Sigurd Rascher, Leclair/ Bumcke, Sarabande and Tambourin

Written originally for violin and piano, in the baroque style, this piece is based off of two varied dances. The first being a sarabande. This is generally characterized by its triple meter with the third beat often being tied, giving the dance a unique rhythm of alternating quarter and eighth notes. The second is related to a tambourin. Traditionally it is a piece that resembles a drum. In this case, it fits the style that baroque artists often associated with a tambourin (for example Jean-Plilippe Rameau in operas such as his Tambourin in E minor in "Pièces de Clavecin"), being a lively dance in duple meter.
The arranger, Gustav Bumcke, was a German composer and saxophonist who was a friend and colleague of Sigurd Rascher. Rascher was a member of Bumcke's saxophone quartet that also consisted of Bumcke's daughter Hidle (whose stage name was Ingrid Larssen) and Emil Manz. Early in Rascher's career, the saxophone had a limited repertoire for itself. Bumcke's goal in this, similar to Rascher's, was to legitimize the reputation of the saxophone as a classical means of expression. By transcribing works such as this, saxophone students would have the opportunity to participate in a musical tradition that artists of other instruments have had, centuries before Adolphe Sax's most attributed invention was created.
David Tudor on Piano