Saxophone in Anthony Ritchie's 'Symphony No.6'

Being a saxophone player in an orchestra is always a special experience - you’re adding a new texture to the ensemble, and one that’s unfamiliar for many listeners. Ritchie’s Sixth Symphony opens with a short solo saxophone cadenza, so you won’t miss it! The long descending lines in the opening tease more of what’s to come in the rest of the symphony.

In the first moments, the saxophone is soloistic and isolated from the rest of the orchestra, with passionate melodic lines that allow the player to take the music into their own hands and lead the orchestra as a soloist would. Later, it joins the rest of the woodwind in faster and louder sections to add to the overall texture.

It’s exciting to be added to the orchestra to play a part with so much life and variation–and one that allows the performer to weave their own experiences through the symphony.