Sonatina

Sonatina, Op. 3, No. 1 (1802?)

Carl Maria von Weber (1786 – 1826)

SATB or AATB Saxophone Quartet

Sonatina, Op. 3 No. 1 by Carl Maria von Weber, arranged for saxophone quartet S/AATB. This sonatina is a good example of late classical/early romantic writing. Originally for piano four hands, the melodic and harmonic lines are clearly drawn and transfer to the saxophone quartet setting very well. The Alto 1 and 2 parts generally busy themselves with the melody while the tenor and bari are a little more interesting and full of scales, trills, and arpeggios. The transcription lowers the key from C major to E flat major. The Sonatina is scored for both SATB and AATB sax quartets.

• The range for each instrument is shown below.
• Audio and score excerpts are available above.
• Registered users can download a full length sample score and audio file of the sonatina on the ‘Samples’ tab.

About the Composer

Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. He was also an innovative composer of instrumental music. His compositions for the clarinet are benchmarks of the genre, while his piano music influenced composers such as Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn.