Les voies du saxophone, a book by Claude Delangle

“I very early felt my responsibility in developing a quality repertoire that really takes into account the specific acoustics of my instrument. Creating for myself and transmitting to posterity, with a certain historical awareness, gave direction to my musical activity. [...]

When I was appointed to the Paris Conservatoire in 1988, this awareness of responsibility for the development of a high-quality repertoire was suddenly joined by the weight and perspective of the history of the saxophone there, and its influence on the development of schools in many countries. When I was a student myself, certain key works were overlooked: Villa-Lobos's Fantasia - because it was written for an instrument other than the alto saxophone - Paul Hindemith's Trio - because we didn't work on chamber music other than the saxophone quartet and piano duet - or Erwin Schulhoff's Hot Sonate - because we played almost exclusively the French repertoire - or even Debussy's Rhapsodie - which didn't emphasize instrumental virtuosity enough! It was a real frustration for me.”

“The tester's flexibility in terms of sound aesthetics enables him to judge in a more global and nuanced way the improvements that must imperatively be made to win over musician, or sometimes to identify thresholds of evolution that must not be crossed. Patrick Bourgoin and I have always felt the weight of a great responsibility towards the profession, the history of the manufacture and the smooth running of the company [...].

Each parameter is scored according to a pre-established grid. Emission of the different registers, tuning, projection, homogeneity, flexibility, richness of timbre. The average of the scores for each of these parameters is weighted by the tester's overall perception score. The instrument may have a superb average score for all parameters, but the musician's overall perception may be mediocre. This overall score is freed from objective parameters and balanced with subjective sensations that are difficult for the instrument maker to identify. [...]

I've sometimes taken big risks. At a concert in Ljubljana, I remember playing a mouthpiece prototype that didn't work. Until you go on stage with a piece of equipment, you don't know exactly what it's worth. I discovered possibilities I'd never noticed when I first played the Supreme in public. The concert remains the place for experimentation, the test of validation by the fire of the stage."