Simple Gifts

“But Mrs Hall does not care and blows imperturbably into her copper pipe, like a man.” (page 42)

Mrs Hall is Elise Hall, and it’s been 100 years since the death of this early twentieth century saxophonist. Her name is back in the Zeitgeist, and this, “…old bat who dresses like an umbrella.” (attributed to Claude Debussy on page 160) has gotten a well-deserved reassessment by a group of saxophonist-scholars.

Edited by Kurt Bertels and Adrianne Honnold, The Legacy of Elise Hall: Contemporary Perspectives on Gender and the Saxophone has been published by Leuven University Press.

The material in this easy-to-read book has been divided into three parts and six chapters. Each chapter has been researched and presented by a different author:

Part I. Histories

“Incomparable Virtuoso”: A Reevaluation of the Performance Abilities of Elise Boyer Hall

Andrew J. Allen

Paying and Playing? Elise Hall and Patronage in the Early Twentieth Century

Kurt Bertels

Part II. Critical Organology & Social Identity

Exhuming Elise: Rehabilitating Reputations

Adrianne Honnold

Instruments Telling History: Engaging Elise Hall through the Saxophone

Sarah McDonie

Part III. Beyond Elise Hall: Gender, Media & Culture in the 1920s

“He puts the pep in the party”: Gender and Iconography in 1920s Buescher Saxophone Advertisements

Sarah V. Hetrick

Intersections of Gender, Genre, and Access: The Enterprising Career of Kathryne E. Thompson

Holly J. Hubbs

I greedily read this book twice. Afterward, William Faulkner came to mind:

“The past is never dead. It’s not even passed.”

100+ years later, I live and breathe with the themes raised in this text.

As a former student of Elise’s first biographer, William Street, I am well-acquainted with the exquisite music that resulted from her efforts. Many are favourites, as is Vincent D’Indy’s Choral variée, which is a List A option for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Level Eight Examination.

Elegantly austere and beautifully barren, the Choral variée has become mandatory repertoire in my studio. The saxophonist needs tremendous air capacity to handle the long phrases, the ability to change and maintain tempos and accurate intonation. As in so many simple pieces, the player is often exposed, without room to cover or manoeuvre around mistakes. This piece embodies the truism that it takes a lot of effort to play effortlessly.

I once had a student who was a serious swimmer. Up at five am, in the pool every morning, five days a week. Lungs? He was a human bellows! The air-energy he was able to put behind the notes of the Choral variée was astonishingly impressive.

He performed this piece at a local competition. And missed placing first, we found out later, because the piece was lacking in technical difficulty. A shame, but not unexpected, as I’m sure the authors of this new book would agree.

To celebrate Elise Hall, the wonderful repertoire she helped create and the authors of this new book, I’ll be releasing a series of blog posts associated with the material in the coming months.

There is just so much to discuss!

Highly recommended, The Legacy of Elise Hall: Contemporary Perspectives on Gender and the Saxophone is free to read online, here.

Thanks for reading. 2024 is the last year for Saxophone Technique THE BOOK. If you enjoyed this post and others on the site, please consider buying a copy through FriesenPress while it’s still available. Milles mercis!