Try

I find myself at the end of an interesting journey.

I’ve been poking my nose into what’s happening in academia; probing the scholarly work of today’s saxophonists.

The book in question is The Legacy of Elise Hall: Contemporary Perspectives on Gender and the Saxophone, edited by Kurt Bertels and Adrianne Honnold, published by Leuven University Press, 2024.

In this seventh and final post I offer some thoughts on the sixth chapter, or the second of two chapters in Part III labelled Beyond Elise Hall: Gender, Media & Culture in the 1920s. This chapter, Intersections of Gender, Genre, and Access: The Enterprising Career of Kathryne E. Thompson is by Holly J. Hubbs.

I’ll include a couple of thoughts on the Epilogue.

And my final conclusions.

***

This career review of saxophonist Kathryne E. Thompson (c. 1889-1957) is presumably included for context and as a comparison to the experiences of Elise Hall. This attempt to renew interest in Thompson’s neglected contributions is part of a larger movement. Thompson is one of many, “…female musicians and composers whose lives are only now being revisited and reinstated into historical accounts.” (page 154)

Kathryne Thompson’s example resonates today—she is easy to relate to—having fulfilled multiple roles as performer, composer, teacher and conductor.

“In 1921, the Southern California Music Company offered a series of free lessons with their star teacher, Kathryne Thompson, for every saxophone purchased at the store.” (page 161) This extremely unique arrangement speaks to her fame, teaching ability and business savvy. For twenty years she was a real tour de force, fully engaged in every aspect of the profession.

Both Thompson and Hall were entrepreneurs:

“A cursory glance shows us that both Hall and Thompson expanded the repertoire, while a closer examination of their musical accomplishments illustrate(s) (sic) more profound commonalities, such as their personal commitment to aesthetic value and their efforts to increase the saxophone’s profile within their communities.” (page 155)

And yet, Thompson and Hall were worlds apart in socioeconomic status. They played different styles of music. Thompson was most active in her early adulthood, while Hall’s heyday came later in life. It’s hard to imagine them collaborating. They don’t have much in common. To each her own reality.

There is just no one like Elise Hall. She chose Art for Art’s sake. Her circumstances were extraordinary. Her choices were astonishing.

Today, all saxophonists are all a version of Kathryne Thompson. She exemplifies what it takes to have a career and it’s painfully obvious that not much has changed. Who is the Elise Hall of today? She or he doesn’t exist. The contributions of Elise Hall continue to stand outside all normal activity and effort within the saxophone world.

Epilogue

The Epilogue is titled Elise Hall and the Saxophone, Updated Narratives and Future Considerations, and is written by Adrianne Honnold and Kurt Bertels.

Alas, it is clear that Bertels is the writer, not Honnold.

Competent readers don’t need to be reminded of what they read in each chapter. The reiteration of the text, sometimes using exact words and phrases, makes this feel like a school project. Bertels is a master of copy-and-paste. Many unsubstantiated assertions are described using grandiose language:

“She capitalized on the democratic, inclusive, and egalitarian societal ethos of the United States at the turn of the century to carry out her dreams of building a repertoire of music to perform.” (page 177)

“Through her dedication and commitment, she excelled at performing and elevated the instrument to new heights, captivating audiences with virtuosity and musicality.” (page 178)

I wonder what Elise Hall would think of these comments. Would she blush? Laugh? Or perhaps shake her head in disbelief?

Final Thoughts

Editing is a real task, worth taking seriously. It requires deep reading and re-reading. Great editing is a gift to the reader; a way to show you care enough about the material to present it at its best. This book would have benefited from an outside editor.

Collaboration with other scholars currently studying Elise Hall would have brought other facts to light. There is a twenty-third piece, Pan, by Eugène Lacroix. The French government awarded Hall an Academic Palm in 1908 for her efforts, a very interesting fact that disproves the notion that Hall’s contributions were ignored or unrecognized in her own time.

Intriguingly, this book is said to be GPRC certified. According to information provided on the website for Leuven University Press:

“GPRC stands for ‘Guaranteed Peer Reviewed Content’. With this quality label the Flemish Publishers’ Association (VUV) certifies that a peer review procedure which corresponds to the (sic) international academic standards, has positively evaluated the labelled publication.”

How interesting that the paragraph explaining this “quality label” on the official website has a grammatical error. (See above where I’ve noted the unnecessary addition of the word the.)

One additional click lands the reader at the GPRC website. Tellingly, there is no information on the “peers” who reviewed this text. There is an endorsement from Matthew Younglove from the Tennessee Technological University.

There is some information about the book. The paragraph that opens, “The saxophone is a globally popular instrument…” is repeated three times. Other information appears twice. Sloppy. You can see for yourself here:

https://www.gprc.be/en/legacy-elise-hall

Quaecumque Vera

I don’t think Elise Hall gets a fair hearing in this book.

The text is rife with generalized assumptions. Where is the corresponding fact-based evidence to back up these claims? The most beautiful and just thing a scholar can do—is to gather together whatsoever things are true. Scholars often come to unpopular conclusions. They avoid leaning too heavily on trendy topics that are currently all the rage—to borrow a 1920s phrase. They understand that we are all individuals, in and out of sync with the times in which we live. Theories and assumptions should never overtake all the messy and contradictory nuance one finds when the facts are drawn together.

Was Elise Hall a victim in her own time? No.

Do saxophonists continue to discredit her achievements? Perhaps, but they are few in number, and not on the official record.

I would love to know more about Elise Hall and her motivations. Some of my own questions will remain forever unanswered. I wonder:

Her husband was a high-functioning cocaine addict: How did this shape her thinking?

Elise’s most dynamic and active period, with respect to the saxophone, happened when she was between the ages of forty and sixty: How did she handle all the possible symptoms of perimenopause and menopause?

What did her daughters think about her choices? Were they supportive?

Curious as I may be, I am satisfied with what I do know and understand. Elise Hall’s efforts forever changed the repertoire of the saxophone. She gave us some of the most beautiful, elegant and refined pieces composed to date, allowing the saxophone’s natural nobility to be recognized and appreciated.

Elise, je vous remercie.