Marcel Mule …Encore! - Primephonic

Works by Saint-Säens, Rimsky-Korsakov, Pierné, Dillon, Raff, Haydn, Marceau and others.

Marcel Mule‘Le Patron’ of the Saxophone

…Encore!

H i s t o r i c a l r e c o r d i n g s

CC0021

The Classics Labels

CC0021 Mule reprint booklet.indd 1 24/3/09 10:16:50

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Marcel Mule…Encore! 1 Vellones Rapsodie pour saxophone, harp et celeste (and gong) 4.19

Q u a R t e t s

2 Vellones Le Dauphin 3.04 Chaligne, Poimboeuf, Chauvet [HMV 10, K6007, (BF2825-II), 1930/2]

3 Pierné Chanson d’autrefois 2.51 Romby, L’homme, Chauvet [Columbia 10, DF1807; 337M, (CL5334), Jan/Jul 1934]

4 Pierné Chanson de la Grande-Maman 2.31 Romby, L’homme, Chauvet, [Columbia 10, DF1807, (CL5329), Jan/Jul 1935]

5 – 6 Rivier Grave et Presto 4.04, 3.59 Bauchy, Gordet, Josse [Columbia 12, LFX 636, (CLX2332/3), aug 1939/Mar 1940]

7 Pierné Introduction et Variations sur une Ronde Populaire 8.27 Romby, Charon, Chauvet [HMV 12, L1003, (2La2135/6), sep/Dec 1937]

s o L o s

8 Gabriel-Marie La Cinquantaine 3.14 Josephy Benvenuti, piano [Columbia 10, DF 1740, (CL5314), Jan/Jul 1935]

9 Rimsky-Korsakov Chanson Hindou (sadko) 2.49 M. Pellas-Lenom, piano [Parlophone 10, F 637, (106337)]

10 Saint Saëns Le Cygne 2.52 M. Gaveau, piano [Columbia 10, DF 1083, 1932]

11 – 13 Dillon sonate pour saxophone B. Leonet, piano [Classic 12, 2127, (PaRtX8707/8)]

11 Allegro con brio 3.26

12 Andante 1.58

13 Vivace 2.00

14 Dvor̆ák/Kreisler Humoreske 2.58 M. Gaveau, piano [Parlophone 10, F 637, (106335)]

15 Marceau saxo-Folly (soLoIst PauL RoMBy) 2.55 soloist Paul Romby

Marcel Mule…Encore!


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Photographs of Marcel Mule and the Saxophone Quartet of the Republican Guard taken from Marcel Mule: His Life and the Saxophone by Eugene Rousseau and used with kind permission of Mr Rousseau and Marcel Mule.

Saxophone Classics would like to thank Malcolm McMillan for the origination of this CD and all source material.

Cover design and origination: ADS.Booklet notes in French and German can be down loaded free from www.saxophoneclassics.com Saxophone Classics Artistic Directors: Victoria Soames Samek and Dr Stephen Cottrell For further information e-mail [email protected] Or visit www.saxophoneclassics.com

16 Romby orientalismé (soLoIst PauL RoMBy) 3.37 soloist Paul Romby

Q u a R t e t s

17 Boccherini Menuet 2.54 Romby, L’homme, Chauvet [selmer 10, y 7092]

18 Haydn scherzo from (Quartet No.41) 2.28 Romby, L’homme, Chauvet [Columbia 10, DF 1805; 364M, (CL5333), Jan/Jul 1934]

19 Mendelssohn La Fileuse 2.03 Chaligne, Poimboeuf, Chauvet [HMV 10, K 6007, (BF28260-II), c.1930]

20 Mendelssohn agitato 3.07 Chaligne, Poimboeuf, Chauvet [Columbia 10, DF 1806, (CL5332), Jan/Jul 1935]

21 Schumann scherzo from (Quartet No.1 in a minor) 2.59 Chaligne, Poimboeuf, Chauvet [Parlophone 10, 80754, (138041), 1930/2]

22 Raff explication 2.49 Chaligne, Poimboeuf, Chauvet [Parlophone 10, 80755, (138043), 1930/21930/2]

23 – 24 Vellones Deux Pièces Pour Columbia

23 Split (CL511) 3.23 24 Vitamines (CL512) 3.02

[Cariven ensemble, Columbia 10, DF 1681, Feb/Mar 1935]

TOTAL PLAYING TIME 78.56


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o be a classically trained musician in europe during the 20’s and 30’s could lead to a very inspired and liberating existence. youngsters (under the age of

16!) were entering the profession and the world of popular music was becoming increasingly reliant on the talents of these individuals – owing mainly to the rapidly growing record and film industry. It is a fact that thousands of jobbing musicians suffered badly when the “talkies” came in, but, for those who were able and prepared to diversify their talents into other styles and environments, a whole new world of opportunities opened up before them. It was during these years (circa 1925) that the name of Marcel Mule (b 1901) first appeared in the public light. this French guardsman had, for the first time, presented the classical saxophone, complete with a sizeable repertoire of arranged classics and recently commissioned compositions. travelling all over europe with and without La musique de la Garde Republicaine he established himself as the doyen of the saxophone world. Within the Garde a great deal of respect for him had developed – primarily for the new timbre he introduced, giving his instrument an independent solo quality that hadn’t been achieved before; and for his boundless energy at encouraging others to follow suit. From these colleagues he chose three to join him to form the first French classical saxophone quartet – consisting of himself on soprano, René Chaligné on alto, Hippolyte Poimboeuf on tenor and Georges Chauvet on baritone. In 1932, after the quartet’s five year teething-in period, Paul Romby joined on alto – a formidable musician, having already recorded solos of varying styles and composed several pieces. He stayed with the quartet through the period of their departure from the Garde in 1936 and on for a total of thirteen years. It wasn’t until his joining the quartet that they settled on using the very unique controlled vibrato that helped to establish


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their particular timbre and eventual international fame. two examples of his solo playing are heard in this compilation, demonstrating his versatility and more catholic taste in music. 1942 represents an important year in Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique de Paris – it is the year that its new director, Claude Delvincourt, decided to appoint a professor of the saxophone for the first time since its inventor, adolph sax, left in 1870. the obvious choice was Marcel Mule, now in his 41st year, and highly respected throughout France and beyond. these were hard times in Nazi-occupied Paris and an offer like this must have been like a gift from heaven for a freelance musician with a wife and two children! Mule had already been called up two years earlier for duty, taken prisoner and hospitalised for six weeks; so this opportunity was seized, as it represented a gateway to a new, if somewhat hectic, musical lifestyle. Freelance orchestral and chamber dates were still available in Paris, if occasionally backed up by appearances with dance-bands and, although the Germans were in control of all affairs, including concerts and radio programmes, Mule and the quartet found themselves being booked for live broadcasts on an almost regular weekly basis – the saxophone had become very popular with both the Parisians and their interloping governors. He was even approached to instigate a saxophone class at the Berlin Conservatoire – a post he could not readily accept! For twenty-six years his classes at the Paris Conservatoire blossomed and became an institution revered by musicians all over europe and the usa. Mule always insisted on playing to his pupils, demonstrating that to sing eloquently and always tell a story when performing are the essentials of a good performance, no matter what type of music it is. one member of his very first class was Daniel Deffayet, who, after winning first prize that year, went on to succeed Mule as professor. He too made numerous recordings of solos and led his own saxophone quartet. another musician, with whom Mule struck up a friendship whilst freelancing in


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the early thirties, was the violinist-come-conductor Charles Munch. In 1958, when the latter was Musical Director of the Boston symphony, Mule received an invitation to join him and his orchestra on a tour of the usa performing two concertos of his own choice. He gladly accepted and chose to play Ibert’s Concertino de Camera and tomasi’s Ballade at twelve different venues and also to give a recital at elkhart – a formidable feat for any musician, especially for a 57 year old home-loving man, who found long-distance touring to be very strenuous! although this engagement was exceedingly successful both for Mule’s reputation and his plight to establish the saxophone as a serious voice in classical music, the strain paid its toll. owing to his developing a thorax complaint and a shortness of breath he decided to retire from public solo appearances within the next two years, only after receiving the highest accolade a Frenchman could earn – being made Chevalier de la legion d’honneur for services to his country. He had lived though two world-wars, seen many colleagues disappear and witnessed occupation first-hand – no wonder he was a devout pacifist! one of the first composers to come under the spell of Mule’s unique musical style and presentation was Pierre Vellones (1889-1939), an eclectic whose wish to inject new sonorities into classical music was realised with the advent of cinema, jazz, electronics and the saxophone! His must have been one of the most unique of voices in musical Paris at the time, although he was an amateur musician and an invalid. the pieces included on this album represent his diverse characteristics – serious, as portrayed in the Rapsodie for alto saxophone, harp, celeste (and gong!); lyrical, as with Le Dauphin (from a suite of his own arrangements for saxophone quartet of a film score); and joie de vivre, bordering on banality, as with his Deux pieces pour Columbia written for ondes martenot solo with two flutes, sax trio, piano, bass and drums. the personnel details on the labels of these are not attributive to Mule personally but to the leader of the ensemble, Marcel Cariven. Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) was more of a mainstream composer,


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being somewhat older and more steeped in the French tradition. He succumbed to the delightful sonorities of Mule’s quartet and produced, in 1937, perhaps the most influential composition of this genre – Introduction et variations sur une ronde populaire – a work that is a challenge to all four musicians’ technique and full of whimsical juxtaposition of differing styles. at times the mood is sombre and at others witty and syncopated, but always the piece emanates a balanced elegance, so typical of the finest French music of the time. the recording presented on this album earned the quartet Le grand prix du disque. the other two pieces of his are Mule’s own transcriptions.Jean Rivier’s (1896-1987) almost minimalist style lends itself quite naturally to the very homogeneous sound of four saxophones. the denseness of the ensemble passages contrasted with the delineated polyphonic writing makes his Grave et Presto a very expressive and interesting piece – certainly a challenge to both ensemble and listener. this piece, written one year after Pierne’s tour-de-force, helped pave the way for many other new compositions – in Rivier’s case, culminating in his writing a Concerto for alto saxophone, trumpet and orchestra in 1955 (recorded by Deffayet and Delmotte).Being a self-taught musician the young Henri Dillon (1912-1954) found the lure of the ever-increasing flow of musically hungry saxophone players from the Conservatoire too much of a temptation. His sonate pour saxophone et piano has three short movements in a driving no-nonsense style. the remaining numbers in this compilation are all transcriptions by or for Marcel Mule, all demonstrating how he implants his own personality into familiar music with his warm vibrant tone and lyrically sensitive musicianship.

© Malcolm McMillan, 1998


Jean Rivier (1896-1987)Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné(1863-1937)

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saxophone Quartet of the Republican Guard, 1932-36.soprano, Marcel Mule; alto, Paul Romby; tenor, Fernand L’homme; baritone, Georges Chauvet.

Marcel Mule (b. 1901)


Marcel Mule …Encore! - Primephonic

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