World’s first concerto for saxophone found after 116 years A musical masterwork from Belgian music history, Paul Gilson's first saxophone concerto from 1901 has finally been found by conductor and Belgian music for winds specialist Luc Vertommen. Special commission from Boston Elisa Hall, a well-known maecenas and amateur saxophonist, was a director of the Orchestral Club of Boston. She is known mainly because Claude Debussy composed a Rhapsody for saxophone and orchestra for her. Hall played saxophone on the advice of her doctor to counteract her rising deafness and studied at the Paris Conservatory. She was the first saxophonist to perform as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Hall commissioned 17 (mainly French) composers between 1900 and 1920, to write 22 works for the new instrument presented in 1841 by the Belgian Adolphe Sax. Around 1895, Claude Debussy received this remarkable commission. He was quick to pick up the significant check but completely forgot to finish the piece. Debussy worked intermittently between 1901 and 1908. Only then did Hall finally receive Debussy’s finished work. Remarkable Belgian composer The only Belgian composer on Hall’s list was Paul Gilson, Belgium’s foremost composer of the second half of the 19th century. Gilson gained international fame with his first concerto for saxophone and orchestra (1901 – 1902), as it was the first saxophone concerto the world had ever heard. In this work, Gilson uses all the virtuoso and musical possibilities of the saxophone. For Elisa Hall, the concerto was far too difficult – she would never play it. Consequently, the score did not end up in the Elisa Hall Collection of the New England Conservatory in Boston, where the other scores and commissions can be found. Because the orchestral score was lost, the concerto could never be played in its original form with symphony orchestra. The only source left of it was a piano version of which Paul Gilson had retrieved the name of the commissioner as a revenge. A long search After Gilson's death in 1942, many of his original scores were lost. Some of the remaining pieces came to the Paul Gilson Fund, a donation from his student Gaston Brenta at the library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Another student and friend of Gilson’s, Jules Blangenois, obtained a large part of his work for winds. In the Second World War one of Blangenois’ students fled to southern France with a part of Gilson’s archive. There, the manuscripts appeared a few years ago when after his

World’s first concerto for saxophone found after 116 years ENG.pdfwith his first concerto for saxophone and orchestra (1901 – 1902), as it was the first saxophone concerto the

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World’s first concerto for saxophone found after 116 years

A musical masterwork from Belgian music history, Paul Gilson's firstsaxophone concerto from 1901 has finally been found by conductor and

Belgian music for winds specialist Luc Vertommen.

Special commission from Boston

Elisa Hall, a well-known maecenas and amateur saxophonist, was a director of the Orchestral Club of Boston. She is known mainly because Claude Debussy composeda Rhapsody for saxophone and orchestra for her.

Hall played saxophone on the advice of her doctor to counteract her rising deafness and studied at the Paris Conservatory. She was the first saxophonist to perform as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Hall commissioned 17 (mainly French) composers between 1900 and 1920, to write 22 works for the new instrument presented in 1841 by the Belgian Adolphe Sax.

Around 1895, Claude Debussy received this remarkable commission. He was quick to pick up the significant check but completely forgot to finish the piece. Debussy worked intermittently between 1901 and 1908. Only then did Hall finally receive Debussy’s finished work.

Remarkable Belgian composer

The only Belgian composer on Hall’s list was Paul Gilson, Belgium’s foremost composer of the second half of the 19th century. Gilson gained international fame with his first concerto for saxophone and orchestra (1901 – 1902), as it was the first saxophone concerto the world had ever heard.

In this work, Gilson uses all the virtuoso and musical possibilities of the saxophone. For Elisa Hall, the concerto was far too difficult – she would never play it. Consequently, the score did not end up in the Elisa Hall Collection of the New England Conservatory in Boston, where the other scores and commissions can be found. Because the orchestral score was lost, the concerto could never be played in its original form with symphony orchestra. The only source left of it was a piano version of which Paul Gilson had retrieved the name of the commissioner as a revenge.

A long search

After Gilson's death in 1942, many of his original scores were lost. Some of the remaining pieces came to the Paul Gilson Fund, a donation from his student Gaston Brenta at the library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Another student and friend of Gilson’s, Jules Blangenois, obtained a large part of his work for winds. In theSecond World War one of Blangenois’ students fled to southern France with a part of Gilson’s archive. There, the manuscripts appeared a few years ago when after his

Page 2: World’s first concerto for saxophone found after 116 years ENG.pdfwith his first concerto for saxophone and orchestra (1901 – 1902), as it was the first saxophone concerto the

death an antique store bought the old cabinets (with their contents present). The antiquarian contacted Gilson expert Luc Vertommen and the long search ended this weekend when the original score returned to its native country.

The score could be obtained with the support of the library of the Conservatory of Brussels and doctoral student and saxophonist Kurt Bertels.

It is hoped that this magnificent work (the first ever concerto of the most important composer of his generation for the most important musical invention of a Belgian) willsoon reflect upon the national and international concert stages after 116 years.

Luc Vertommen and saxophonist Kurt Bertels