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Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) Concerto in E-flat for Alto Saxophone and Strings The Russian composer Alexander Glazunov studied composition under the direction of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and went on to become one of the most major Russian composers of the nineteenth century, touring extensively throughout Europe. He taught at the St. Petersburg School of Music and later became its director in 1905. By this time he was at the height of his creative powers producing some of his best works, such as the Eighth Symphony and the Violin Concerto. This was also the time of his greatest international acclaim. He conducted the last of the Russian Historical Concerts in Paris on 17 May 1907 and received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There were also cycles of all-Glazunov concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a composer. In 1928, Glazunov left Russia for eternity, touring Europe and the United States and finally settling in Paris. In 1934, he composed his last major work entitled Concerto in Eb for Alto Saxophone, for classical saxophonist Sigurd Rascher. The Concerto is a rhapsodic single movement work infused with elements of folk music. In this twentieth century work, Glazunov strictly avoided contemporary atonal forms such as serialism, minimalism, and other NonWestern idioms. Instead Glazunov used harmonies and ornamentation that are adapted to romantic music and modulated to closely related keys and remote keys, creating new tonal centers. Chromaticism, dynamics, variations of articulations, and variations in tempo take place throughout this composition but it maintains a very romantic outlook separated stylistically and aesthetically from other music of the time. From its expansive opening the concerto moves through tender middle section before culminating in an extended fugal finale, which draws the work to a close. The Concerto in Eb was Glazunov’s last major work before he passed away on March 21, 1936 in Paris. Because of his compositional style the announcement of his death shocked many. They had long associated Glazunov with the music of the past rather than of the present, so they thought he had already been dead for many years.