little Sax, the ghost

little Sax, the ghost  is a musical storytelling of the peculiar life of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. With a career so legendary, it is unsurprising that many musicians know his name...but what most people don’t know is just how unusual his life was. Sax’s childhood years were permeated with near-death experiences—incidents so unique and frequent that one can’t help but laugh.

Divided into five movements, the tale of little Sax, the ghost follows Sax’s life chronologically. The piece opens and closes warmly, the bittersweet Lullaby and Eulogy acting as covers of a book that envelop the story. The melodic material of these two movements was drawn from Chant Sacré, a work of Hector Berlioz that served as the platform for the saxophone’s premiere in 1844. Between the bindings, the piece delves into three specific accounts of Sax escaping Death’s grip: a dangerous encounter with a staircase, an almost-lethal mishap in his father’s workshop, and a treacherous trip down a raging river. At times obvious and others discreet, the Dies Irae is incorporated into all five movements—each time, a warning that Death may be on its way.

Suffice it to say, it is nothing short of a miracle that the saxophone exists today. The intentions of little Sax, the ghost, thus, are simply to celebrate the instrument and poke fun at the incredibly unlucky life of its creator!