A HISTORY OF THE SAXOPHONE, PERCUSSION, PIANO TRIO AND AN ANALYTICAL AND PERFORMANCE STUDY OF TRIO FUNAMBULE BY GEORGES APERGHIS
Gaffey, Andrew James
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/133237
Description
Title
A HISTORY OF THE SAXOPHONE, PERCUSSION, PIANO TRIO AND AN ANALYTICAL AND PERFORMANCE STUDY OF TRIO FUNAMBULE BY GEORGES APERGHIS
Author(s)
Gaffey, Andrew James
Issue Date
2026
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Magee, Jeffrey
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Roman, Nicki
Committee Member(s)
Ramirez, Carlos
Taylor, Stephen
Department of Study
School of Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
A.Mus.D. (doctoral)
Date of Ingest
2026-05-12T13:54:11-05:00
Keyword(s)
Saxophone
Aperghis
Trio Accanto
Piano
Percussion
Narrative
Virtuosity
Contemporary
Language
eng
Abstract
Beginning with the premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Vertical Time Study II in 1994 by Trio Accanto, the repertoire for the saxophone, percussion, and piano trio has blossomed
immensely, with well over 100 substantial works now available in this repertoire. Much of this repertoire has been spearheaded by German ensemble Trio Accanto. Much of the music written for this trio has made use of contemporary musical language and different saxophones and percussion, leading to a wide variety of sound worlds and sonic possibilities. This repertoire often features novel saxophone techniques, representing a continual push for an ever expanding ‘new virtuosity’ in contemporary music performance.
Little, however, has been written on this trio repertoire or the broader history of the ensemble itself in saxophone scholarship or beyond. As a result, musicians, saxophonists in particular, are left without any resources for performing music for saxophone, percussion, and piano, which diminishes its visibility to performers and is coupled with difficulty of techniques, rhythm, and ensemble alignment. This represents a major gap in research on the saxophone
repertoire and currently precludes a wider dissemination of performances as well as further usage of extended techniques in new saxophone repertoire.
The aim of this study is to provide a history of the development of the saxophone, percussion, and piano trio and its place within repertoire involving the saxophone, to provide a structural analysis of Georges Aperghis’s Trio Funambule for saxophone, percussion, and piano,
and to provide a practical and pedagogical guide to saxophone techniques required as it exemplifies a “new virtuosity.”
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