Extravaganza for Saxophone & Orchestra

David Ott's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra was commissioned by the Knoxville Symphony Society immediately after the popular and critical reception of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's premiere in January 1986 of Ott's Water Garden, which the Society had commissioned to commemorate two milestones - the inaugural season of Kirk Trevor as Music Director and the 50th anniversary of the Orchestra. The new Saxophone Concerto was premiered in Knoxville on April 11, 1987 and was written for Debra Richtmeyer. David Ott is currently the Pace Eminent Scholar and Composer-in-Residence at the University of West Florida. He is the composer of four symphonies, one ballet, two oratorios, and, in his words, "overtures too numerous to count." Debra Richtmeyer transcribed the Strauss Oboe Concerto for soprano saxophone solo at the suggestion of Kirk Trevor. The transcription was premiered in November 1996 in the Czech Republic with Kirk Trevor conducting the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Richtmeyer has said: "The transcription was quite easy to do, since the soprano saxophone and the oboe have nearly identical playing ranges. Because the oboe part had to be transposed up a full step (the soprano saxophone is in B flat compared to the oboe which is in C), the concerto's range is slightly above the normal range for soprano saxophone, which results in increased difficulty for the saxophonist. In contrast, the saxophone in general has a larger dynamic range and greater ease of playing long phrases than the oboe."