Saxophone music : Repertoire : Australian Music Centre

Saxophone music

Australian saxophone music

The saxophone is a popular instrument that gave a first performance in Australia in 1852, even prior to its debut in the USA (Chapman, 2025). The saxophone can be heard across all genres and inspires compositions in classical and jazz Australian art music. The saxophone features in ensembles such as jazz trios, big band and concert bands and holds a significant position in contemporary art music as it has inspired numerous solo and chamber music works. Australian composers such as Matthew Hindson, Holly Harrison and Elena Kats-Chernin have written saxophone concertos and composer/performers Andrew Ball, Nick Russoniello and Katia Beaugeais have pushed the boundaries of saxophone technique within their compositions. Australian saxophonists such as Amy Dickson, Michael Duke, Christina Leonard, Matthew Styles and The Nexas Saxophone Quartet have all commissioned, performed and promoted new works for the instrument.

Representative works

	Work	Notes
	I touched your glistening tears (2000) by Brenton Broadstock	This work by Brenton Broadstock accompanies a heart-wrenching poem by the composer, telling of a father's sorrow and anger as he watches the decline of a severely handicapped child. The message is intimate and painful, but the music is disarmingly simple – an arpeggiated accompaniment marking time below a yearning melody, occasionally choked by grace notes.
	Sonata for alto saxophone and piano (2002) by Stuart Greenbaum	A significant work with tremendous technical and musical challenges. 1st movement ('moderate, expansive') is akin to climbing successively higher mountains on the way to the summit. Ensuing repose is drawn out in a timeless fashion. Slow variations provide a reflective gear change, morphing from formally phrased melodic lines into an elated groove. Final movement races along, playing on ambiguous rhythmic groupings and finally rising up to a heightened plane of ecstasy.
	Catch Me If You Can (2021) by Natalie Nicolas	A 6 minute, advanced work.
	Crazy logic (2006) by Matthew Orlovich	Orlovich uses musical ideas of a mostly intense and driving nature. His melodic lines comprise semiquavers which twist, scurry, and traverse up and down the musical staves at a great pace. The instrumentalists often play in unison or at the octave, lending added urgency and directness to the music. While a softer, reflective mood is revealed at the heart of the work, it is the energetic music with its chromatic kinks, jagged contours and wide leaps that elicits, mood alluded to in the title.
	Phospheric variations (1998) by Paul Stanhope	An approachable and immediately likeable work. The title is derived from a series of word associations: 'phosphorescent': luminescent green – vibrancy and nature; 'spherics' – cycles and seasons; 'phospherics': cycles of nature, cycles of life. Extensive unison lines between piano and saxophone create warm colours and expressive phrasing is required throughout. The piece alternates between lyrical melodic passages and flowing semiquaver runs.
	Black & blue (1995)	Cockroft's early, accessible and popular solo piece. The player imitates instruments, bass guitar, electric, drums, interspersed with bluesy saxophone phrases, culminating in a free-for-all with circular breathing, screaming high notes and wa-wa guitar.
	Naked hum (2005) by Taran Carter	Naked Hum is a virtuosic and atmospheric piece that explores texture, density, distorted repetition and disco rhythms.
	Suite for Saxophone and Loop Station (2019) by Nick Russoniello	This virtuosic work is a layer by layer mash-up of musical influences as diverse as beatbox, reggae, minimalism, polyphony and groove.
	Sydney Night Groove (2024) by Peter Ratnik	Written in 2024.
	Chthonic Fanfare (2016) by Andrew Ball	Instrumentation: Soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone.
	Concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra (2019) by Matthew Hindson	First performance: by Amy Dickson, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey.
	Dancing with Diaghilev (2019) by Jessica Wells	A series of three dance movements which take their inspiration from the ballet music of Ravel and Prokofiev.
	Doing the Suss & Sassy Sway (2014) by Nicholas Vines	Designed as a recital showpiece for advanced HSC and undergraduate saxophonists.
	Five Bird Solos (2020) by Ross Edwards	These pieces I composed for my friend Amy Dickson to perform online from her home in London while the Covid-19 crisis disrupts live concerts all over the world.
	Of Stars and Birds (2020) by Nardi Simpson	Developed from a significant Yuwaalaraay story ending in the creation of the southern cross but traversing the enormity of land, lore, death and rebirth.
	Snapdragonetto (2023) by Miriama Young	This piece was originally composed during a time of media frenzy over America's initial attack on Iraq.
	Sounds from a Seashell (2024) by Katia Beaugeais	Exploring the different sounds that you hear when holding a seashell up to your ear.