UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Adolf Busch and the Saxophone: A Historical Perspective on his Quintet, op. 34 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cz1t09s Author Veirs, Russell Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Adolf Busch and the Saxophone: A Historical Perspective on his Quintet, op. 34 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts By Russell Dewain Veirs 2013 © Copyright by Russell Dewain Veirs 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Adolf Busch and the Saxophone: A Historical Perspective on his Quintet, op. 34 by Russell Dewain Veirs Doctor of Musical Arts University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Gary Gray, Co-Chair Professor Douglas Masek, Co-Chair Adolf Busch, well-known as a violinist, contributed a major work to the saxophone‟s chamber repertoire in 1925 while living in Germany. This piece, Quintet, op. 34 for alto saxophone, two violins, viola, and cello, lay hidden until many decades later when it resurfaced for performance in the United States. Busch‟s use of the saxophone was advanced for the time, and his inclusion of the instrument in a quintet with strings was unique. Scattered information regarding the genesis of the piece, its advanced use of the saxophone at the time, and the discrepancies between the published score and parts all called for exploration. This study investigates the sparse history of the piece, using numerous primary and secondary sources, and offers performance suggestions so that today‟s saxophonist can deliver a performance reflecting the musical life surrounding the instrument at time of its composition. ii Included is a brief biography of the composer, a discussion of the factors that likely influenced the quintet, an investigation of the work‟s structure, descriptions of the unpublished editions of the piece, and an examination of Busch‟s meticulous revision process for this piece. iii The dissertation of Russell Dewain Veirs is approved. Jennifer Judkins Antonio Lysy James Newton Gary Gray, Committee Co-Chair Douglas Masek, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv Dedication I would like to dedicate this paper to my family. They have helped push me through all of my studies, performances, and research that ultimately made this project possible. v Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter I. An Overview of the Early Saxophone Repertoire 4 Chapter II. A Brief Overview of Jazz in Germany in the 1920s 8 Chapter III. Adolf Busch and his Quintet, op. 34 11 A Brief Biography of Adolf Busch 11 Compositional Influences 14 Structural Analysis 19 Chapter IV. Editions and Revisions 28 Existing Editions of Quintet, op. 34 28 Interpreting Busch‟s Revisions 34 Chapter V. Innovation and Performance Practice 45 Innovative Writing for the Saxophone 45 General Performance Considerations 48 Conclusion 58 Appendix A – Suggested Note Changes 62 Appendix B – Available Recordings 67 Bibliography 68 Additional Resources 71 vi Acknowledgements A number of people have assisted me with my research and the compilation of this project. Thank you to my committee members Professor Gary Gray, Dr. Douglas Masek, Dr. Jennifer Judkins, Professor Antonio Lysy, and Professor James Newton. Again, thanks to Dr. Masek for much encouragement and support throughout my time at UCLA and during the research and writing of this paper. Special thanks to Tully Potter, Carina Raschèr, Jürgen Schaarwächter, Heidy Zimmermann, Peter Serkin, Walter Ponce, Jonathan Angel, and Jennifer Loux for providing me with invaluable information and/or pointing me toward sources during my research. This project would not have been possible without all of your help. I want to thank Dr. Robert Winter for his continued help, interest, and encouragement during my studies at UCLA. Thank you to Dr. Mark Carlson and Dr. Elisabeth Le Guin for feedback on my research. Thank you to Cindy Hollmichael at the UCLA Young Research Library for the extensive assistance in tracking down and obtaining sources for this study. Thank you to the Marlboro Music Festival for allowing me to reproduce the program from the premiere of Busch‟s Quintet, op. 34. Thank you to the Max Reger Institute for providing me with access to Adolf Busch‟s autograph score and the copyist‟s score. Thank you to the Paul Sacher Foundation for permission to reproduce musical examples and pages from Adolf Busch‟s autograph score and the copyist‟s score. Thank you to Edition Tonger for permission to reproduce musical examples from the published edition of Quintet, op. 34 for this study. vii Vita 2002 A.A. Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, California 2006 B.A., Music University of California, Davis Davis, California 2007-2008 Scholarship Recipient CSUS Department of Music California State University, Sacramento Sacramento, California 2008 M.M., Music California State University, Sacramento Sacramento, California 2009-2012 Scholarship Recipient UCLA Department of Music Los Angeles, California 2011 All-Star Soloist UCLA All Star Concerto Competition Los Angeles, California 2011 Teaching Assistant UCLA Department of Music Arts and Architecture 10 (Arts Encounters) Los Angeles, California viii