Fanciful Vignettes Op. 3-2 "Prelude (Bell)" [Saxophone Quartet]

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) was a composer, conductor, and pianist from the Russian Empire. Born and raised in a wealthy family, his musical talent blossomed early due to his childhood musical education. Even after his family went bankrupt and his parents divorced, he received a scholarship for his talent and attended a conservatory.
At the age of 18, he graduated from the piano department of the Moscow Conservatory with a Great Gold Medal. Scriabin, a famous composer, was his classmate in the piano department, and their talents were so exceptional that they couldn't be evaluated with just a gold medal. Rachmaninov, who was the top student, received a Great Gold Medal, and Scriabin, who was second, received a Small Gold Medal, a special evaluation. Afterward, he graduated from the composition department of the same conservatory, and that year, he performed "Prelude (Bells)" from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3-2, at the Moscow Electrical Exhibition celebration, gaining enthusiastic popularity. It became one of Rachmaninov's representative works. Furthermore, Rachmaninov's cousin, Alexander Siloti (1863-1945), who was a pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor, featured this piece in concerts in Western Europe and America, bringing it attention outside of Moscow. Subsequently, several publishers in London released it under titles such as "The Moscow Fire" and "The Last Judgment," and in America, it circulated as "The Bells of Moscow." "Bells" became its later nickname, and Rachmaninov's characteristic rich chords are said to mimic the cathedral bells he heard from childhood, truly expressing the sound of "bells."
(Commentary by Marie Kikuchi)

This arrangement carefully preserves the rich sound that is characteristic of Rachmaninov. To express this rich sound, the left-hand piano part was constructed using many stopped-key notes, allowing the entire saxophone tube to resonate. It is desirable for the four saxophones, from soprano to baritone, to have a uniform sound, and the articulation must not be blurred. While this is a highly difficult arrangement with frequent use of double tonguing (triple tonguing) and altissimo, an option with reduced difficulty is available, so please do challenge this piece.
(Compositional Commentary by Hiroki Tanaka)