Jules Demersseman Fantaisie Sur un Theme Original (1860) For Alto Saxophone and Piano edited by Ted Hegvik et cetera productions P.O. Box 163 ‘Camp Hill, PA 17001-0163Jules Demersseman (1833 - 1966) Has there ever been such a group of musi- cians? — each affecting the very history of his instrument? Joseph Arban, dazzling on Comet. Hyacinthe Klose, revolutionizing the Clarinet and its mechanism, Adolphe Sax, actually creating the history of an instrument. All ina 19th-cencury Paris of turmoil, war, changes of government, and unexcelled brilliance. Into this crowd of mechanical wizards and technical innovators came Jules Demersseman, the boy-genius. He played a simple 8-keyed flute, and he wrote music. But such a player, and such a musician — he carried all before him. Asa child prodigy he entered the Paris Conservatory at the unprecedented age of 11, and in 1844, afer only one year, received the coveted First Prize (along with the great Arban who was 20 and had been there four years) Demersseman's career blazed like a rocket — he became a veritable Pied Piper — and by his 20's his fame as a concert artist had spread through- out France. He performed often with Arban, including a series in Paris of Arban's so-called “Casino Concerts.” People came out in droves to hear these unrivaled virtuosos. Demersseman's superb musicianship was apparent in everything he wrote and his solos for Flute were spectacular — technically adroit, colorful, melodic, and often used as contest pieces at the Paris Conservatory. But his stun- ning success was marred by two great disap pointments: he filed to received a single prize for composition when he entered the 1853 Prix de Rome, and, most ironic of all, he was denied a professorship at the Paris Conservatory because of his refusal to play the new Bochm- ‘mechanism flute, He stubbornly stuck to the old system, as had his teacher, Tulou. Adolphe Sax utilized Demersseman's genius whenever he could, and had Demersseman write solos for the new saxophones. Then, around 1860, shortly after che debut of his operetta, “The Princess Kaika,” Demersseman was inspired by the saxophone artistry of Henri ‘Walle to write Fantaisie Sur un Théme Origi- nal, Waill,a brilliant performer, was well known in Europe for his virtuosity on both clarinet and saxophone. He performed in concerts in London sponsored by the impresario Jullien, and is considered the first saxophonist to solo in the United States (he came over with Jallien’s huge aggregation in 1853). Demersseman's beautiful Eantasie remains a living tribute to Wuille's artistry — its idiomatic, technical flair and soaring melodies are quite staring for an instrument invented only 20 years earlier. Demersseman, the youngest of the group, died at the tragic age of 33, while the others ‘went on to secure their place in history. Today, Sax’s invention is more popular than ever, its construction essentially as he had designed it Arbon's studies are still classics to generations of brass players, and Klose's clarinet — along with his music — remains atthe center of modern clarinet playing, Their combined legacy has flourished throughout the 20th Century But for us to know that other century on a more personal level, to feel its pulse and dyna- ism, to catch its sweep and color, we must ‘turn to Jules Demersseman. His Fantaisie Sur un Théme Original, this small masterpiece, still reaches out from the distance of that truly heroic age. A gift from the boy-wonder and hisJules Demersseman Fantaisie Sur un Theme Original (1860) For Alto Saxophone and Piano edited by Ted Hegvik et cetera productions 6313 142nd St. SW Edmonds, WA. 98026