As I keep searching, new works by notable composers get added to the database. The publisher Edward B Marks is home to American composer William Bolcom and includes Bolcom’s collaborations with Darius Milhaud. Milhaud’s output for this publisher is unique, as it includes new arrangements of existing operas and plays.
The first work in this catalog is Milhaud’s The Play of Robin and Marion, originally by Adam de le Halle, a medieval French trouvère. The saxophone fits right into these French chansons, blending seamlessly with the violin. Here is a recording from 1952 at the American premiere of this work at Julliard.
If you keep listening, more saxophone solos appear at minute 19:24, and after the 28:35 minute mark.
The next work by Milhaud is a collaboration with Bolcom, a new arrangement of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. Milhaud began working on this work in the 1930s, and Bolcom updated it for the stage in the 1970s. The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis premiered The Beggar’s Opera in 1979. I cannot find any recordings of this performance.
While you’re here, check out the database for more works by Darius Milhaud and William Bolcom.
the Operatic Saxophone 