12-S-AXE

12-S-AXE by Gerald Preinfalk was created in 2011 in its original version for students of the classical saxophone of the University of Music Vienna and Graz in order to revive the “Axe” Graz-Wien.

The idea was to create a powerful orchestral contemporary work that incorporates common modern playing techniques right down to microtonality, as well as free space for improvisation as an antipole to the classical repertoire.

The centerpiece of the piece is the tenor sax solo, which traces an orchestrated speech transcription by Prof. Oto Vrhovnik, the master of the classical saxophone in Vienna, where he formulates the actual compositional task of the piece. Towards the end of the piece all the musicians are supposed to shout " Viele Dinge hätt i gern so ", also a quote from this context.

The work can be played with or without drums. The drums in the improvised section, where the Tubax, the latest construction of a double-bass saxophone solos a picture of free jazz. After this instrument as well as the sopranino saxophone are still not so popular, Preinfalk has each made spare parts for a third soprano sax and a bass saxophone.