (it was called the F soprano back then)…though it is usually played on the more common Bb soprano sax nowadays.
Pit Orchestras
These are the ensembles that play during musicals. The members sit in a hole that is partially under the stage and partially out front, just out of view of the audience…this is the orchestra pit.
In my opinion, pit orchestras and show bands are where saxophonists truly get to shine. The music is fun, energetic, and usually a mix of traditional orchestra and jazz. A lot of the time saxophonists have the coolest job in the orchestra…doubling!
Doubling is when you switch from saxophone to clarinet, flute, oboe, kazoo…or any other woodwind. Usually, the parts, called books, aren’t labeled as Alto Saxophone or Baritone Saxophone but as Reed 1, Reed 2, etc.
I can’t sing the praises of doubling enough, it’s really an awesome skill to have, super fun to be able to switch from instrument to instrument, and can be a good way to earn a little side income since pit orchestra musicians are usually paid for their work and doublers are paid an extra fee for each instrument they need to play in the show.
Why Aren’t Saxophones Used In Orchestras More Often?
The main reason you don’t see saxophones in orchestras more often is that the vast majority of orchestral repertoire was composed before the saxophone was invented. Orchestras are pulling from 500 years of orchestral music and most of the great composers (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, etc) were writing a hundred years before the saxophone was around.
Even composers that were alive and composing at the birth of the saxophone probably didn’t hear about it in their lifetime…no internet, no TV, not even the radio was that widely used until the 1920s…roughly 60 years after Adolphe Sax had invented the saxophone. This meant that word of mouth and print ads had to spread the word of this peculiar new instrument.
Not many orchestras were very accepting of the saxophone, so that hindered its adoption into the concert repertoire. I think composers were excited to have a new tool at their disposal. Berlioz is quoted as saying,
-Berlioz…probably
“It cries, sighs and dreams. It possesses a crescendo and can gradually diminish until it is only an echo of an echo. I know of no other instrument that possesses this particular capacity to reach the outer limits of audible sound.”
Berlioz
Some clarinetists were asked to learn the saxophone and play it in some pieces and many refused…however, they were more accepting of Adolphe Sax’s other invention, the bass clarinet.
Something I just recently learned about myself but does make sense in hindsight is that the saxophone also suffered early shunning due to patriotism…or, more accurately, an anti-German mindset.
The saxophone had already suffered a rocky start by not being accepted by orchestras, had few musicians willing to learn to play it as a substitute for their chosen instruments (clarinets, usually) but push ahead 55 years and you start to have the rise of World War I…which made German things none-too-popular. Then, roughly 80 years after the sax was invented, we enter World War II…strike 2 Germany!
Now, Adolphe Sax was long dead before either of the World Wars (he died in 1894)…but the damage was done.
Not all was lost for the saxophone though. Adolph Sax had an interesting idea when he was building saxophones…make two families of saxes, one set in Eb and Bb for military bands and one set in F and C for orchestras.
The F and C family never really took off, except for a little bit of a resurgence in the C melody saxophone in the last few decades, but military bands LOVED the Eb and Bb saxes. Saxophones could play as nimbly as flutes and clarinets but sound as loud as brass instruments, making them ideal for outdoor parade playing.
Adolphe Sax had no way of knowing, but his invention would also take off in a new style of music called jazz.
Other Orchestras Where You Will See Saxophones
I’ve already mentioned the most popular orchestras where you might find saxophones, but there are a few others I should mention.
Modern Orchestras
These are usually found in university music departments, especially ones with composing majors. Since many composition students focus on writing in more modern styles they will also want to explore more evocative sounds not normally heard in a traditional orchestra. Ethnic percussion, electronic instrument, and yes…saxophones will usually be members of these groups.
Wind Orchestras
Again, usually found in universities but gaining popularity as community groups, wind orchestras are basically like concert bands you saw in high school. The main difference is that the sections are usually smaller…instead of a clarinet section of 8 firsts, 6 seconds, and 5 thirds you would have 2, 2, and 2. For saxophones, you will usually have 2 altos, a tenor and a baritone.
These ensembles usually play more challenging music, usually arrangements of orchestral music, and also utilize some instruments you’d usually find in a traditional orchestra, namely the piano and harp.
Saxophone Orchestra
Lastly, I want to mention the saxophone orchestra. At the University of Kansas, all of the sax players would meet once a month in a master class and play music composed for or arranged for large saxophone ensembles.
The North American Saxophone Association….NASA, hah….has conventions every few years and ensembles usually come together to perform concerts for people at the convention. All sorts of saxophones can be found in these groups, from the tiny sopranino to the one guy willing to lug a contrabass sax from his house.
Final Thoughts
Well, there you have it. There is no shortage of ways to see saxophones in large ensembles and it’s even becoming more common to see them in traditional orchestras. If all else fails, you can find great performances on YouTube and even catch the occasional performance on TV…remember when Bravo used to show Opera?
