It's a concerto for three saxophones, but NOT for three saxophone players. The concerto is a showcase for one musician trading off alto, tenor, and soprano saxes. On today's show, Jess Gillam gives a riveting performance of the Concerto for Three Saxophones by Barbara Thompson, backed by the NDR Philharmonic Orchestra.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Nina Rota: Sonata per fluto e arpa Movement 1: Allegro molto moderato
Christina Smith, flute | Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp
Album: Encantamiento
ACA Digital Recording, Inc

Katherine Hoover: My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free, from Dances and Variations
Christina Smith, flute | Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Chamber Music Series, Symphony Hall - Atlanta, GA

Claude Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor, L.140
Randall Goosby, violin | Zhu Wang, piano
Honest Brook Music Festival, Honest Brook Farm, Delhi, NY

Galina Ustvolskaya: Symphonic Poem No. 1
The Orchestra Now | Leon Botstein, conductor
Bard College, The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Hour 2

Gian Carlo Menotti: Ricercare on a Theme from ''The Old Maid and the Thief"
Charlie Albright, piano
Album: Vivace
CAPC Music 884501469760

Gian Carlo Menotti: Suite from Sebastian - Movement 6: Dance of the Wounded Courtesan
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic
National Orchestral Institute + Festival, Dekelboum Concert Hall at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,  College Park, MD

Teobaldo Power: Piano Sonata in C minor
Miguel Ituarte, piano
Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain

Barbara Thompson: Concerto for Three Saxophones, Op. 1
Jess Gillam, saxophone | NDR Philharmonic Orchestra | Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
Grand Studio, NDR, Hanover, Germany